zakcebulski's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Spoiler
Hmmmmmmmmm.
Yeah, I don't know about this book.
Let me start off by saying that I think that this book was written exceedingly well, and, in fact his book is a very clever satire on the hyper-material focused lifestyle of New York Yuppie culture.
In this book we follow Patrick Bateman who is an investment banker, though funnily enough, we never actually see him doing any work.
Patrick is more worried about his outward physical appearance and getting reservations at all of the most hip locations in NYC.
Patrick is also, supposedly, a serial killer.
Patrick spends his time hyperfixating on his looks with lengthy diatribes pertaining to each piece of the suit- whom it was made by, and even the cost. Now, these sections, which often cover paragraphs and paragraphs can be drawling and sloggish, but, in essence that is the point.
The point is that Patrick and his friends are so obsessed with their appearances that they spout off the most nuanced detail in an effort to seem cultured (The Patty Winters Show was on...) and also, to give an air of superiority- we know about something that you can't understand.
But, it comes off as overly redundant and stupid because.... why would we care? It makes people look very silly in putting so much effort into knowing the minute of every single thing.
Going off of this there are several (and I mean several) times when Bateman is confused for another character because they are all described as the same fucking person. And, in essence, they all want to be the same person, which is insane to think about. I think that this plays into the criminal idea of "hiding in plain sight" which is not hard when you consider that there are no differences between dozens of affluent white men all striving to be the same idealized version of a Gordon Gekko "Greed is Good" type character while delving into the hedonistic vices of the 80s and early 90s.
A lot has been talked about this book's approach to sex and its very hyper- masculine tone. I can absolutely see how the subjugation and subservience of women can be offensive, I think that Ellison strikes a delicate balance in this book, albeit one that is still not fun to read.
Ellison's writing can absolutely come off as misogynistic when read through a totally genuine and played straight tone. However, I think that he is actually attempting to bring the readers in on the joke and poke fun at people who think and act like Bateman and his friends. I do not think that Ellison actually believes the shit that he writes about toward women in general, but, whether or not he succeeds in his subversive satire on the overtly masculine yuppie culture is up to the individual reader to decide.
I cannot, nor would I want to tell people who are offended by the overt misogynistic tones of Bateman and his friends that they are wrong or just don't understand. Because, at the end of the day, I think that that is the exact critique that Ellison is going for.
Now, on to the serial killer side of things. I think that Ellison writes Bateman to be a very Humbert Humbert style of character- i.e. one that is wholly unreliable and daydreams about committing heinous acts, while not actually doing them, meanwhile being totally capable of committing them. I for one do not believe that Bateman committed any of the heinous acts that he described in the book. I think that they were total fantasies. With that said, I do also believe that Bateman was/ is also totally capable of committing these crimes.
I truly think that he was just one step away from snapping and going on a murder spree that he described.
With all of that said, I also think that the graphic depictions of murders, rapes, necrophilia, animal abuse and body defilement are some of the most graphic and vile things that I have read in a very long time, and possibly ever. There were some parts of these descriptions where I had to lower the book and take the a breather before continuing.
I think that this is where the book started to lose me a bit. I know that the entire point- the emphasis- was in Bateman supposedly committing these abhorrent crimes and then on the next page describing some mundane facet of life pertaining to his attire or a restaurant or something... but, it just didn't work for me because I felt that the entire message was "you never know how well people are hiding behind a mask of sanity". But, Bateman isn't. Bateman is a prick throughout the book, and not one that I think is portrayed as believably sane, or not a colossal asshole. To me, it is entirely feasible that he is a serial killer who is just on the edge of murder.
Coming from a knowledge base of true crime studies there are many killers who when they are caught the general consensus is- "no way it could be _____!"
Bateman is not that. Bateman is a piece of shit who is the walking archetype of a person that is totally capable of committing crimes against those he sees as less than.
Overall, I think that this book is a great and scathing criticism of consumeristic culture and material pursuits.
I think that it does fall flat in terms of its portrayal of Bateman being a complete madman who is actually a horrific murderer. But, maybe that was the point- maybe Bateman thinks that he is pulling one over on us and the world that he inhabits, but I don't know.
This is one of those books that I would have a son of a gun time recommending to anybody because of its subject matter. While I do think that the book is meant to be read as a non-serious and satirical take on the hypermasculinity of the 1980s Wall Street scene ala The Wolf of Wall Street, I cannot in good faith say that people who are offended or off put by this book are wrong. I think that this book rides a very very thin line between overtly satire and the real-life fantasies of people who do walk among us. I think that there is a very specific mindset one had to be in to read this book and not throw it across the room in disgust at the subject matter, and when you're in that mindset, I think that there are sections that do work well as poking fun at materialistic consumerism culture that was and is so prevalent in the USA as a symbol of "I am better than you".
Graphic: Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Body horror, Gore, Hate crime, Murder, Racial slurs, Torture, Violence, Alcohol, Animal death, Cannibalism, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Animal cruelty, Blood, Bullying, Mass/school shootings, Sexual harassment, Addiction, and Emotional abuse
wednesdayboy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Car accident, Cursing, Drug use, Homophobia, Addiction, Body horror, Child death, Gaslighting, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Islamophobia, Murder, Vomit, Alcohol, Classism, Sexual harassment, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Antisemitism, Blood, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Cannibalism, Death, and Drug abuse
jayvdw's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
First off, the book is very slow, especially in the beginning. It fits the theme and sets the book's tone, but it doesn't read nicely. The book has some big themes and criticisms about 1980s America, which is very interesting and insightful. Patricks focus on clothing, brand, music and materialism really sets a mood whilst reading and depth to the characters. BUT IT'S FUCKING BORING. Personally, I skipped most of these, the long lists, I understand why they are there and that Bret intentionally puts them in the book to be boring and bore the reader.
