zakcebulski's review
- 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
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
farheenfarheen's review
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Excrement, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Cannibalism, Car accident, Death, Drug use, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, Antisemitism, Body shaming, Bullying, Classism, Homophobia, Misogyny, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Stalking, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Murder, Vomit, Sexism, Ableism, Animal cruelty, and Animal death
gringolet's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Drug use, Torture, Sexual harassment, Drug abuse, Animal death, Antisemitism, Death, Homophobia, Cursing, Gun violence, Stalking, Xenophobia, Misogyny, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, Violence, Sexual assault, Sexism, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Ableism, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Cannibalism, Classism, Sexual violence, Mass/school shootings, Infidelity, Rape, Racism, Hate crime, Gore, Fatphobia, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Racial slurs, Gaslighting, Cancer, and Body shaming
angie10110's review
- 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
3.5
This was one the craziest books I have read so far, some chapters I felt like I was just reading words with no meaning. This book was good but I also felt like some chapters were written for the sake of being disturbing, the way the author describes things was very well written and gave me a lot to visualize. The beginning portion of this book started off very strong including the middle portion, the ending felt like I was in a dream like nothing was actually happening yet so much has already happened. I wanted to put the book down at certain scenes but i couldn't help myself. I have seen the movie and the movie is tame compared to this book, i don't think i would recommend the book to people who have watched the movie for its popularity and if they aren't avid readers. My favorite chapter in this whole book is when Patrick and jean are at the café and talking to each other about people and why jean likes him and his whole "there is an idea of a Patrick Bateman" monologue because it goes into more depth about this man and what he really thinks about himself and about what he is.
Graphic: Abortion, Ableism, Animal cruelty, Antisemitism, Cursing, Torture, Toxic friendship, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Racial slurs, Alcohol, Child death, Sexual assault, Rape, Racism, Gaslighting, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Gore, Xenophobia, Misogyny, Mental illness, Homophobia, Alcoholism, Animal death, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Fatphobia, Terminal illness, Mass/school shootings, Lesbophobia, Hate crime, Gun violence, Bullying, Cannibalism, Classism, Death, Violence, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Transphobia, Religious bigotry, Physical abuse, and Murder
noor_sidhu's review
- 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: Racism, Fatphobia, Drug abuse, Misogyny, Classism, Car accident, Bullying, Body shaming, Racial slurs, Homophobia, Gun violence, Body horror, Alcohol, Rape, Mental illness, Mass/school shootings, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Vomit, Xenophobia, Murder, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Alcoholism, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Kidnapping, Cursing, Child death, Cannibalism, Antisemitism, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Sexism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Islamophobia, Physical abuse, Transphobia, Violence, Sexual violence, Hate crime, Torture, Blood, and Gore
trentl14's review
- 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: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Gaslighting, Child abuse, Drug use, Cannibalism, Child death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Racism, Sexual assault, Torture, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Mental illness, Murder, Sexual violence, and Violence
lizzy_hatesreading's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Gaslighting, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Mental illness, Murder, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Take breaks reading this bookmeschisss's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Blood, Violence, Torture, Stalking, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexism, Rape, Racism, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Murder, Misogyny, Mass/school shootings, Homophobia, Hate crime, Gun violence, Gore, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Death, Cursing, Child death, Cannibalism, Body horror, Antisemitism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Alcohol, and Abortion