American Psycho
Ratings395
Average rating3.7
Deeply disturbing and hard to stomach, but beautifully (if horrifically) written. A fascinating dramatization of the vapid, yuppy 80's and the obsession with furthering self at the expense of others. Brett Easton Ellis' writing style really drives home Patrick Bateman's internal dialogue: obsession with labels and conspicuous consumption, detachment from personal relationships, numb emotion to any feeling other than arousal and anxiety. I don't know that I could ever re-read this, but I'm glad I soldiered on to the end.
I loved the movie. Bale's Patrick Bateman is one of my all time favorite characters. This book is awful though. And not for the very few disturbing torture porn scenes.
It is a first person fiction story narrated by the protagonist, and since he is a narcissist, misogynist, psychopath playboy, we get to experience the world how he sees it. And this is the problem, at least on the amount of details the author provides. It does make a good work in putting ourselves in his shoes, but man what a boring, even if very expensive custom made designer tailed shoes, they are.
I would say 80% of the book is exclusively the character detailing what he and everyone else is using. And it is a LONG book. I think this is how to watch the Kardashians feels like. He describes every single piece of clothe, for every single person he finds, in every single scene, naming every designer of that particular piece. Also he describes in painstakingly details the things he has in his apartment and the products he uses to keep his appearance. His sound system and skincare products, for instance.
He also describes other people looks, how good or bad their tan, their hair, and compare those features with hist. That's how he measures a person's worth. Unless its a woman, then he measures weather he would fuck her. That's the only thing women are good for according to him. That and killing them.
There are some chapters dedicated to him describing an album of music he likes. Yes, whole chapters of this. I managed to skip just the last one of these, as just then I knew that it wouldn't contain nothing relevant to the character or the plot.
These scenes of descriptions of his vestiary, on how he spent $400 in a sock or something, is followed by he meeting some random beggar on the streets. He describes his disgust for the scene, their stench, their lack of concern for their appearance, mocks, taunts and sometimes, kill them (of course) This is a very good critic of our society right there. Not the killing though, most people are content to just ignoring or mocking them.
When he is among friends, other psychopaths like him it would appear, all his talk is about this kind of stuff. They only talk about food, people they fucked or would like to fuck, mind you they all have steady girlfriends. They are racists, xenophobic, elitists, womanizers, superficial, a caricature of what incredibly rich and well successful wall street businessman are. Because of the time the book is written, AIDS is still a new thing. They believe themselves to be immune to it, only women and homosexual can die from the disease.
Among the interesting things about the book, we found out he lives in the same building as Tom Cruise. He has an awkward encounter with him in the elevator. He is fascinated with Donal Trump, has a brother whom he hates and wouldn't mind killing him. He also hates his father, who is very rich and successful as well.
The quality I like most about the character present in the book, his overreacting of things that most people would find trivial. The classic scene when he looses it when he sees his coworkers business cards is here, but it didn't have nearly the same impact as in the movie, as it was mixed with all the boring things I talked about. And there is many of this kind of overreaction scenes, which were nice. But the movie has thoroughly captured this aspect of his personality with just that one scene. And that is the thing about the movie, it is a much abridged version, and it was better because of it.
Also, there is much more killing in the book. Some murder and sex scenes are very graphical, especially toward the end of the book. Patrick is obsessed with watching porn, and masturbate to killing scenes.
The thing I loved most about the movie was its ending, which is not present here. They took an implied minor scene of the book and made the whole idea of the movie around it. It was BRILLIANT. The movie ends with Patrick doubting wheater he did in fact kill all those people he remembers killing, as they all seem to be still alive. It makes sense because of the copious amount of drug he uses, plus his disturbed personality. He has many hallucinations where he sometimes can't tell what is real. In the book its just one person he thinks he might not have killed. At least not the right person. But he has committed dozens of cruelty acts, inclusive with animals, and has killed maybe a hundred people, according to his calculations.
Not present in the movie is how Patrick Bateman is extremely vicious and cruel to his victims. Perhaps that's because of the details and time the book has, plus not being restricted by TV moral standards. He likes to torture them in very spectacular ways before killing them. He is also a cannibal.
In conclusion, I don't sympathize with the reasons people liked this book so much. I read the top reviews and I completely disagree with them. Its like an artist exposing a blank painting in an art gallery, and everybody praising it. I just don't see it. Then there is the complaint about how he treats women. This is an unfounded criticism. Its like saying “I will now describe how it feels to be under water”, and then people complaining that they now feel wet. Also, I don't know or care about the “torture porn” genre, but I would guess this would get a 1 out of 5. Its just too few scenes. I hate a book without content. Other reviews are praising the book's dark take on society. Again, 80% of the book is just FILLER. It is not a good book!
Overall I enjoyed the book, but nothing justifies all the useless info dump the book presents.
Absolutely disturbing and much, much better than the film. Albeit the film was also brilliant, but seemed to be lacking something from the book.
