Killing yourself to live

Where to start....

Well out of a score of 10 I would probably give this book a 6 overall. This is by no means an unbiased opinion and not an objective review for the record.

First I would like to say the book is well written in that it posses strong voice. This is the books strongest point by far and its saving grace for making a 6. The way it is written it seems as if Chuck is next to you talking to you on his drive. This gives the book the feel of a long conversation. While this is an interesting approach i feel that other then chuck none of the other characters have much voice at all, a whole lot of dimension or importance. A large part of this may be do because chuck and the book seems wildly ego centric and chuck easily comes off as a selfish jackass. This is probably the greatest hindrance to me liking the book as it was flawless in its execution of putting chuck next to me it made it seem like a long conversation however, it was a conversation with a person I just could not get along with. The book did well to set the tone and mood and i was always aware of it but never a part of it. Like two parallel lines I just wouldn't ever intersect with it. Well.... except once the only valid point and the only time I felt even a little in sync with the main character was at the end when he noted on the first paragraph on page 232. It is this paragraph I feel i can completely agree with and I think this paragraph is probably the best written in the book. Why? well the thing with this paragraph is It speaks to the reader, it seems to me anyway to carry more strength then the rest in voice and the point it makes is much more full then any of the others made. Perhaps because this is the end of his journey and his brain is not so frazzled. The other thing i would like to note is that although he voices the idea of relationships shaping ones idea's of love I think this holds truth for many areas in a persons life. Which is why this book to me is a 6 out of 10 and not a 10 out of 10 because of the other books and stories and movies I have read or watched and enjoyed they have become templates to what I love about a book or song or media and what i compare new stuff to.

So to sum it up it's a 6 out of 10 for me (well written, hated the character and story). If were to attempt to judge it on literary merit and attempt to be objective I would probably rate it at a 7.5 or 8 not the greatest work I've ever read but superior to the average.