Page 1 of 1

Is Fight Club the Most influential book of the 20th cent.?

PostPosted: Thu Oct 04, 2018 10:44 am
by DoomYoshi
I know that's a pretty big claim, but I think that at least right now it is extremely influential. The word "snowflake" has entered the lexicon in a whole new way. Everybody knows the first 2 rules. You are not your khakis is a battle cry for this generation.

Any other contenders?

Re: Is Fight Club the Most influential book of the 20th cent

PostPosted: Thu Oct 04, 2018 5:31 pm
by betiko
50 shades of grey

Re: Is Fight Club the Most influential book of the 20th cent

PostPosted: Thu Oct 04, 2018 5:40 pm
by Neoteny
Excuse me, sir, that book would be the Bible.

Re: Is Fight Club the Most influential book of the 20th cent

PostPosted: Thu Oct 04, 2018 6:21 pm
by betiko
Neoteny wrote:Excuse me, sir, that book would be the Bible.


More like the coran. Number 1!

Re: Is Fight Club the Most influential book of the 20th cent

PostPosted: Thu Oct 04, 2018 7:15 pm
by thegreekdog
I'm going to go with the book that led to the start of World War II as the most influential book of the 20th century.

Re: Is Fight Club the Most influential book of the 20th cent

PostPosted: Thu Oct 04, 2018 7:16 pm
by Symmetry
I think most people who use the term "snowflake" probably haven't read the book, and likely didn't understand the film. They're the kind of people who used to use "cuck", and probably still use SJW thinking that they're the kind of person Brad Pitt was in the movie, but failing to notice that they've been co-opted by racists.

Heads up "cuck" users- just because a bunch of right wingers decided that "k*ke" fit well with the idea of "cuckold" as a rallying cry for white nationalism, doesn't mean you have to use it too.

Heads up, "SJW" users, huh, those last two letters sound familiar? Yes, right wingers strike again. You think that was an accident? Grow up. These are people who know how to code their extremism.

Look, you should be sceptical here. These are merely warning signs in and of themeselves. Combine it with hatred of prominent black and/or Jewish figures- well maybe your scepticism lessens a little. Are they also opposed to immigrants? Specifically non-white immigrants? Opposed to Black lives mattering? Hate George Soros? Bit weird about religion?

I mean, I could write a checklist, but you get the point.

Re: Is Fight Club the Most influential book of the 20th cent

PostPosted: Thu Oct 04, 2018 7:42 pm
by mookiemcgee
I'd agree Doom. That movie evoked the zeitgeist of it's time like few movies of it's era even attempted to do.

Re: Is Fight Club the Most influential book of the 20th cent

PostPosted: Thu Oct 04, 2018 7:51 pm
by Dukasaur
I've never seen the movie or read the book. I recognize the quotes from pop culture, but I can't say they mean anything to me other than being mildly-funny quotes from pop culture.

Re: Is Fight Club the Most influential book of the 20th cent

PostPosted: Thu Oct 04, 2018 7:57 pm
by Symmetry
Dukasaur wrote:I've never seen the movie or read the book. I recognize the quotes from pop culture, but I can't say they mean anything to me other than being mildly-funny quotes from pop culture.


Both are better than they sound from casual descriptions. Weirdly some people really identify with Brad Pitt's character in the movie though. No spoilers though.

Re: Is Fight Club the Most influential book of the 20th cent

PostPosted: Thu Oct 04, 2018 9:16 pm
by DoomYoshi
betiko wrote:50 shades of grey


Wrong century.
Neoteny wrote:Excuse me, sir, that book would be the Bible.


Wrong century.

betiko wrote:
Neoteny wrote:Excuse me, sir, that book would be the Bible.


More like the coran. Number 1!


Wrong century.

thegreekdog wrote:I'm going to go with the book that led to the start of World War II as the most influential book of the 20th century.


What is that? The State: Elements of Historical and Practical Politics by Woodrow Wilson?

Symmetry wrote:I think most people who use the term "snowflake" probably haven't read the book, and likely didn't understand the film. They're the kind of people who used to use "cuck", and probably still use SJW thinking that they're the kind of person Brad Pitt was in the movie, but failing to notice that they've been co-opted by racists.

Heads up "cuck" users- just because a bunch of right wingers decided that "k*ke" fit well with the idea of "cuckold" as a rallying cry for white nationalism, doesn't mean you have to use it too.

