Rant by Chuck Palahniuk | Teen Ink

Rant by Chuck Palahniuk MAG

April 6, 2009
By Kendra Fischer BRONZE, Canfield, Ohio
Kendra Fischer BRONZE, Canfield, Ohio
3 articles 0 photos 0 comments

Rant is an incredibly interesting and remarkably funny fictional oral biography of Buster “Rant” Casey, a hip high school teen who lives on the wild side. He is constantly rebelling against his parents, which gives him a reputation for being quite the character in his small town.

Rant becomes enamored with the idea of being bitten by the wild creatures lurking around his town. Ultimately, this causes him to get rabies. He manages to use his incredible sense of taste and smell and his charm to spread the rabies all over town, and this is just one of Rant's tricks.

Chuck Palahniuk uses a unique and raw writing style to describe Rant's crazy life. He manages to take absurd ideas, such as rabies, death, and being reborn, and make them realistic. Palahniuk is also very straightforward with his writing. He is not there to please the reader; it's clear he has written the story just as he wants the reader to understand it.

Palahniuk easily weaves humor into a sometimes dull story line. The plot of Rant is hard to get used to and starts off somewhat slowly. Since the story is told from different viewpoints, it is often hard to follow. But as the book progresses it also intensifies, and the loose strings begin to pull together and everything finally falls into place. This is where Palahniuk surprises the reader most. He weaves a twist into the story that is unexpected. Palahniuk's creative plot line and unique writing style make Rant a great novel.

Along with plot and style, Palahniuk uses numerous characters to entice the reader. Each has an interesting perspective on Rant's life and a different reason why he or she is a part of it. These characters make for a more interesting story.

Rant will keep the wheels in your mind spinning from cover to cover.


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This article has 1 comment.


neimyne BRONZE said...
on Apr. 3 2010 at 5:08 pm
neimyne BRONZE, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
3 articles 3 photos 27 comments

You summarize the plot well in a concise manner, and I like how you emphasized the author's particular style of writing, but added your own input as well.

It's only recently since I've started reading Palahniuk's novels, and this is one I definitely am interested in :)