Recently I finished one of the most bizarre books by one of the most bizarre authors I've ever read. Rant by Chuck Palahniuk (Fight Club, etc) takes out a mixing bowl and tosses in chunks of 1984, bits of "The Matrix," a smidgeon of "Back to the Future," and a dash of "28 Days Later," to finally provide truly inspired bits of real insanity, so much so that there are probably about 5302 different conclusions the reader can come to after the last page has been turned. Due to the writing style, where Palahniuk takes on an interview-style approach, where he formulates his story through the "first-hand" accounts of the 40 or so characters that were "interviewed." Though the majority of the characters didn't particularly make the light go off in my head as to what I believed the main point of the book to be, one character, "Neddy Nelson," takes a direct approach that reflects a little of all the books/films listed above aside from "Back to the Future," and that is an anti-establishment vantage point. His character tied a lot of the other stories being told together, just by having them make a bit more sense. I won't go too far into it, but Rant, is about a character (named Rant) that is quite possibly a self-wounding, time-traveling, rabies-infested entrepreneur, but it leaves everything up to the readers' imagination. In reality, Rant is Palahniuk's "rant" against some of the more prevalent and controversial issues of our time, specifically those that involve less-than-noble acts done by our governments and the agencies under their control...
So that got me to thinking, what are some of the best anti-establishment songs out there? Oh sure, there's a ton of them, but what are the Mog-gers opinions on this?
I got two of the more recent ones I can think about here:
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I am going to have to check this one out, have you read Survivor?
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not yet, but that and Choke are definitely on my to read list...
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I have read all of Palahniuk's books except for "Rant", and they are all equally disturbing but great. "Diary" is the most bizarre of what I have read by him to date, and it seems to be similar to "Rant" in terms of style and approach. Basically, 12 or so aspiring writers are invited to a "workshop" to learn how to write the Great American Novel, but they are actually kidnapped, so to speak, and locked in this old theater and forced to tell their life stories which are all completely insane.
"Survivor" was my favorite with "Invisible Monsters" coming in a close second.
As far as anti-establishment songs go, try: "Democracy in Kind" by State Radio "We Don't Stop" by Michael Franti & Spearhead "Last Summer" by The Samples "Mosh" by Eminem "Ohio" by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young "Hands Held High" - Linkin Park "Capital G" - Nine Inch Nails "I Am A Patriot" - Pearl Jam (not sure who wrote it)
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according to wikipedia, the "I Am A Patriot" song was written by Little Steven & The Disciples of Soul. That would not have been my guess (because until 2 minutes ago I had never heard of them)....
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you have to read Survivor, has one of the best endings I have ever read in a book. Caused me to laugh out loud, then re-read it again just for the enjoyment
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how about the entire evil empire album?
i will have to read rant,! thanks for that! diary was the first of his books i ever read. i loved choke and fight club too, he is an amazing author isn't he? i heard he is also part of the cacophony society-very interesting man
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alrighty... Diary and Survivor will be moved up the list, thanks for the heads-up guys! He is definitely an amazing author... I mean, even if you don't like the subject matter and some of the scenarios he talks about, his creativity and intelligence cannot be denied. It's unreal. I mean, this ENTIRE book was written basically in character, and there were about 40 or so of them, with about 10 main characters. He completely switches writing styles with each character, and speaks to the reader differently. It's ridiculous.... he weaves a story through all their different views of the situation, and it works... I struggled with it a little bit at first, but then it clicked...
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I just went to one of Chuck's readings about a week ago in Milwaukee; he signed copies of Rant and threw inflatable deer heads and human limbs into the audience while he performed his reading. It was wild stuff.....AND, he gave everyone fake cigarettes that blew out talcum-powder smoke.
Anti-establishment songs:
Fuck the Police - NWA California Uber Alles - Dead Kennedys Copkiller - Bodycount Almost Cut My Hair - CSNY If 6 Was 9 - Jimi Hendrix White Riot - The Clash God Save the Queen - Sex Pistols
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haha... that's awesome.
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holy shit. that is awesome.