fictionfan's review against another edition
5.0
The blackest of black comedies...
I started this book with some trepidation given that I knew it contains a lot of extremely graphic sex and violence. What I hadn’t expected was to find the book so very funny.
The blackest black comedy I have ever read, the author lays bare the shallow and self-obsessed world of ‘80s yuppie culture and does so superbly. The obsessions with brand clothing, with pop icons such as Genesis and Whitney Houston, with nouvelle and fusion cuisine and most of all with conspicuous spending - all combined to remind me of the awfulness of the laddish greed culture so prevalent at that time. Throughout the book the author contrasts the drink and drug-fuelled excesses of these successful city boys (and girls) with the poverty that could be seen at every street corner.
The violence is indeed graphic and gets progressively more extreme as the book goes on. However, given the theme of excess in all things that runs through the book, I felt it stayed in context. In fact, it eventually became so outrageous that, for me, it passed from being shocking to being, in a strange way, part of the humour of the book. I don’t know quite how the author made me like and feel sorry for the monstrous ‘psycho’ Patrick – but he did.
Brilliantly written, extremely perceptive, amazingly funny – and not for the faint-hearted. Highly recommended.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
I started this book with some trepidation given that I knew it contains a lot of extremely graphic sex and violence. What I hadn’t expected was to find the book so very funny.
The blackest black comedy I have ever read, the author lays bare the shallow and self-obsessed world of ‘80s yuppie culture and does so superbly. The obsessions with brand clothing, with pop icons such as Genesis and Whitney Houston, with nouvelle and fusion cuisine and most of all with conspicuous spending - all combined to remind me of the awfulness of the laddish greed culture so prevalent at that time. Throughout the book the author contrasts the drink and drug-fuelled excesses of these successful city boys (and girls) with the poverty that could be seen at every street corner.
The violence is indeed graphic and gets progressively more extreme as the book goes on. However, given the theme of excess in all things that runs through the book, I felt it stayed in context. In fact, it eventually became so outrageous that, for me, it passed from being shocking to being, in a strange way, part of the humour of the book. I don’t know quite how the author made me like and feel sorry for the monstrous ‘psycho’ Patrick – but he did.
Brilliantly written, extremely perceptive, amazingly funny – and not for the faint-hearted. Highly recommended.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
bean's review against another edition
4.0
This had been a book that I'd been meaning to get to out of curiosity. I knew it was going to be very hateful and graphic but truly even then I had nooo idea what I was getting myself into. That being said, I found it a fascinating read. I didn't derive any pleasure from it, but I think on a craft level, it's an interesting thing to read and dissect. How Ellis used the first person narrator, how he structured the story, and how he then broke those conventions were done with purpose. The way tension builds throughout the novel as the main character gets worse really makes you feel like you're going insane, and by the end the entire ordeal is so harrowing. It's cold, it's shocking, it's brutal.
That being said, it's still too long. It's too repetitive. With the level of gore involved, I can't say that it ever became indulgent, but the sheer volume of it does get exhausting. You have to ask yourself, why this much? On some level, I get the significance of each murder, but also I must question why they were all so graphic and at what point the lengthy explanations became a novelty instead of fulfilling any real purpose.
I really don't recommend this book to anyone. For all the skill of craft, there's nothing that you can learn from this book that you can't learn anywhere else without the graphic sexual, violent, racist, sexist, and homophobic depictions. I know multiple people who couldn't make it through this book and I absolutely do not blame them. I can attribute my success in finishing the book to two main things- my mind's eye is very weak so I don't picture things very clearly when I read and I accidentally stumbled onto some really fucked up and graphic stuff at a young age when I was on Wattpad so I've built up some tolerance for it. It's really not worth it.
That being said, it's still too long. It's too repetitive. With the level of gore involved, I can't say that it ever became indulgent, but the sheer volume of it does get exhausting. You have to ask yourself, why this much? On some level, I get the significance of each murder, but also I must question why they were all so graphic and at what point the lengthy explanations became a novelty instead of fulfilling any real purpose.
