Book Review: The Invention of Sound

Author: Chuck Palahniuk

Genre: horror, thriller, contemporary

Rating: 3/5

Verdict

*slight spoilers ahead*

Despite the cover art adopting a rhubarb and custard theme, The Invention of Sound is anything but sweet. The book is crude. If you’ve read the work of Chuck Palahniuk before, this comment doesn’t surprise you. The language is rough and concise, creating a world that is stripped back and glaringly obscene.

In the story we go between the stories of two characters; Mitzi Ives and Gates Foster. Mitzi is a foley artist carrying on the family business. Film producers throughout the industry turned to her screams to elevate their films. Gates, on the other hand, is a man still haunted by the disappearance of his daughter years later. One day he is sent a clip an old horror film where an actress screams. The scream dubbed in belongs to his daughter. This moment of recognition fuels the rest of the narrative.

As the title might suggest, sound is central to the plot. To be more specific, screaming. The story makes a good attempt to focus on audio elements. Interestingly the detail is selective; we get a before and after shot instead. Palahniuk gives you details around what will create a scream, he never attempts to describe the scream itself. You do, however, get the reactions.

The emphasis on reaction was interesting. Palahniuk’s horror focuses on shocking the reader and reaction ties into that. When the reader is introduced to the screams it’s always through the ears of a character, and it is always through the depiction of their reaction. We can’t hear the sound but we know Mitzi’s screams provoke hunched shoulders and jerked body movements. The fear and horror in their actions reveals more than a description ever could.

“Our greatest creation is ourselves. The way we cultivate our appearance and behaviour. And nowhere is that artwork more apparent than in our minds. The way we each have an idea of self. The one perfect self we’ve chosen by rejecting all other options.”

The Invention of Sound, p.215

Identify plays a very crucial part to this story. There is a lot of emphasis on the voice being integral to your identity. Bodies are pretty nondescript in the story and cast as carrying minimal importance. Physical traits are very trivial and play little role in the identity of a person, which is likely a critique of a world where changing the appearance of your body has become a much more accessible and easy process. This is also very apparent in the different versions of Lucinda we’re introduced to throughout the novel. All seen through the eyes of Foster Gates, the body plays little role in confirming her identity, but rather exists as an accessory. It’s the words spoken that matter, as the voices keep Lucinda and Gates’ memories of her alive all these years later.

Whilst the novel does aim to provide a simple horror element, it does feel like the story is trying to make a statement. Hollywood is shown to be a selfish and immoral place, with film producers turning to Mitzi’s work to make their films more watchable. They don’t care how she produces her gruesome screams, only that their films are successful. Actress Blush Gentry fakes her own kidnapping to be newsworthy and re-launch her career, which has stunted and consists primarily of guest appearances at various conventions. The novel is broken up with excerpts of her autobiography, written post-narrative, which is a book that was likely only made possible through her fake kidnapping. Mitzi’s screams seem to be the only authenticity that exists in Hollywood, showing realism comes at a high price.

The characters felt quite aimless, with no defined end goal in sight, though perhaps that was the point? Drifting through life with no clear destination is something I think many readers can relate to, albeit with a little less death and violence. The characters are not likeable at all and exist on the threshold of society. Their morals are questionable and their actions full of selfishness and greed. Whilst you struggle to empathise, you do come to understand why. They’re toxic individuals, but you can see what made them this way.

All in all, I reckon this story would make a good film, but maybe the screams would be too bone-chilling. There are moments where you do feel uncomfortable reading a scene, but it is a relatively easy read. You start with lots of questions and you end it with just as many.

Find the book on Goodreads!