Survivor (novel)

Survivor is a novel by Chuck Palahniuk. A satire of our commercial culture, it is the story of Tender Branson, a member of the Creedish Church, a death cult. In it, every member learns how to be a servant for the human race—most of them are butlers and maids—and fear most human pleasures. They await a sign from God to tell them to deliver themselves unto Him, that is, commit suicide. The sign finally comes, and a good ten years later, Tender becomes the last surviving member of the cult. He's thrown into mainstream culture and becomes a personal icon for many people.

Related Topics:
Novel - Chuck Palahniuk - Satire - Church - Servant - Human race - Butler - Maid - Fear - Pleasure - God - Suicide - Year - Culture - Icon

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Excerpt from chapter 25:

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:"This one time, the agent asked me where I saw myself in five years. Dead, I said. I see myself dead and rotting. Or ashes, I can see myself burned to ashes. I remember I had a loaded gun in my pocket. Just the two of us were standing in the back of a crowded, dark auditorium.

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:'I see myself dead and in hell.'

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:I remember I was planning to kill myself that night. It was the night of my first big public appearance. I told the agent, I figured I'd spend my first thousand years in hell in some entry-level position, but after that I wanted to move into management. Be a real team player. Hell is going to see enormous growth in market share over the next millennium, and I wanted to ride the crest.

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:The agent said that sounded pretty realistic."

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Survivor has been criticised stylistically, because the narrator although he comes from a radically different background, writes in almost exactly the same style that the one of Fight Club does.

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