I really don't recommend this book to anyone. For all the skill of craft, there's nothing that you can learn from this book that you can't learn anywhere else without the graphic sexual, violent, racist, sexist, and homophobic depictions. I know multiple people who couldn't make it through this book and I absolutely do not blame them. I can attribute my success in finishing the book to two main things- my mind's eye is very weak so I don't picture things very clearly when I read and I accidentally stumbled onto some really fucked up and graphic stuff at a young age when I was on Wattpad so I've built up some tolerance for it. It's really not worth it.
hydecircus's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- 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
I mean obviously it's hard to rate a book like this without either sounding completely insane or completely ignoring its cultural impact and message. Trying to rate it on a technical level, it's a genuinely great read, but a very difficult one. One of the only books I've ever read to leave me genuinely sick to my stomach in some scenes. A lot of reading it is just going "oh I understand why that wasn't in the film", either because its so graphic it would just be completely impossible film/get approved for film, or because its just so downright boring. You don't go into this book expecting just how many clothing and product and music descriptions there are going to be. And the weird part is -- it really does work! Get through the endless brand names and pages of graphically described rape and you come to an ending that punches you directly in the gut, somehow everything that came before leading up to it perfectly. I don't mean the actual, last scene (which in the flim serves as one of the first scenes), I mean around page 349 (in my copy), when It's not a book I'd recommend without reading the content warnings, and even then I might suggest watching the film first considering just how much nastier the book is. Even so, I'm glad I read it and I think if you can handle the subject matter you should give it a go, especially if you enjoy unreliable narrators.
EDIT: ok honestly after reflecting a bit i think its just one scene that is like. really bad and i probably just shouldve have read it while eating and you guys would probably be fine 👍 i think its better than the film but maybe the film makes the message more accessible also. still rotating this book around in my head maybe ill change my mind on this later
Spoiler
the tense changes from first person to third. You've known Patrick was an unreliable narrator basically all along, but nothing cements it quite like him completely dissociatibg from himself, in the worst moment of his life, becoming another character rather than the protagonist, and then, when he recovers, shifting seamlessly back into first person.EDIT: ok honestly after reflecting a bit i think its just one scene that is like. really bad and i probably just shouldve have read it while eating and you guys would probably be fine 👍 i think its better than the film but maybe the film makes the message more accessible also. still rotating this book around in my head maybe ill change my mind on this later
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Hate crime, Infidelity, Sexism, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Domestic abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Drug use, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Animal cruelty, Blood, Child death, Excrement, Homophobia, Injury/injury detail, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Animal death, Cannibalism, Classism, Cursing, Death, Gaslighting, Gore, and Sexual violence
Minor: Abortion and Suicidal thoughts
sennaje's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Vomit, Addiction, Body horror, Body shaming, Classism, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Alcoholism, Antisemitism, Cannibalism, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Medical content, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Injury/injury detail, Sexual violence, Hate crime, and Homophobia
katielvhrt's review against another edition
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This book is genuinely disgusting but in a way that makes you not want to put it down. Seriously makes you think
sehnsucht's review against another edition
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
leilaniann's review against another edition
5.0
SOOO painstakingly detailed, this book is very well-written. A point-on snapshot of how being rich can let someone get away with anything. And also how terribly boring and disgusting yuppies are. 10 times better than the movie.
elise81729's review against another edition
4.0
I wish I had read this before watching the movie, but much to my surprise I actually enjoyed it a lot. Lots of good surrealism and gore, but the book is actually pretty comedic. The rat scene though...never again.
bugmotel's review against another edition
5.0
American Psycho is definitely one of my favorite books and movies! Every moment is symbolic and contributes significantly to the greater picture Ellis is painting. The author’s attention to detail and excruciatingly detailed characterization of Patrick Bateman is so important to me! Every choice and every moment in the book characterizes Bateman whether it’s through his friends, coworkers, victims, or environment. This contributes to the books dull tone which can make it hard to read quickly, but I think this is an extremely important component of Bateman’s personality: he’s such a shell of a man that he often goes on about nothing at all for pages at a time. His murder scenes are extremely gruesome and hard to get through as well since they can be so horrific. I’d recommend this book if you enjoy the movie and concept already, but not so much if you’re looking for entertainment beyond that…
lexlex's review against another edition
dark
funny
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0