Chuck Palahniuk
Invisible Monsters

LA RECENSIONE

Nothing and no one is ever what they seem at first glance. Like beautiful women who were once men, who are then trans, or who, after pain, hormones, and surgeries, have finally managed to become women for real. Shannon McFarland is a model. How could one think of a model if not as beautiful and perfect? Yet in this book, "Invisible Monsters," she is a monster: the result of a mysterious accident that disfigured her face.

If many consider beauty as a gift, after reading this book, they will think of beauty as damnation, a demon that drags you with it, depriving you of your soul, of who you really are. Every day lived as a model seems perfect. Nothing could affect a person who has everything in life: money, a handsome boyfriend, fame, beauty, everything. The only thing you can wish for, once you have reached this point, is not to have all this.

Shannon McFarland has a family that does not appreciate her: a mother and a father who live in memory of the brother who died of AIDS and who never show affection towards her. And then, the mysterious accident that marks her life forever. Lost her beauty, lost everything: boyfriend, friends, modeling job (obviously). And, once her beauty is gone, one wonders what remains of her Person ...

"Give me pathetic whiny emotional bullshit.

 Flash.

"Give me egocentric selfish nonsense.

Fuck me. I'm so tired of being me. Me beautiful. Me ugly. Blonde. Brunette. A million fucking makeovers that only leave me trapped being me. Who I was before the accident is just a story. Everything before now is a story I carry around. I believe this is true for anyone in the world. What I need is a new story about who I am. "

Beauty is not forever. It fades over the years. It vanishes after a serious accident. Beyond our image in the mirror, beyond what we seem to see, it is there that we must go.