Heads up, "SJW" users, huh, those last two letters sound familiar? Yes, right wingers strike again. You think that was an accident? Grow up. These are people who know how to code their extremism.

Look, you should be sceptical here. These are merely warning signs in and of themeselves. Combine it with hatred of prominent black and/or Jewish figures- well maybe your scepticism lessens a little. Are they also opposed to immigrants? Specifically non-white immigrants? Opposed to Black lives mattering? Hate George Soros? Bit weird about religion?

I mean, I could write a checklist, but you get the point.


I think people use the word snowflake who don't even fit into any of those stereotypes. It's a pretty standard buzzword.

Dukasaur wrote:I've never seen the movie or read the book. I recognize the quotes from pop culture, but I can't say they mean anything to me other than being mildly-funny quotes from pop culture.


It's worth seeing. It's like V for Vendetta meets American Beauty.

Surprisingly nobody mentioned Atlas Shrugged, the only other book that I thought was a strong contender. It's a book about how you should be allowed to buy all the khakis you want instead of buying khakis for poor people. Or maybe 1984, the book about how the man tells you what khakis to buy.

Re: Is Fight Club the Most influential book of the 20th cent

PostPosted: Thu Oct 04, 2018 9:32 pm
by Symmetry
It's a buzzword because of a movie based on a book.

People don't tend to remember Atlas Shrugged because nobody reads it. It is not a good book. I'm not just talking about the plot- rich people go on strike because ordinary folks want to loot their ideas. I'm not even talking about the author, who needed the system she denigrated to look after her.

The writing though- it's really bad. Have you read it? If you have, you have my sympathy.

Re: Is Fight Club the Most influential book of the 20th cent

PostPosted: Thu Oct 04, 2018 9:50 pm
by DoomYoshi
Symmetry wrote:It's a buzzword because of a movie based on a book.

People don't tend to remember Atlas Shrugged because nobody reads it. It is not a good book. I'm not just talking about the plot- rich people go on strike because ordinary folks want to loot their ideas. I'm not even talking about the author, who needed the system she denigrated to look after her.

The writing though- it's really bad. Have you read it? If you have, you have my sympathy.


I keep on my public display shelf right beside The Bonfire of the Vanities and the The World Treasury of Science Fiction anthology.

All 3 I have read and would recommend.

Re: Is Fight Club the Most influential book of the 20th cent

PostPosted: Thu Oct 04, 2018 10:40 pm
by Symmetry
DoomYoshi wrote:
Symmetry wrote:It's a buzzword because of a movie based on a book.

People don't tend to remember Atlas Shrugged because nobody reads it. It is not a good book. I'm not just talking about the plot- rich people go on strike because ordinary folks want to loot their ideas. I'm not even talking about the author, who needed the system she denigrated to look after her.

The writing though- it's really bad. Have you read it? If you have, you have my sympathy.


I keep on my public display shelf right beside The Bonfire of the Vanities and the The World Treasury of Science Fiction anthology.

All 3 I have read and would recommend.[/quote

Funny, all three of your publicly displayed books are huge in terms of pages. It's as if you equate big books with big ideas, and that you expect people to be impressed that you got through them,

I just sort them by subject and author.

Re: Is Fight Club the Most influential book of the 20th cent

PostPosted: Fri Oct 05, 2018 4:51 am
by Dukasaur
Symmetry wrote:It's a buzzword because of a movie based on a book.

People don't tend to remember Atlas Shrugged because nobody reads it. It is not a good book. I'm not just talking about the plot- rich people go on strike because ordinary folks want to loot their ideas. I'm not even talking about the author, who needed the system she denigrated to look after her.

The writing though- it's really bad. Have you read it? If you have, you have my sympathy.


Almost everyone I know in real life has read Atlas Shrugged, and I know several people who've read it multiple times. Regardless of what you think about the philosophical ideas, it's actually a pretty compelling read. Slagging it off as something that "nobody reads" is an intentional slander; I'm pretty sure you know it not to be true.

It's okay to disagree with Ayn Rand's ideas -- over the years, I've come to disagree with most of them myself. Dismissing her as irrelevant, on the other hand, is dirty pool of a kind that has become all too common in today's world -- damning with ridicule instead of honestly challenging.

Re: Is Fight Club the Most influential book of the 20th cent

PostPosted: Fri Oct 05, 2018 6:06 am
by Neoteny
Oh we're taking this seriously for some reason.

Fight Club is a manifestation of GenX's obsession with authenticity and their inability to do anything about it. The only influence it had was in contributing to the rise of pop culture as identity, a system it neither vanguarded nor modified the trajectory of. It didn't influence anyone to do anything. If you are judging influence by phrases that entered the cultural lexicon, the most influential movie of the century is probably Monty Python's Quest for the Holy Grail.

I'd place books that started tangible movements like The Jungle or Silent Spring above Club, as well as ones that informed movements, like greek's referenced Mein Kampf or Quotes from Mao. Hell, Catcher at least got John Lennon killed. As far as literary influences, you can put most of your high school summer reading ahead of it. Nobody's trying to write the next Fight Club. Even for books not trying to be capital L literature, I'm putting Fear and Loathing ahead of it.

Atlas is a book for people who never grew out of being obsessed with trains, and was a medium for Rand to act out her weird rape fantasies.

Re: Is Fight Club the Most influential book of the 20th cent

PostPosted: Fri Oct 05, 2018 8:23 pm
by demonfork
Neoteny wrote:Oh we're taking this seriously for some reason.

Fight Club is a manifestation of GenX's obsession with authenticity and their inability to do anything about it. The only influence it had was in contributing to the rise of pop culture as identity, a system it neither vanguarded nor modified the trajectory of. It didn't influence anyone to do anything. If you are judging influence by phrases that entered the cultural lexicon, the most influential movie of the century is probably Monty Python's Quest for the Holy Grail.

I'd place books that started tangible movements like The Jungle or Silent Spring above Club, as well as ones that informed movements, like greek's referenced Mein Kampf or Quotes from Mao. Hell, Catcher at least got John Lennon killed. As far as literary influences, you can put most of your high school summer reading ahead of it. Nobody's trying to write the next Fight Club. Even for books not trying to be capital L literature, I'm putting Fear and Loathing ahead of it.

Atlas is a book for people who never grew out of being obsessed with trains, and was a medium for Rand to act out her weird rape fantasies.



"The only influence it had was in contributing to the rise of pop culture as identity, a system it neither vanguarded nor modified the trajectory of"

ROFL. HAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAAHAH

Dude, you try so hard and want so badly to be an intellectual that I almost feel embarrassed for you.

Re: Is Fight Club the Most influential book of the 20th cent

PostPosted: Fri Oct 05, 2018 8:30 pm
by Neoteny
Lol christ, dying on the hill of vaccine injury just isn't enough for you, huh? Need to step up to defend the 1997 Oregon Book Award winner?

Re: Is Fight Club the Most influential book of the 20th cent

PostPosted: Fri Oct 05, 2018 9:00 pm
by demonfork
Neoteny wrote:Lol christ, dying on the hill of vaccine injury just isn't enough for you, huh? Need to step up to defend the 1997 Oregon Book Award winner?


Continuing to have a tough time with reading comprehension that again leads you to make left field extrapolations are we?

Nowhere did I even remotely come close to taking a position of defense regarding the book. I didn't even mention the book.


Are you really that dumb? I was making fun of you, your incoherent statement, and your wanna-be desire to be an intellectual.


But somehow you take this to mean that I'm defending the book? :lol: :lol: :lol:

The only influence it had was in contributing to the rise of pop culture as identity, a system it neither vanguarded nor modified the trajectory of


:lol: :lol: :lol: Wtf does that even mean? Did you really sit there after pondering your experience with the book and think this up? Or maybe you have a ready-made, pull down menu of bullshit, nonsensical phrases, filled with .50 cent words that you can bust out on demand?


Here I fixed it for you...

"The only influence it had was in contributing to the rise of pop culture's obsession with identity, though it was neither the vanguard of this obsession nor did it have a major influence on it's trajectory."



"rise of pop culture as identity" doesn't make sense. "vanguarded" isn't even a word. And if it had an influence then the trajectory had to be modified.

Even though I made the statement at least comprehendible it still doesn't make sense, as you claim that it's influence was in contributing to the aspect of identity in pop culture but then you go on to say that it wasn't the vanguard of it? Well no shit Sherlock! How could it be at the forefront of an idea if it was just a mere contributor?

