PYGMY

Chuck Palahniuk is one of my all time favorite authors. His writing style balances smartly between art and common sense. As a writer, I look forward to Palahniuk's novels. I learn a lot from his use of words.

With that said, I didn't much care for his latest book Pygmy. The words got in the way of the story. It's a first person perspective told by a visitor from a communist country, so the words are supposed to get in the way to a certain extent. I get that. But the narrative was often confusing, tripping me up, causing me to reread and piece together meaning.

What's worse Palahniuk doesn't logically employ this shoddy grasp of the English language. When Pygmy relates American dialogue, he repeats the words effortlessly. Why would he have such a hard time speaking it? If nothing else, wouldn't continued exposure improve his grasp of English? It does for the rest of us.

To me, Pygmy is not a believable character. He understands things like "electric blue" and the "dermis" of someone's skin, but candles are a mystery. Why else would he describe one as a long fire string surrounded by wax, burning on one end? Wouldn't you run across "candle" on your way to understanding electricity and human anatomy? Even if you cobbled the language together using American television??

I'm sorry Chuck, this is nothing personal. You know I'm a super big fan. The plot driving Pygmy is great, but the storytelling distracts from the read. I know I missed some of what you were trying to say, and that frustrates me most. I feel robbed. I still learned from this book, just not in the usual ways. 4 out of 10.