re:mote voices: literature

Title: Lullaby
Author: Chuck Palahniuk
Publisher: Jonathan Cape

Lullaby is the fifth book by Chuck Palahniuk, just published in the larger paper back format with the move of his previous novel Choke to standard paper back format. Talking about his previous works Chuck has described the themes of those 4 to be about identity, with Lullaby he moves on. Carl Streator is a journalist, and the narrator of this story, who has been assigned to do a story about cot death. Designed to be a series of stories covering different families, he has spotted that at least two of the families had read their dead baby the same poem the night before it died. With some research and testing Carl finds that this lullaby is in fact a culling spell from Africa, which was designed to put the elderly, the wounded, the excess population peacefully out of their misery. Horrified by the potential of such a spell in the information age Carl decides to track down all the copies of the book and destroy them before the spell can spread. Of course, things aren't as easy as that, and complications arise when he meets someone else that knows the spell and has been using it for their own end.

While the big picture might be different in narrative terms, the small scale themes are familiar and subversive as ever. Through out there is the idea that we are a culture addicted to noise, we must constantly have the TV blaring, the radio blasting, we must always be talking to fill the silence - the suggestion that silence fills us with fear and is to be avoided. Meanwhile we have the persistent appearance of adverts in the paper, which pick on expensive establishments and make suggestions that could tarnish their reputation. Then there is the estate agent who specialises in houses, which have been the scene of some violent death, leading to some great scenes.

Lullaby is as fun as Chuck's other work, and while it speaks with his familiar voice there is a slightly different tone to his words.

RVWR: PTR
November 2002