Beauty is Power Like Money is Power Like a Gun is Power

I just (finally) finished reading Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk. (The author of Fight Club for those of you who don't know.) What an incredible book. Who but the twisted mind of Chuck could come up with some of this stuff? Near the end of the book bomb after bomb was dropped that just change your perception of the entire story thus far...incredible plot twists.

There are some excellent lines in the book as well, such as the one used in the title of this post. Another follows:

"...what I realize is mostly what I hate about Evie is the fact that she's so vain and stupid and needy. But what I hate most is how she's just like me. What I really hate is me so I hate pretty much everybody."

The story revolves around Shannon McFarland, a model who through a tragic accident ended up with a horribly disfigured face. She went from having anything she wanted on account of her beauty, to a hideous monster, who no one could even look at without being disgusted. A lot of the book refrences how so many people are incredibly vain and inconsiderate and achieve whatever they want at the expense of others, just because society considers them to be physically attractive. Looking around in real-life, a lot of that is dead on true. How many times have you seen a 'hot' girl act like a complete bitch and get away with it? She expects you to do anything for her because she is attractive...They are incredibly full of themselves. I see this all the time, and I love that this book addresses it through the story.

"Beauty is power like money is power like a gun is power."

Of course, in typical Chuck Palahniuk style there are plenty of cross-dressing, sex-change, sexually promiscuous characters...For example, I now know what (CLICK AT YOUR OWN RISK...YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!) 'Felching' means. A lot of times these bizarre/distrubing moments are used in a darkly humorous manner, and as a whole, this book is an excellent read. Check it out if you get the chance.

~ Lance

Song(s) Played During This Post: Marilyn Manson - Para-Noir; 10 Years - Wasteland; Green Day - Jesus of Suburbia