I read Identity by Milan Kundera & Choke by Chuck Palahniuk

A brief introduction

Hello everybody, and welcome back to my blog.

As I mentioned in my last post, My Journey as a Reader, I have made reading daily a big deal, I can say it’s now my lifetime goal, and I'm here to share my readings with you.

I have already told you guys my story, and I have always been someone who enjoys reading, doing it more or less often, but loving it regardless.

One more thing to have in mind, I have always had many books at home, I liked them from a young age, and my mom has always made sure that I would have them available to read. During my time studying Literature at the university, my book collection grew even more.

As I also mentioned in my previous post, back in 2019, when I moved from Brazil to Canada, I sold every book I had. I used the money to help with fees, and I immigrated to Canada "bookless".

I realized that having a massive number of books around the house was relatively inefficient; however, nobody told me what to do with the emotional void of having no books.

So once I decided to train myself to pick up reading as a daily habit, I realized I would have to start with books that could effectively grab my attention, and that way I would rebuild my library and look for ways to access books absolutely from scratch. I will have to build a personal library from zero, and this time with books in English, since I am now in a new country.

To start my new library and my reading routine, I choose two books, each written by writers I have admired for years, so let’s talk about each one individually in the order that I read them.

Milan Kundera

 

Milan Kundera is my favorite European writer at the moment. He wrote one of my favorite books, The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1984). I first heard about the book and the author when I was studying literature at University and one of my best friends that I met at the time recommended me Kundera’s masterpiece.

I remember that The Unbearable Lightness of Being marked me profoundly. I may even reread it and make comments about it on this blog eventually, but after that first contact with the author, reading his other titles was just something I needed to do.

After reading Kundera’s most famous book, I also read other works such as:

• The Farewell Waltz (1972) - which is one more of my favorite books ever. There is a mysterious pill that could either kill you or medicate you, which one are you taking? Read the book to find out;

• Laughable Loves (1969) - this one is a collection of short stories that I used to read in the waiting room for my therapist, so not the best memory; and

• The Festival of Insignificance (2014) - this one was his most recent book at the time; I read it but did not understand shit, if you ask me now I cannot tell what the book is about and I don't recall the plot. I will definitely read this one again to explore it better.
  

After reading all these great books I knew that was a natural way to go if I started with one of his works. Kundera seemed to be the best author to get back on my reading track. I wrote back to my colleagues from the University time who recommended me the first Kundera book I read, as they also loved to read his work and asked for more recommendations. They did not disappoint me one bit by recommending Identity.

 

 Identity

 

I love everything Kundera writes, that’s a fact, so I already have a previous interest in how he writes every time I enter any of his books.

While reading Identity (1998), I caught myself out of breath, going through page after page, non-stop.

Even though, at first, I did not feel very confident in the translation I was reading. At first, I just tried to get used to it, but as I later read Goodreads reviews about the book, many readers also felt like Linda Asher was having issues finding the correct wording for this translation work.

Still, the story was enjoyable; the book talks centrally about the relationship between Chantal and Jean-Marc, who explore traces of their identity and how it can be lost and re-framed into a couple’s life. Chantal feels like no man will look at her again, when she suddenly starts receiving letters from an anonymous lover. It becomes very easy to finish this book once you get to the anonymous letters, because even though you think you know who was sending them, you don't actually know, but you do, except that you don't, this definitely killed me inside and I just had to read more and more to find out.

I also have to say the characters are very relatable. It is essentially a fun book with an excellent story, as all good books should be.

Chuck Palahniuk

Notoriously known for his masterpiece Fight Club (1996), Chuck Palahniuk is also on my top-tier list of writers. I have watched and read fight club for the first time over 15 years ago.

When I first watched the movie, it was, no question asked, my favorite film for a long time. I first read the book in 2010, when I was living in Calgary and being in Canada for the first time, it also instantly became a favorite.

The writing style is very packed with action, and the whole philosophy and concept of the book got into me.

I read Haunted (2005) a few years later to keep up with his work. I found it genius; it was the first piece of the story of a 13 year girl who died of an overdose after smoking weed for the first time and ended up in hell.

Unfortunately, I never finished the series; it is something I will still be doing.

However, I decided to read Choke (2001) to get back into his work.

 

 

Choke

   

Choke follows the story of Victor Mancini, a sex addict and con man who also works at a colonial reenactment museum. Mancini pulls a trick on his free nights to help pay for his ill mother’s expensive care. He pretends to choke on pieces of food inside fancy restaurants, and the people who save him usually want to help him further, sending gift cards and even monetary donations to help the poor soul they saved.

The book is original. I love how much Palahniuk can get deep into a worker's life, much due to his own experiences. The whole problem of Victor’s workplace and his daily struggles reflect much of what an actual life workspace can look like for many people.

With a narrative that goes back and forth with constant flashbacks of his troubled childhood, the book follows the developing relationship between Victor and his sick mother.

The book is funny; it got me laughing quite a few times. Even though it has an excellent pace to it, I did feel like it was a more comprehensive book, it was not always action-packed as in Fight Club, and the book was not as concise, but that is not even a flaw but just a characteristic. It felt as the rhythm of the story was presented was intentional as well. The book extends itself sometimes but so do the long hours inside a hospital beside someone you love.

 

 Wrapping it up! 

 

I was happy with my choices, both books were excellent, and just the fact that I managed to dedicate and finish two books in less than a month was something extraordinary.

I advise everybody to try setting reading goals because it feels great to achieve them.

I will be back soon with some reading tips and talking about a book that has recently become a favorite, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, by Ocean Vuong.