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1CarlosMcRey
This may sound strange, but I found these two novels to have some surprising similarities. Both authors have a fondness for trivia, whether the symptoms of various ailments or the demographics of bowling. Both also use rather silly religious contrivances in service of the plot. Choke suggests an amusingly naive view of reliquaries, whereas Odd Thomas' portrayal of Satanists is several decades out of date.
Both novels reflect a certain degree of insularity, especially in relation to questions of history and ethnicity. Koontz take on history is rather reactionary, giving the impression that any song or book written (or movie filmed) after 1964 is hopelessly corrupt. Palahniuk's take, on the other hand, is one more of benign neglect, though I found his myth (not presented as such) about the "source of all art" a little off-putting.
Koontz doesn't shy away from race in his book, though it functions as little but set dressing. Some of his ethnic characters do come close to condescending clichés: the soulful, blind African-American DJ with a voice to surpass Barry White; the portly African-American woman who is a gospel singer. As with history, Palahniuk's take on ethnicity is one of benign neglect. The events of Choke take place in an unnamed metropolitan area, making the absence of minorities within the story somewhat implausible. Palahniuk may simply have felt have been unable to portray non-white characters in a convincing way and felt that excluding them was a better option than portraying them as stereotypes. Choke does have an nominally Italian character who speaks and acts nothing like one would expect of an Italian immigrant; the character is not a stereotype, but their Italianness functions as an Informed Attribute.
What really resonated (and inspired this post) was that both novels had "parental absence" as a central theme. Vincent Mancini, the protagonist of Choke, never knew his father (or even anything about his father), and grew up in foster homes because his mom lost custody of him. She was always committing criminal acts of "cultural terrorism" which would land her in prison. For Odd Thomas, the parental absence is more emotional than physical. His father is a narcissist whose relationships don't last very long, and his mother is unstable and unable to handle others emotional needs.
There is, strangely enough, an extratextual correspondence regarding parental absence. The Choke audiobook includes a short monologue from Palahniuk where he discusses his inspirations for Choke, which include his own father's inability to maintain a relationship. Palahniuk's father's was murdered by the ex of one of the women he dated. Odd Thomas states that he believes that his father's impulsive dating will lead to his (the father's) violent death. (Although he imagines the woman as the source of that violence.) It is a strange, rather creepy coincidence.
One final similarity: Though both authors have reputations for fast, intense writing, I found both plots incredibly creaky. There were too many moments that felt like filler, where the author was telling me something he had already told me.
Both novels reflect a certain degree of insularity, especially in relation to questions of history and ethnicity. Koontz take on history is rather reactionary, giving the impression that any song or book written (or movie filmed) after 1964 is hopelessly corrupt. Palahniuk's take, on the other hand, is one more of benign neglect, though I found his myth (not presented as such) about the "source of all art" a little off-putting.
Koontz doesn't shy away from race in his book, though it functions as little but set dressing. Some of his ethnic characters do come close to condescending clichés: the soulful, blind African-American DJ with a voice to surpass Barry White; the portly African-American woman who is a gospel singer. As with history, Palahniuk's take on ethnicity is one of benign neglect. The events of Choke take place in an unnamed metropolitan area, making the absence of minorities within the story somewhat implausible. Palahniuk may simply have felt have been unable to portray non-white characters in a convincing way and felt that excluding them was a better option than portraying them as stereotypes. Choke does have an nominally Italian character who speaks and acts nothing like one would expect of an Italian immigrant; the character is not a stereotype, but their Italianness functions as an Informed Attribute.
What really resonated (and inspired this post) was that both novels had "parental absence" as a central theme. Vincent Mancini, the protagonist of Choke, never knew his father (or even anything about his father), and grew up in foster homes because his mom lost custody of him. She was always committing criminal acts of "cultural terrorism" which would land her in prison. For Odd Thomas, the parental absence is more emotional than physical. His father is a narcissist whose relationships don't last very long, and his mother is unstable and unable to handle others emotional needs.
There is, strangely enough, an extratextual correspondence regarding parental absence. The Choke audiobook includes a short monologue from Palahniuk where he discusses his inspirations for Choke, which include his own father's inability to maintain a relationship. Palahniuk's father's was murdered by the ex of one of the women he dated. Odd Thomas states that he believes that his father's impulsive dating will lead to his (the father's) violent death. (Although he imagines the woman as the source of that violence.) It is a strange, rather creepy coincidence.
One final similarity: Though both authors have reputations for fast, intense writing, I found both plots incredibly creaky. There were too many moments that felt like filler, where the author was telling me something he had already told me.
2margad
Thanks for an intriguing comparison, Carlos.
The creepy link between these books - the mention in Odd Thomas about the father's risk of being killed as a result of his dating habits, and the fact that Chuck Palahniuk's father really was murdered by the ex of a woman he dated - gives me chills. I've never read either of these authors, but learning this fact about Palahniuk's life makes me feel more inclined to read one of his novels. Since he has personal experience with the aftereffects of violence, his insights are probably worth considering.
Another coincidence is that I was just talking with a friend of mine who writes YA novels. We were discussing the fact that her work all revolves around disrupted parent-child relationships - most often an absent father. Her books have won awards, but have not sold as well as she had hoped, and it occurred to us that this theme probably resonates more strongly with baby boomers, who have experienced so much change in the nature of the family, than with today's teens and twenty-somethings who haven't experienced the "generation gap" in the way our generation did. Though the level of graphic brutality in her novels certainly doesn't approach that in adult books like Choke and Odd Thomas, the specter of violence is not far away - especially in A Voice from the Border, set in Civil War Missouri.
The creepy link between these books - the mention in Odd Thomas about the father's risk of being killed as a result of his dating habits, and the fact that Chuck Palahniuk's father really was murdered by the ex of a woman he dated - gives me chills. I've never read either of these authors, but learning this fact about Palahniuk's life makes me feel more inclined to read one of his novels. Since he has personal experience with the aftereffects of violence, his insights are probably worth considering.
Another coincidence is that I was just talking with a friend of mine who writes YA novels. We were discussing the fact that her work all revolves around disrupted parent-child relationships - most often an absent father. Her books have won awards, but have not sold as well as she had hoped, and it occurred to us that this theme probably resonates more strongly with baby boomers, who have experienced so much change in the nature of the family, than with today's teens and twenty-somethings who haven't experienced the "generation gap" in the way our generation did. Though the level of graphic brutality in her novels certainly doesn't approach that in adult books like Choke and Odd Thomas, the specter of violence is not far away - especially in A Voice from the Border, set in Civil War Missouri.
