Diary by Chuck Palahniuk

“It’s so hard to forget pain, but it’s even harder to remember sweetness. We have no scar to show for happiness. We learn so little from peace.”

—Diary by Chuck Palahniuk

Title: Diary

Author: Chuck Palahniuk

Page Count: 260

Synopsis:

Diary takes the form of a ‘coma diary’ kept by one Misty Wilmot as her husband lies senseless in hospital after a suicide attempt. Once she was an art student dreaming of creativity and freedom; now, after marrying Peter at art school and being brought back to once quaint, now tourist-overrun Waytansea Island, she’s been reduced to the condition of a resort hotel maid. Peter, it turns out, has been hiding rooms in houses he’s refurbished and scrawling vile messages all over the walls. Angry homeowners are suing, and Misty’s dreams of artistic greatness are in ashes. But then, as if possessed by the spirit of Maura Kincaid, a fabled Waytansea artist of the nineteenth century, Misty begins painting again, compulsively. The canvases are taken away by her mother-in-law and her doctor, who seem to have a plan for Misty—and for all those annoying tourists…

Thoughts:

Hiyaaa~ Apologies for not posting for two weeks!! I picked up my next book right after the last review but I’m still experiencing some days when I can’t bring myself to open a book and read. Please bear with me. The first half of this book actually took me a whiiiile to get through but I’m determined!٩( ￣^￣ｏ )و 

I saw the book in Booksale and recognized the author. I got it initially because I don’t have any of his books yet but I heard and read mixed reviews about them. Hey, I’m just your typical curious bibliophile. I couldn’t help myself! And then it just sat on my pile and I forgot I have it like the good old hoarder that I am. _(┐「ε:)_ Sorry!

At first, I found it hard to immerse into the book. The writing style definitely took some getting used to. I thought the main character has a unique sentence pattern and I had to re-read passages (especially in her first entry) to make sure I was reading it correctly. For example: “Today is the longest day of the year—but anymore, every day is.” I was convinced it was missing the word ‘not’ but when I read it again, it made sense. I just needed a double take. And then, Misty started using terms she learned from her art class days on facial muscles and skin. It was interesting so I had to stop every once in a while to search those up as I am the type to imagine the whole thing in my head as I read. I had to know what those terms were so that I could picture them or else I’ll have a hard time proceeding. *laughs*

The narrative is very unapologetic. It was written as if to address the husband, Peter, if he would ever wake up and recover from his coma. The entries contain curses, though. I mentioned before that I am personally okay with it so long as the character and/or story warrants them. But still, I want to be good so I’ll say: Only read if you are of age. ( ˘^˘ ) If you decide to read it anyway, don’t pick up words and actions, young one~! Regardless, the story is nice and the twist is reeeaally good. I’m amused~! There was so much to learn from a book with only less than three hundred pages. Especially if you are into art, I think you will enjoy and relate with this book. Besides art, anatomy and graphology lessons, the book has some good lines to reflect on as well (and I was tabbing like crazy again). Some of my favorites aside from the one I quoted above are: “Everything is nothing by itself.”, and ”...you can find fresh pain every time you discover what you pretty much already know.” I tabbed a whole lot more but I have to stop here or I’ll quote the whole book. Heh~v 

I breezed through the remaining third of the book when Misty started painting again. I got engrossed when everything was happening so fast near the end. I let it take me wherever—I just want to know what happens next! The connections from past entries keep on coming as they reveal one thing after another. Even after finishing the book, I still had gazillion questions and a curious mind leading to flipping back the pages just to see if there was anything I've missed.

I had to write this review the next day because when I finished the book, it was almost three in the morning and my brain could only produce a ‘Whoa, what did I just read’ O_O kind of reaction. Happy with my first Chuck Palahniuk read.