A review by trudilibrarian
Lunar Park by Bret Easton Ellis
4.0
Bret Easton Ellis wasn't even out of college when his debut novel, Less Than Zero (1985), marked him as a rising literary prodigy at age 19. His writing explored themes of the self-absorption and hedonism of the American 80's, and in a way, highlighted the emptiness and despair experienced by the so-called Generation X'ers. His characters are often directionless with very little to redeem them in the reader's eyes.
Ellis continued these themes a few years later with The Rules of Attraction (1987), but it wasn't until the publication of his controversial novel American Psycho (1991) that Ellis truly became a household name. In it he takes an unflinching look at what happens when a psychopathic killer succumbs to his most gruesome sadistic urges. The line between reality and fantasy blurs beyond recognition as wealthy New York investment banker Patrick Bateman struggles to hide his alternate homicidal ego. It is a dark and terrifying journey not easily forgotten.
Now Ellis is older and wiser and I think with Lunar Park (2005) has attempted to offer up something not so salacious or self-indulgent, and in many ways more terrifying than anything he has done previously. This is a ghost story of the most unusual order. It's a cross between Stephen King's The Shining with a little of Child's Play and Poltergeist thrown in for good measure. There is a haunted stuffed toy that becomes carnivorous, and fictional characters that seem to be coming to life, including the savage and disturbed Patrick Bateman from American Psycho.
Lunar Park received the 2005 IHG Award for Best Novel. I will warn you that if you are thinking of picking up this book, and I highly recommend that you do, not everything gets resolved and I found the ending to be a little confusing (and dissatisfying). In spite of this, it's still an amazing and creepy read. I hope Ellis decides to focus his literary talents on the supernatural now that he's proven himself to be so capable.
Ellis continued these themes a few years later with The Rules of Attraction (1987), but it wasn't until the publication of his controversial novel American Psycho (1991) that Ellis truly became a household name. In it he takes an unflinching look at what happens when a psychopathic killer succumbs to his most gruesome sadistic urges. The line between reality and fantasy blurs beyond recognition as wealthy New York investment banker Patrick Bateman struggles to hide his alternate homicidal ego. It is a dark and terrifying journey not easily forgotten.
Now Ellis is older and wiser and I think with Lunar Park (2005) has attempted to offer up something not so salacious or self-indulgent, and in many ways more terrifying than anything he has done previously. This is a ghost story of the most unusual order. It's a cross between Stephen King's The Shining with a little of Child's Play and Poltergeist thrown in for good measure. There is a haunted stuffed toy that becomes carnivorous, and fictional characters that seem to be coming to life, including the savage and disturbed Patrick Bateman from American Psycho.
Lunar Park received the 2005 IHG Award for Best Novel. I will warn you that if you are thinking of picking up this book, and I highly recommend that you do, not everything gets resolved and I found the ending to be a little confusing (and dissatisfying). In spite of this, it's still an amazing and creepy read. I hope Ellis decides to focus his literary talents on the supernatural now that he's proven himself to be so capable.