My review is for the paperback.
I started reading this book awhile ago and stopped reading, so i'm gonna start reading the book again from the start and read the whole book, a big portion of the book, specifically the materialistic aspect of Patrick Bateman for me is very dull and boring to read about.
Patrick Bateman is a psychopath and a serial killer, so some aspects of the story are absurd, disturbing, gory, graphically detailed and fucked up to read about but if there was less information about the materialistic, yuppie, “I'm rich and you're worthless because you're poor” mentality it would make it a lot more interesting to read.
Just because some people are well-off, wealthy, or rich, it doesn't justify being classist, a bigot, racist, a lecherous, predatory creep, sexual sadist, a misogynist, sexual narcissist just because you have money.
That doesn't mean any man or women is automatically entitled to anyone's body in a sexual context. It's delusional to think that, the more money some people have, the more insane they seem to be, they are power hungry, constantly seeking validation, acceptance and attention-seeking, with a fragile ego, egotistical, ruthless, emotional sadists, heartless, that lack any ounce of empathy at all.
Patrick Bateman is the type of person that thinks just because he has money that women will automatically want to fuck him, or that he can get anything he wants due to money, it creates a unhealthy mindset, a expectation that anyone & everyone will do anything/everything just to please you because you have money, entitlement, snobbery, treating anyone that has less money than you as beneath you and they have to constantly prove that are “worthy” of being respected or treated with any empathy, compassion because you don't respect them.
I can't stand these types of people, there is nothing interesting or special about narcissists at all, they are very vain, dull, boring people that are weak-minded, will-willed, emotional/sexual sadists/narcissists, bullies, abusers that have a very weak and fragile ego & pride that exert what little if any power & control they have over other people so they feel good about themselves.
They have no real power & control in their own lives so they always seek someone they deem to be weaker than themselves to prey upon, manipulate, coerce, control, verbally, emotionally, physically and sexually take advantage of and abuse in various ways.
dnfed, excruciatingly boring
i get thats the point, to show the contrast between his extremely boring lifestyle & the violence he partakes in with the same lack of emotions but damn this is just painful to read, I DO NOT CARE ABOUT THE BRAND OF EVERY ITEM EVERY CHARACTER OWNS PLEASE
Great read, really nasty. Felt it lingered at parts and lessened in plot as it continues. I know we shouldn't but compared to the movie, I felt the film condensed to the right amount that the books expanded story didn't contribute much more in terms of plot or word building. Still great, an interesting look into 80s male toxicity and the psychopathology that comes with it.
a well crafted dark comedy, mocking finance bros. Patrick Bateman is a pathetic man who cares so much about his physical appearance and how rich he is that he will tell you the brand, and price of every single item of clothing he comes across and a whole 2 page skincare routine to come with it. The multiple chapters called “girls” are probably some of the most gruesome pieces of writing i've ever read filled with pornography that had my asexual self putting the book down as it got too much at points, and then the brutal torture of the prostitutes he is sleeping with. A really good read but definitely not for everyone.
IM FREEEEE
the struggle ive had to finish this book, let alone pick it up again is silly. i get it, but i didnt like it
I couldn't finish it. The book is wonderfully written. The amount of thought and detail that goes into each and every moment is insane and impressive beyond what I've ever seen. However, that's what made it impossible for me to finish. Many of the scenes actually made me physically uncomfortable and disturbed.
Ellis reached an impression climax of insanity, but the book unfortunately ends in a somewhat dull way?
Perhaps the most violent book I've ever read, certainly one of the most disturbing. It is dark, depraved, disgusting, and funny enough to feel bad about. Passages make you want to put the book down and stare, others make you laugh ruefully - others are just outright funny. I walked away from this book, not really knowing what to make out of it.
Bateman is a vapid nitwit, knowing essentially nothing except for fashion, audio/visual equipment, and how to misuse power tools. He clearly does not know himself or those around him. There is a recurring bit throughout the book that no one recognizes anyone else, and this relates to one of the core themes of the book: it simply doesn't matter. Vanity, surface, status - the image of status - that's all Bateman understands, and all anyone in the book is interested in (except for Jean, and a few characters that Bateman totally dismisses).
I feel compelled to share: I am wearing a “Slaughterhouse Five” shirt from the Writer's Museum in Chicago, white khaki pants from Old Navy, the socks and briefs are from Bombas, the watch is from Apple, the glasses Warby Parker (prescription, to Bateman's chagrin). The last haircut was... perhaps five months ago. My shoes are perhaps four years old and from Shoe Carnival.
dnfed, excruciatingly boring
i get thats the point, to show the contrast between his extremely boring lifestyle & the violence he partakes in with the same lack of emotions but damn this is just painful to read, I DO NOT CARE ABOUT THE BRAND OF EVERY ITEM EVERY CHARACTER OWNS PLEASE
Extremely valuable for a look beneath the surface. Price watching Reagan on the television and asking how someone can be involved in the horrible things that he did and act so nonchalant, not realizing that he could be describing anyone at the table but especially Patrick. To me, that was an explicit connection of the book's exploration... I cannot put a precise name to the group. Conservative is not the right word, nor liberal, democrat, republican, libertarian, cis, straight, white, male, though there is a lot that the book has to say about masculinity and what it condones in our society. I guess the best way to put it is that this book is for the sort of people who might say “I'm not racist, but...”
