Review: Lullaby by Chuck Palahniuk

Lullaby by Chuck Palahniuk

Published June 5th 2003 by Vintage (first published July 28th 1999)

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Synopsis: 

"Ever heard of a culling song? It’s a lullaby sung in Africa to give a painless death to the old or infirm. The lyrics of a culling song kill, whether spoken or even just thought. You can find one on page 27 of Poems and Rhymes from Around the World, an anthology that is sitting on the shelves of libraries across the country, waiting to be picked up by unsuspecting readers.

Reporter Carl Streator discovers the song’s lethal nature while researching Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, and before he knows it, he’s reciting the poem to anyone who bothers him. As the body count rises, Streator glimpses the potential catastrophe if someone truly malicious finds out about the song. The only answer is to find and destroy every copy of the book in the country. Accompanied by a shady real-estate agent, her Wiccan assistant, and the assistant’s truly annoying ecoterrorist boyfriend, Streator begins a desperate cross-country quest to put the culling song to rest."

Review:

Let me first off let you all know about how Chuck Palahniuk never, EVER fails to blow my mind. Lullaby was no exception to this rule. I would however like to say that although I did like this book, it's not the best he's ever written. Then again, it's not making itself out to be the best. This book was written as a way for Palahniuk to cope with a tragedy in his life and he wrote this solely for himself -- yes, it's published and shared among readers but in the end, so is this blog. I write solely for the joy of writing, but I also want to share my thoughts and feelings about what I'm writing as well.

So to enlighten those of you who don't know, Palahniuk wrote this book to help him cope with a big decision. In unfortunate tragedy, his father and his father's girlfriend were murdered by the girlfriend's ex-boyfriend. The murderer was caught, and was put on trial, but they gave Palahniuk the opportunity to be a part of a decision; does this murderer live, or die?

This is a large theme in the novel -- the idea of playing God. Who are we to decide who lives or dies? When that power is imparted on us, what do we use it for? There's also the old "sticks and stones" idea. How badly can words hurt? There's also a lot of mention about how much we're influenced by the media; noise from televisions, radio, movies, music and so on and so forth. This book, as strange as any of Chuck Palahniuk's books ring with a lot of things worth thinking about. It's also a story about a merry band of misfits on a road trip, which is also kinda fun.

Lullaby isn't Palahniuk's best work, in my humble opinion, but it isn't bad either. I think if you're a fan of his other stories then you would enjoy this. Although I liked reading this, Invisible Monsters still rings as my favourite from this author. I really liked the themes and ideas that this book portrayed, but I also felt that the direction was disjointed and the characters were difficult to like sometimes. Basically, it was good in places but fell apart in other areas. With that, let's move onto the bookworm rating:

Rating: 3/5 Bookworms

It's Not About the "HOW"

Welcome, Ladies and Gentlemen! To where? Where isn't important, but when is. That when is right now --  The Era of Information and Technology. 

"i"

If you haven't noticed, but the title for my blog is "i Live Literary" which, as you can see, the 'i' isn't capitalized. There's a reason for this; it's an ode to how I'm connecting with all of you. It's an ode to the internet, to information and to individuality. It's also and obvious ode to Apple, to whom I must thank for providing me the tools to which I can continue reaching, connecting, and writing. And here comes the product war.

Look, I don't care whether you're Mac or a PC. I don't have to justify myself for using a Mac, but, just for the sake of it, I did study art. 

Which brings us to this product war topic:

So, Rose, I see you read from an eReader -- I really like physical books myself. What do you prefer?

I don't care how you read. I care about if you even read at all.

I own a lot of books and most of them are across the country, in my parent's basement, in storage. I moved to my current location by hauling three suitcases, a backpack and a purse on the plane with only a few books in my possession. Books are heavy and shipping all those books? Maybe when I have a means to do, I'll reunite my library. Meanwhile, I have this Kobo of mine to keep me company with a small library's worth of books for when I'm on the road. I feel like I'm on the road a lot.

I like to keep reading and I devour book after book; each one after the next. Carrying a small library isn't the most viable of options. For years I would try and find some solution to bring a small library with me without the baggage limit being insanely overweight and finally, finally my prayers were answered! I love new technology and how it can evolve and change our lifestyles. Well, it didn't change my lifestyle; just helped in it's improvement.

That fact is, having this eReader is great for me. It may not be for everyone but I don't really care anyways. The only thing that matters is that I'm still reading. I'm still processing information, analyzing and educating myself. I'm constantly trying to improve my literacy and improve upon myself as a human being.

I don't want to be categorized in the 16% of the human population who can't read, 84% of which are adults (aged 25 and over) and two-thirds of which are women. I'm extremely privileged to have been educated in Canada where literacy rates are around 97% but...does that mean that Canadians learned to read or do they read to learn?

This, ladies and gentlemen, is why I care about if you do read as opposed to how you read.

Your literacy isn't based upon just knowing how to read but based one your ability to think critically. It's important to know how to use the symbolism and metaphors in a story to decipher the relevancy of what you're reading, but why?

We often forget why we read, or why it's important; some of us just know that it is. The importance of it is that written and spoken language depend on it. It's the basis of where we begin to coherently understand how to make informed decisions, create, and communicate. It's how we begin to improve economic, social and political impact, how we begin to decrease mortality rates and increase health, and it's a foundation to where we start education. Reading is a beautiful thing that can lead to great things, amazing changes, and evolve our communities and culture.

"Live Literary"

Live Literary, in my blog title, is a celebration that I share with all of you. It's a celebration for literature, for reading, for books. Whether you read from an eReader, your tablet or phone, from a paperback or hardback, or listen to audiobooks - "Live Literary" is my hope for a brighter, better future in reading, education and for the betterment of ourselves and our society.

Read. Think Critically. Think Creatively.

For now, Literates,

Fare Thee Well.