Likes: Palahniuk’s writing style (as always), the ending, the shorter chapters, the overall outlandish horror-satire vibe, Palahniuk’s usual unreliable narrator
Dislikes: the random use of binary code made the audiobook annoying, Palahniuk brought back his method of repeated phrases for this one
TWs: mentions of incest, animal deaths, gore, murder, rape, sexual depravity
It’s been a while since I’ve reviewed a Chuck book on here (see: Damned) so I’m going to preface this by saying that he is an auto-buy author of mine – which means I’ll buy anything with his name on it, no questions asked, no summary needed. (Which is also why I refer to him as “Chuck” rather than using his last name like in my other book reviews). Ultimately, I will defend this man until I no longer can anymore, however, that does NOT mean that I can’t be unbiased because while he may be brilliant at what he does, sometimes his books are a miss for me, in this case though? Well.. let’s just say this book was… interesting.
If you’ve never read a Chuck book before then this one is not for you UNLESS you like serial killer origin stories and have a strong stomach when it comes to gore. Actually, before you read anything by him- IGNORE THE NEGATIVE REVIEWS and just pay attention to the TWs (if you need them). I say this because people are going to come at him with pitchforks regardless of if the story itself is good or not, yet the whole point of his books are to try and get the reader to actually think in a way that can come off as really offensive (and that’s what makes them brilliant). So if you have read one of his books and felt uncomfortable after, then he was successful at making his point (see: Transgressive Fiction) and I encourage you to pick up another one.
It’s also important to note that all of Chuck’s books have an underlying meaning behind them and the messed up stories are just what’s at the surface. Most of them are actually based on real-life scenarios that have either happened to him, his family, or people that he’s talked to in passing so if you’ve ever wondered where he could possible think up things like this, well, the man has done is research.
Palahniuk doesn’t write for tourists. He writes for hard-core devotees drawn to the wild, angry imagination on display and the taboo-busting humor.
– The New York Times
In this case, you can try to interpret this book however you’d like, whether you think it’s about toxic masculinity or the public’s obsession with serial killers, but to save you from having to reread it (unless that’s your sort of thing) this one is about addiction and all those affected by it. Chuck literally lets the reader know this at the end of the book, and I’m not sure if that necessarily saves this novel, but try to keep that in mind while you read it and it’ll make it a little easier to digest.
Now, with all of that in mind! Let’s dive in ~
Not Forever But For Now is about two privileged brothers, Otto and Cecil, that grew up in the Welsh countryside and were raised by a family of murderers. Their family aren’t just regular murderers though, oh no, they’re the one’s responsible for all of the prominent deaths that you’ve heard of on the news. From Judy Garland to Princess Diana, the Jonestown massacre and Kent State, I’m talking generations of hit-men and serial killers to a point that their family puts the Manson family to shame.
The only one’s who fear death are those who’ve never lived.
– Not Forever But For Now; pg. 207
While listening to this book it made me think of the brothers in Over the Garden Wall if they were brought up by the people who raised Leatherface. Throughout the entire thing Cecil looks up to Otto with childlike wonder and awe, which is odd… because they’re not children, they’re 30 years old and their lives had already passed by literally by the time it took the narrator to turn over a page. However, despite being adults, they’re still hanging onto their childhood nanny and according to Cecil their lives felt like they stopped progressing when their father left them when they were young. Meanwhile their father is still no where to be found and it’s very clear that they’ve been desperate for him to be in their life (as long as he doesn’t prevent them from taking over the family business).
Overall this book was a classic Chuck read, yet I’m still torn on if I loved it or not. I’m always a sucker for an unreliable narrator and his writing style, and the way he rounded out this story in particular was great in my opinion, but I didn’t like the way he used the same repeated phrases over and over similarly to how he did in his other book Choke. Now I’m not sure if it’s because I listened to it rather than read it, but overtime I just wanted to get to the end. It’s one thing if you repeat the title (like he does), but it’s another if every other page has the same phrase on it. This book just doesn’t hold a candle to Invisible Monsters, yet I know that it could still get worse based on what I’ve heard about Haunted, so I’m giving it what I call an “indecisive rating” of 3.5 stars where it’s not stellar, but it’s not horrible either.
If you liked The Final Girl’s Support Group by Grady Hendrix (but less campy), The Devil’s Rejects, Leatherface, researching the Manson family, or really any slasher movie/book, then this one is for you.
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