Title: Adjustment Day
Author: Chuck Palahniuk
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 978-0393652598
Genre: Literary Fiction
Pages: 336
Source: Publisher
Rating: 4 Stars
Let me very honest and tell you that I wasn’t all that excited when I heard of the new Palahniuk being released. I haven’t enjoyed his last couple of books and yet I was in a strange way looking forward to reading this one.
At the same time, Palahniuk is not every reader’s cup of tea. “Adjustment Day” is his first novel in four years and might I add here that I was more than floored reading it. It is a book that is about the times we live in, the times that are dark and gloomy and no one else to bring it to light, the way Palahniuk does. He wrings the absurdities of society, class and political structure like no one else, almost brandishing each farce and each conspiracy theory lurking in the American psyche, bit by bit.
So, what is Adjustment Day all about?
Adjustment Day is about the rabbit hole of our times – the deep, dark abyss that sucks everything right in, with no chance of redemption. Sounds bleak? That’s exactly what the book is with a dash of humour. At the same time, I think one Chuck Palahniuk novel has the potential to derive five more from it. The plot isn’t linear at all (if you have experienced his writing, then you know that by now) and with every turn of the page you are stunned by the satire, that is so on point.
The book is about people passing the word only to the ones whom they trust the most: Adjustment Day is coming. They are also reading a book for the reckoning. These people are also memorizing the directives. What is this book all about? What is Adjustment Day? In short, this is the plot of the book. But like I said, there is nothing easy about Palahniuk’s writing, till you are about twenty pages in and then it is a breeze.
Adjustment Day is also very relevant to the times we live in – the sound-bite politics, the social media hullabaloo, and the “everything is alright” propaganda we are fed with, basically the media and its culture. Every word is in place and nothing is what is not needed. I may not have enjoyed his earlier books, but this one, I most certainly loved. Palahniuk has done it again and hit it right out of the park!
Of Books and Reading 