Does Setting up a Book like a Diary Help the Story?

The book Diary is set up like, well, a diary. It's written from the wife's point of view to her husband who is in a coma. It's recounting their entire relationship from her point of view with the angst she feels towards him now. Intermingled between her writing about the past, she's also explaining what's happening in the present. It's called a Coma Diary, "It's what sailors and their wives used to do, Grace said, keep a diary of every day they were apart. It's a treasured old seafaring tradition. After all those months apart, when the come back together, the sailors and wives, they trade diaries and catch up on what they missed." (Location 493)
Is it better to have a book written as a diary? Does it help move the story along in a different way, or is it just confusing?
I think that in the beginning it was confusing, because they hadn't said yet that it was a diary. Once it came out that it was, in fact, a diary, it got a little easier to read. It's still a little jumbled up, but I think that's how Palahniuk meant for it to be. I think he likes to mess with the reader's mind a little bit, so he purposefully made it a little difficult to read. Either way, it's a fantastic book, and I do think that having it set up as a diary really adds to the story.

Readicide.

I think one of the main reasons kids don't like having to read for school is because all of the writing is symbolic. None of the words mean exactly what they're saying. All of the authors are not just telling a story, they're hinting at a bigger issue. As kids though, we're not able to tell exactly what they're saying, so it confuses us. It gets difficult when teachers ask what we think the author is saying, because with most of the books we read, the ideas are very vague. I do think it's important for these authors to write like this, because a lot of their books are praised because of their ability to do this. I just think that for school purposes we should either be told right away what they're trying to say, or we should read books that come right out and say what they're trying to say instead of just hinting around it. Either keep teaching these same books you've been teaching, but don't make kids analyze as much, or teach newer books that come out and say what issues they're talking about.

Character; why does Peter Wilmot seal off rooms in people's houses?

Peter Wilmot is a main character in the novel, Diary, by Chuck Palahniuk. Before he fell into a coma (which he has been in since the beginning of the book), he would seal off rooms of people's summer houses and write obscenities inside of these sealed off rooms. At this point in the book, the reader is still not quite sure why he does this, or if there is a reasoning behind what he is writing on these walls. One could speculate that he is either going mad, or he's got some kind of agenda to follow that is obligating him to write these evil obscenities on unsuspecting people's walls.
I've been reading this book on a kindle, so the pages are all wonky, so forgive me for that now.
There is a quote that relates to this topic on page 347; "Every contractor, Misty tells him, they'll sign their work. Mark their territory. [...] They'll write on the walls before the wallpaper or tile. This is what's inside everybody's walls, this record of pictures, prayers, names. Dates. A time capsule." This might have something to do with why Peter was writing on the walls of the rooms he sealed off. At this point, though, it's still up in the air, and with an author like Chuck, there's no telling what could happen.

Is there a difference between literary and best-selling fiction?

I do believe that there is a difference between works that are prized as literary work, and ones that are recognized as "best-sellers". If a work is deemed literary, it is usually an older book that reflects on important social topics that are prevalent in our culture. These books' topics stay relevant throughout the years, and the messages they try to send out are timeless.
However, a book that is only seen as a best seller is usually only popular for a few weeks, until the heat about them does down. These works are usually only seen as good works because people talk about them enough to get attention pointed at them. Most of the time, they are only brought into being seen as best sellers because of controversy surrounding them. An example of a book like this is the entire Fifty Shades series. All three of those books have been on the best sellers list for about 35 weeks, all because of the controversy surrounding them.

Post #1: Why I Read.

There are many answers to that one simple question: Why do you read?

I think the biggest and most prevalent reason as to why people read is because it’s just fun. It’s something to do that doesn’t take too much effort or any other players. Reading is peaceful and relaxing, it’s the perfect thing to do before bed or when you’re lying out in the sun. You can read anywhere and everywhere, there are no limitations to where you can take it or where it can take you.

Another big reason to read is because it takes you hostage and pulls you into the story. Once you pick up a book, you’re transported to whatever the setting of that story is. Reading immerses you into the story and you feel like you know every one of the characters, like you’ve been friends for years. You feel like you are one of the characters.

I also really like reading because it gives you new perspectives, ones that you may never have thought of before. It gives you insights into what other people may thing about certain topics. You may never have seen a particular side of an argument, but after reading a story, a character may have described or explained it in a way that makes you think differently.