#311 Zombies- Chuck Palahniuk
The world has gotten so messed up, the Kardashians and the
Baldwins are breeding uncontrollably and the smartest kids in school are
seeking an out. Not suicide but de-evolution, a way to take the “great leap
backwards.”
They achieve this “Brain trauma nirvana” by taking the
ubiquitous wall defibrillators and zapping themselves back to a happy,
drooling-idiot phase where childish ignorance and no responsibilities will
haunt them anymore.
Unlike the animals, humans have the stain of misery and
sadness, the consciousness to contemplate life and death. “To be or not to be.
God’s greatest gift to animals is they don’t get a choice.”
And in a world quickly turning into a cartoon factory
farce—“No offense to Jesus, but the meek won’t inherit the earth. To judge from
reality TV the loudmouths will get their hands on everything”—why not choose
ignorant bliss?
Palahniuk has a long history of writing about extreme social
reaction to modern triviality. He takes an inevitable human response to a
logical, but single-minded, end-game to the point that we’re all staring at
ourselves in a fun-house mirror, usually giving us a bit of hope at the end.
Notable Passage: “It sounds trite, but only because words
make everything true sound trite. Because words always screw up whatever you’re
trying to say.”
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