The book is super super gross and not at all for the faint of heart. The book goes into detail about the murders and sex. It is very unsettling and I sometimes strayed away from reading for a few hours after certain chapters.
My favorite part of the book is clearly a few chapters near the end.
Spoiler
In these chapters we start the get clear indications that Patrick and thus the narration can't be trusted. I loved Chase, Manhatten chapter. The sudden switch from first person to third person in this chapter really showed me how psychotic Patrick is. This combined with the absurdity of the chapter really made me realize that Patrick is untrustworthy and made me question a lot of the things that happened in the book. This was supported by the idea that Patrick often says things about murder or rape, that the people around him just ignore. His trustworthiness is confirmed when his lawyer says to has had lunch with one of Patrick's victims.Overall, I think this book is very interesting and learnful. Even in the modern day a lot of the themes are still present or even worse. The book is however a very boring read or very gross most of the time, due to this I gave it a low rating, simply because I did not enjoy reading it for most of the book, I also feel like the book could have been half the size. The ending was a let down in my opinion and a bit too vague. It would have been better if the ending focussed more on the trustworthiness of Patrick.
Graphic: Drug use, Gore, Violence, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexism, Vomit, Alcohol, Body horror, Infidelity, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Bullying, Cannibalism, Grief, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic friendship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Abortion, Child death, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Blood, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, and Sexual content
This book is gross and very very explicit with sex, murder, rape and torture. Not only to men and women, but also animals and children.suchsweetsorrow89's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
though i understand that ellis deliberately makes it so that this book is satirically exaggerated to emphasize bateman's character (as a reflection of our own), the oversaturation of these moments (which he constantly relies on throughout the text, even at moments when it is not needed) come across as if a 12-year-old is telling the same joke over and over again until it just becomes the same. mindless. punchline. on top of that, the overuse of slurs when ellis actually didn't need to use them at all comes across as lazy character-building (and this is only emphasized by his explicit statement that he doesn't care if he's "canceled" for using the slurs when interviewers brought it up). you can always show a bad character is a bad person without depicting him beating up the homeless over and over, using slurs when not needed, and adding in filler scenes of overt antisemitism that could have been easily erased and made the same points (and made the book more powerful, in my opinion).
though the gore seemed to draw on society's fascination with gore and all things horror (as well as sex), 400 pages of this very particular fascination in the kind of "rinse and repeat" style results in something that loses its significance, dulling and eating in on itself as it goes on.
frankly, i do not know whether i recommend this book. though the ending was actually quite good (and guess what? it did it WITHOUT 4 paragraphs of intense misogyny and hate crimes every five pages! wow- shocker) the oversaturation with which ellis relies on obscures the meaning entirely, almost watering the point down in places where it could have been a memorable text. however, if you want to read it, please take the trigger warnings seriously— and i suggest an audiobook as an aid from pages 60-360, since the middle really isn't worth your time or really worth any meaningful pen-to-page analytical thoughts.
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Stalking, Sexual assault, Child death, Sexism, Physical abuse, Blood, Racial slurs, Grief, Death, Alcohol, Vomit, Abortion, Outing, Pregnancy, Mental illness, Animal death, Violence, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Drug abuse, Cannibalism, Racism, Gun violence, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Torture, Addiction, Murder, Rape, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Hate crime, Gore, Drug use, Cursing, Child abuse, Body horror, Body shaming, Antisemitism, Animal cruelty, and Alcoholism
lynxpardinus's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Gun violence, Sexual content, Torture, Classism, Murder, Racism, Sexual violence, Addiction, Cannibalism, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Antisemitism, Blood, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Car accident, Child abuse, Confinement, Xenophobia, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Islamophobia, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Pedophilia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Suicide, Vomit, and War
Minor: Dementia, Genocide, and Death of parent
_kaylinconn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
But I don’t feel as though I could rate this higher then a 3-3.5, because it’s content is so foul. Which I know I signed up for, but none of this was enjoyable.
Graphic: Child death, Death, Drug use, Gaslighting, Gore, Animal death, Child abuse, Torture, Abortion, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Blood, Cannibalism, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Violence
Be careful. Take breaks, don’t force yourself into anythinghale_bopp's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Drug use, Murder, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Classism, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Rape, Sexual content, Violence, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Torture
isusp_65's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Classism, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Antisemitism, Blood, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Murder, Racism, Rape, and Sexual harassment
schlong01's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
It's a wonderful critique of businessman and capitalism in general with very many details woven into it. But those details often become dreadful as a whole chapter can be just Patrick's opinion on a newly released album or the things he bought yesterday. Although the author is a genius at writing in great detail, this often becomes his downfall, as he does not seem to know when to use said detailism.
Graphic: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Homophobia, Fatphobia, Body shaming, Blood, Alcohol, Torture, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Bullying, Addiction, Violence, Vomit, Murder, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Classism, Xenophobia, Cursing, Cannibalism, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Gun violence, Gaslighting, Child death, Antisemitism, Animal cruelty, Rape, Physical abuse, Islamophobia, Gore, Death, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, Car accident, Alcoholism, and Animal death
nemonobody11's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
So I'm not gonna rate this book. The more I thought about it the more I knew I couldn't rate it.
Graphic: Animal death, Murder, Alcoholism, Classism, Hate crime, Drug use, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Blood, Body horror, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Stalking, Torture, Toxic relationship, Cannibalism, Child death, Homophobia, Violence, Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Alcohol, Rape, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis