Survivor
A Novel
by Chuck Palahniuk · first published 1999
3mentions
2recommended by
3HN commenters
2008–2022first – last mentioned
67% recommend33% neutral
Tender Branson, the last surviving member of the Creedish death cult, has commandeered a Boeing 747, emptied of passengers, in order to tell his story to the plane’s black box before it crashes. Brought up by the repressive cult and, like all Creedish younger sons, hired out as a domestic servant, Tender finds himself suddenly famous when his fellow cult members all commit suicide. As media messiah, he ascends to the very top of the freak-show heap before finally and apocalyptically spiralling out of control.
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If you liked this short story at all, go buy Choke or Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk.
on “How to Write Stories (and lose weight, clean up the environment, and make a million dollars)” ↗…really drawn you in, and you care about what's happening, and it matters. If not, take a look at hemmingway or maybe chuck palahniuk. they both put a lot of effort into making short powerful stories. Survivor or invisible monsters might be worth a read. Other stuff, well, my tolerance really depends on my level of curiosity. If i'm feeling particularly curious, i can read some pretty boring stuff, but not…
on “Why can’t we read anymore?” ↗Chuck Palahniuk's novel Survivor inverts the role of the page number, turning it into a countdown toward the climax. From Wikipedia: > The chapters and pages are numbered backwards in the book, beginning with Chapter 47 on page 289…
on “The lowly page number” ↗