Re: Is Fight Club the Most influential book of the 20th cent

PostPosted: Fri Oct 05, 2018 10:57 pm
by demonfork
Symmetry wrote:I think most people who use the term "snowflake" probably haven't read the book, and likely didn't understand the film. They're the kind of people who used to use "cuck", and probably still use SJW thinking that they're the kind of person Brad Pitt was in the movie, but failing to notice that they've been co-opted by racists.

Heads up "cuck" users- just because a bunch of right wingers decided that "k*ke" fit well with the idea of "cuckold" as a rallying cry for white nationalism, doesn't mean you have to use it too.

Heads up, "SJW" users, huh, those last two letters sound familiar? Yes, right wingers strike again. You think that was an accident? Grow up. These are people who know how to code their extremism.

Look, you should be sceptical here. These are merely warning signs in and of themeselves. Combine it with hatred of prominent black and/or Jewish figures- well maybe your scepticism lessens a little. Are they also opposed to immigrants? Specifically non-white immigrants? Opposed to Black lives mattering? Hate George Soros? Bit weird about religion?

I mean, I could write a checklist, but you get the point.


Nice conspiracy theories. You're turning into the Alex Jones of CC.

Re: Is Fight Club the Most influential book of the 20th cent

PostPosted: Fri Oct 05, 2018 11:38 pm
by Symmetry
Dukasaur wrote:
Symmetry wrote:It's a buzzword because of a movie based on a book.

People don't tend to remember Atlas Shrugged because nobody reads it. It is not a good book. I'm not just talking about the plot- rich people go on strike because ordinary folks want to loot their ideas. I'm not even talking about the author, who needed the system she denigrated to look after her.

The writing though- it's really bad. Have you read it? If you have, you have my sympathy.


Almost everyone I know in real life has read Atlas Shrugged, and I know several people who've read it multiple times. Regardless of what you think about the philosophical ideas, it's actually a pretty compelling read. Slagging it off as something that "nobody reads" is an intentional slander; I'm pretty sure you know it not to be true.

It's okay to disagree with Ayn Rand's ideas -- over the years, I've come to disagree with most of them myself. Dismissing her as irrelevant, on the other hand, is dirty pool of a kind that has become all too common in today's world -- damning with ridicule instead of honestly challenging.


It's definitely one of those books that people say they've read, I'll give you that. Having actually read it, reading it more than once seems like masochism. Given that there are so many better novels out there, multiple re-readings seems vaguely perverse.

Re: Is Fight Club the Most influential book of the 20th cent

PostPosted: Sun Oct 07, 2018 7:52 am
by Neoteny
demonfork wrote:Continuing to have a tough time with reading comprehension that again leads you to make left field extrapolations are we?

Nowhere did I even remotely come close to taking a position of defense regarding the book. I didn't even mention the book.


Are you really that dumb? I was making fun of you, your incoherent statement, and your wanna-be desire to be an intellectual.


But somehow you take this to mean that I'm defending the book? :lol: :lol: :lol:


Oh I see. It actually just looks like you got schooled in another thread and are trying to somehow save face by following me around and... playing logic nerd? Epic pwn!!! Bacon win!! roflcopter!!1!

demonfork wrote: :lol: :lol: :lol: Wtf does that even mean? Did you really sit there after pondering your experience with the book and think this up? Or maybe you have a ready-made, pull down menu of bullshit, nonsensical phrases, filled with .50 cent words that you can bust out on demand?


Here I fixed it for you...

"The only influence it had was in contributing to the rise of pop culture's obsession with identity, though it was neither the vanguard of this obsession nor did it have a major influence on it's trajectory."



"rise of pop culture as identity" doesn't make sense. "vanguarded" isn't even a word. And if it had an influence then the trajectory had to be modified.

Even though I made the statement at least comprehendible it still doesn't make sense, as you claim that it's influence was in contributing to the aspect of identity in pop culture but then you go on to say that it wasn't the vanguard of it? Well no shit Sherlock! How could it be at the forefront of an idea if it was just a mere contributor?


1. One can absolutely see "vanguarded" in published texts
2. Even if it hadn't been, verbifying words is fun and adds spice to discussion. Not that you would know what that feels like. Your posts read like they were shouted into existence by a tween on laughing gas.

Pick apart the sentence tree all you want, dork. You're the one getting red and nude online because someone dared say something mean about a fraud.