Fight Club is a 1999 American film directed by David Fincher, and starring Brad Pitt, Edward Nortonand Helena Bonham Carter. It is based on the 1996 novel by Chuck Palahniuk. Norton plays the unnamed narrator, who is discontented with his white-collar job. He forms a "fight club" with soap salesman Tyler Durden (Pitt), and becomes embroiled in a relationship with an impoverished but beguilingly attractive woman, Marla Singer (Bonham Carter).

Just kidding. Man I’m so gutted I didn’t vibe with this one. I know that it’s obviously the other way around, but this novel felt very Kafkaesque, and not in a good way unfortunately. The general plot of the double, or doppelgänger, makes little sense throughout, while also giving up its shtick immediately upon the introduction of the second Golyadkin. Now, I’m not saying that it should be a Fight Club situation with a huge twist at the end. But I still thought that the plot was very confusing. This fact was not helped by the writing; I will admit the translation I used very clearly didn’t hurt, as it used a lot of antiquated terms and syntax. But still, I recognised Dostoevsky’s very own stress of certain phrases, constant repetition of names, and nerve wracking introspection, which simply didn’t work in this case. It’s a chaotic and anxiety inducing narrative, but I found it hard to in any way relate to the protagonist, besides understanding his awkwardness and desire to be someone altogether different. His life is too shapeless, nothing makes sense. I get that this might be a metaphor for feeling alienated from society, or possibly a depiction of schizofrenia, but still, my point is that it didn’t make for a pleasant read. The other characters are also pointless and hardly play a part in the story. Again, I get that that’s a feature, not a bug, but it just wasn’t for me. Much less polished than both earlier (white nights) and later (crime and punishment) works. So bloated for such a short book. Disappointing.