lexisbookishburrow's review against another edition
I enjoyed the movie and though I might like this too. I was wrong.
Graphic: Racial slurs, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Ableism, Antisemitism, Body shaming, and Fatphobia
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.vicplusnone'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
4.0
Graphic: Racial slurs, Animal cruelty, Blood, Gore, Misogyny, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual violence, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Animal death, Body shaming, Cannibalism, Child death, Sexual harassment, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Death, Drug use, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Homophobia and Cursing
Minor: Abortion
phibs'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
3.5
Although Ellis manages to deftly weave grim comedy throughout, his postmodernist critique remains explicitly crude and vile, leading the reader to question how necessary Ellis’ innumerable graphic depictions of wanton violence against women were to the narrative at large.
Director Mary Harron certainly cherrypicks the best of Ellis’ novel to adapt for cinema, leaving the novel little more than a compendium of desensitised butchery and $300 ceviches.
Graphic: Abortion, Addiction, Child death, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Body horror, Drug use, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Islamophobia, Sexual violence, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Antisemitism, Blood, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Body shaming, Cannibalism, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Drug abuse, Misogyny, Rape, Classism, Violence, Excrement, Gore, Mental illness, Sexism, Sexual content, Torture, and Vomit
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
astrono9's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Violence, Torture, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Sexual assault, Animal cruelty, Drug use, Gun violence, Rape, Physical abuse, Body shaming, Addiction, Cannibalism, Gore, Sexual content, Racial slurs, Murder, Homophobia, Body horror, and Child death
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
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
ashlynregan'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
4.0
Graphic: Animal death, Cannibalism, Gun violence, Drug use, Gore, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Child death, Death, Excrement, Racism, Rape, Violence, Classism, Cursing, Ableism, Animal cruelty, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Alcohol, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Blood, Body shaming, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Torture, Toxic friendship, Antisemitism, Sexual violence, and Infidelity
winsomefish's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Murder, Sexual violence, Torture, Body shaming, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Gore, Rape, Alcohol, Classism, Animal cruelty, Child death, Drug abuse, Kidnapping, Racial slurs, Racism, and Violence
Moderate: Abortion, Cannibalism, Ableism, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Excrement, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis