It's Just Abbey

I have decided my book reviews are boring and have been toying with how to make them more awesome. The idea can to me in a vision.

Dueling books.

What does this mean you ask? Well it means that I will read two books and pit them against each other. How will you know if you will like it based on one single review alone? Oh no, you need to know how it compares to other books! Yes. Popularity contests, cage fights, slapping contests, beauty pageants and all other forms of torture you could imagine. And it shall be glorious.

Today’s comparison medium shall be: Bare Knuckle Street Fight.

Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
vs
Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

I read both of these books back to back in the span of only a few days. It was one hell of a genre switch from one to the other. I picked up Fight Club because I saw the movie, it was awesome, and more importantly, I am a huge Palahniuk fan. I picked up the Percy Jackson book because I saw the preview, love Greek mythology, and was curious. With that intro out of the way let’s begin!

Spoiler heavy. Reader beware!


1) Based on bias alone, which book did you think you would enjoy most?
Fight Club smacks Percy Jackson in the face while he isn’t looking!

Like I said, I am a huge fan of Palahniuk and the movie was great. All I knew about Percy Jackson was that it had been compared to Harry Potter.


2) Which book had a better main character?
Fight Club roundhouse kicks Percy Jackson his right cheek and follows up with an elbow to the shoulder.

Quite honestly Percy Jackson was a boring narrator. He was a 12 year old with normal 12 year old problems. Then! He is the son of Poseidon! Nope, still a snooze fest. He is actually the least interesting character in the book. He just hobbles along, stumbles into his life and the end. It is frustrating. Seriously dude, grow a pair! That’s what 12 year old boys do right? They just grow pairs right? Fight Club on the other hand is just a jumbled bunch of sickness. Spoiler Alert: Tyler Durden isn’t real. GASP! The whole time I was reading it kept trying to work the logistics of how the unnamed narrator could be leading a double life without his know how.


3) Which book is more targeted to you, a 20-something?
Fight Club head butts Percy Jackson in the sternum!

Someone told me Percy Jackson was like Harry Potter. In my mind that meant a good thing. Then I read it. No. It is like Harry Potter in a bad way. I mean, it isn’t even kinda like Harry Potter, it just IS Harry Potter. Twelve year old boy? Check. Living a sad existence? Check! Mean parental figure? Check. Finds out he is the key to saving an unknown world and is the greatest person to ever live ever? Fucking check. He even trudges along with a kind of dopey, loyal friend (OH HAI RON!) and a smart, clever girl that without her the two boys would surely flounder (HERMIONE?! IS THAT YOU!?) Oh, and a dark rising figure that no one else believes is rising except the main character? CHECK!

Fight Club on the other hand is all about falling into a dull grind and pulling yourself from the status quo. Sure it is aimed at 30-40 year old stuck in dead end jobs with nothing in life but a title and a schedule, but I think it applies to us 20 year olds who have no idea what we want and still have a glimmer of hope there is something in this world we can change. Plus, it is violence and a frickin’ metric ton of napalm recipes. The video game generation rejoices.


4) Which book has the best reread value?
Percy Jackson, bleeding on the floor, bites Fight Club’s ankle.

Okay, so knowing Fight Club’s spoiler really takes away from the overall revelation in the last few chapters. You knew what was happening, you know what was coming and well, it sorta sucked sometimes. As I have learned with books by Palahniuk, you spent most of the book confused and then the last sentence brings it all together. I will admit that apparently Percy Jackson is for Young Adults and is on a ton of Children Book Lists or something, but if it is your kind of book, it is worth a reread. I know Harry Potter books can be reread ad nauseum and I hear Percy Jackson is OMG just like Harry Potter.


Bonus question: Who had the better movie?

No, wait. Let me rephrase that.

VS.



Fight Club headlocks Percy Jackson and “accidentally” chokes him to death.


I will be the first to say that these two books had no business being compared but hey, I read them back to back. It is like dating. For a while you just compare them to the last guy/girl. Sad story for Percy Jackson because the whole time I was with him I was thinking about Brad Pitt Fight Club.

To sum up: Read Fight Club. It is a crazy ass book with a slanted view on reality. It and its movie rocked people everywhere. Last I heard the Jackson movie was a boring train to Boring Land. I am going to watch it eventually so maybe I will change my mind… But probably not. I’m a jerk like that.

…His name was Percy Jackson. His name was Percy Jackson. His name was Percy Jackson….