A review by trash_reader_
American Psycho, by Bret Easton Ellis
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
If I read one more slur I'm going to scream.
I understand the characters are supposed to be hated. I understand this book was written this way to show the characters' shallowness and how horrible they are, but I could not handle reading anymore of the unnecessary, nasty comments that were made so casually. And what the hell even is a "hardbody" and why was that the only word used when referring to women?
A lot of what I disliked about this book was the language used and the characters' attitudes, which I know was the point, but it doesn't change the fact that it made the book nearly-impossible to read, let alone finish. It was also super boring until he started killing people. It swung wildly between super boring, in-depth descriptions of everyone's outfits and intense sex/murder scenes and it's apt to give you whiplash. I also don't understand how so many people got each other confused with someone else? How? Y'all work together and have for a while. I guess it worked as a plot device for Patrick Bateman to get away with certain things, but it seemed as if that was the only reason for including that in the novel.
The structure of this was interesting. It gave you an insight into how disconnected Patrick Bateman's thoughts were and how often he lost consciousness, whether that was because of his bloodlust or because of the drugs, who knows? Maybe it was a combination of both. The sentence structure was simple and matter-of-fact, regardless of what was going on. The boring conversation he's tuning in and out of? The description of the videos and shows he watches? The description of the sex he engages in? The description of the killings? All written with the same simple, matter-of-fact that sentence structure that shows you how inhuman and detached Patrick Bateman feels.
I had to switch between reading and listening to the audiobook in order to finish this, and I can't honestly say which one was more uncomfortable. Maybe it was hearing the words "cunt" and "cock" repeated so many times through the speakers that turned me off from the audiobook so much, but it definitely made it easier to get through the pointless conversations and random music reviews we were forced to read throughout the duration of the novel. I don't care what your opinions on Whitney Houston were. Or Genesis. And all of the "fashion advice" just went in one ear and out the other, but now I'm just nit-picking so I think I'm going to end my review here, with only one more thing to say.
I understand why this book caused so much outrage when it was published. I get it. And now that I have finally read this book after watching the movie several times, I don't think it's ever something I'm going to willingly bring up in conversation and I'm definitely not going to be "bragging" about having read this book like I have so many other controversial titles before. If I were to compile a list of books that I feel should never have been written, it wouldn't be a very large list, but this book would definitely make it on there.
I understand the characters are supposed to be hated. I understand this book was written this way to show the characters' shallowness and how horrible they are, but I could not handle reading anymore of the unnecessary, nasty comments that were made so casually. And what the hell even is a "hardbody" and why was that the only word used when referring to women?
A lot of what I disliked about this book was the language used and the characters' attitudes, which I know was the point, but it doesn't change the fact that it made the book nearly-impossible to read, let alone finish. It was also super boring until he started killing people. It swung wildly between super boring, in-depth descriptions of everyone's outfits and intense sex/murder scenes and it's apt to give you whiplash. I also don't understand how so many people got each other confused with someone else? How? Y'all work together and have for a while. I guess it worked as a plot device for Patrick Bateman to get away with certain things, but it seemed as if that was the only reason for including that in the novel.
The structure of this was interesting. It gave you an insight into how disconnected Patrick Bateman's thoughts were and how often he lost consciousness, whether that was because of his bloodlust or because of the drugs, who knows? Maybe it was a combination of both. The sentence structure was simple and matter-of-fact, regardless of what was going on. The boring conversation he's tuning in and out of? The description of the videos and shows he watches? The description of the sex he engages in? The description of the killings? All written with the same simple, matter-of-fact that sentence structure that shows you how inhuman and detached Patrick Bateman feels.
I had to switch between reading and listening to the audiobook in order to finish this, and I can't honestly say which one was more uncomfortable. Maybe it was hearing the words "cunt" and "cock" repeated so many times through the speakers that turned me off from the audiobook so much, but it definitely made it easier to get through the pointless conversations and random music reviews we were forced to read throughout the duration of the novel. I don't care what your opinions on Whitney Houston were. Or Genesis. And all of the "fashion advice" just went in one ear and out the other, but now I'm just nit-picking so I think I'm going to end my review here, with only one more thing to say.
I understand why this book caused so much outrage when it was published. I get it. And now that I have finally read this book after watching the movie several times, I don't think it's ever something I'm going to willingly bring up in conversation and I'm definitely not going to be "bragging" about having read this book like I have so many other controversial titles before. If I were to compile a list of books that I feel should never have been written, it wouldn't be a very large list, but this book would definitely make it on there.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Classism, Death, Animal death, Blood, Antisemitism, Drug abuse, Murder, Drug use, Gore, Homophobia, Injury/injury detail, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Torture, Racism, Sexism, Sexual violence, and Violence