It shows us where that line of thinking will inevitably lead. It shows us where our fears and prejudices can lead, and will lead if they are not properly accounted for.
There is a scene where Patrick is talking to Jean and he begins to feel the thunderous cloud of his hatred and misanthropy and violent nihilism begin to lift, almost, wondering if he can “accept, though not return, her love” (379). I didn't mean for this to become an essay, but that entire chapter, especially the monologue that begins at the bottom of page 378 and ends at the top of 379, feels like Ellis showing us an out from the horribly bleak world he has shown us for the rest of the novel. And yes, Patrick dips right back into his old view, with the only sign of hope being that he still takes Jean out on dates and allows her to at least be near, if not in, his life. It's during that monologue that he realizes he does not know how to control her, how to own her as he does so many other women, and recognizes that she not only wants to, but potentially could, change him, control him. He could not only give up controlling her, he could relinquish that control to her. There is a reason this monologue is so near the end of the book, and I think that reason is so that Ellis could beat us over the head with Patrick's dull, annoying nature, his racism, xenophobia, misogyny, his incredibly graphic (to the point of being cartoonish; according to him, this man ripped open a woman's stomach with his bare hands) acts of violence... all of it. I've read this book before, and both times I have been utterly exhausted by the time I get to that one tiny spot of hope. The first time I read it, I didn't want Patrick to be saved, and was glad he was cursed to his pathetic existence. The second time, I realize that it is not Patrick that the novel is trying to rescue. Maybe I'm only thinking this way because the world has been so incredibly depressing for years now, but it felt like that monologue was my own. That somewhere in the bleakness, there is still room to find love.
Having written all of this, I know that I am just giving my own personal interpretation. You could read this book, for the first time or the tenth time, and get nothing from it but a vile collection of disgusting scenes. That's fine. It is a vile collection of disgusting scenes. But this time I got more out of it, and I guess I just wanted to tell you that.
This book really isn't what I was expecting it to be. Maybe that's partially on me. I was told about it's brutality, about the gore, and I'll admit that it was present. However, it wasn't present until you're well into the book, after Bateman has droned on about the people around him, the clothes they're wearing, the foods they're eating... god, it was fucking boring. I understand, and understood for a while after starting the book, that this is a social commentary and is satirical in nature. You're not supposed to like the characters, you're supposed to acknowledge how shallow they all are and how awful of people they are, but that doesn't make it more interesting to read. I found this book so boring, in fact, that the only way I could keep reading it was to make it a challenge to myself to see if I could finish it. Now I have, and I really don't think it was really worth the time.
If there was one thing I liked about this book, it was that there was a neat section near the end. Bateman kills a saxophonist, and then the cops pursue him, and during this time, the perspective shifts seamlessly. It shifts from first person to third person, switching from using “I” to “he”. I thought that was cool, and I appreciated the writing there for that.
Such a pedantic novel in the details of nothing of importance. But I still found myself just as obsessive and relentless as our main character while reading. I found the absolute boringness and monotony of his life just as compelling as when shit started hitting the fan.
Okay, so when I decided to pick up American Psycho, EVERYONE expressed their love for this book so I was excited to dive in. That's the last time I listen to people. This book is a hot mess. I could even go as far as saying I hated it. Let's start with the elephant in the room. I'm convinced the author is sexist. I know, I know the whole point of Patrick Bateman is to showcase that he's a sexist pig, but when you have zero strong female characters, basically no female characters with even a smidgen of personality outside being dumb, shallow eye candy for a serial killer and his obnoxious friends, that says something. His constant use of “hardbody” is annoying, as well as his basic descriptions of women in the novel. He could have put in a little more effort considering he doesn't shy away from excessive detail in other areas of the story. Also, I looked into interviews with the author and he openly says sexist comments, including comparing his younger self to Patrick Bateman. He also openly expressed his discontent for a woman directing the movie American Psycho. Considering a few of his books revolve around the themes of hurting, raping, and degrading women, that further enforces my opinion. If it quacks like a duck...
That aside, the book is a drag for the first 75%. Ellis overloaded American Psycho with an obnoxious amount of designer labels and details. The novel becomes tedious to get through. Once again, I understand it was done for character development but we get the point after the first 50 pages of detail overload. The excessive detail along with the absolute boring dinner conversations that brought minimal to the plot bored me. Let's be honest here, his writing isn't anything special. I'm not a fan of an author basically “telling” the entire story.
The gore was alright, however some of it was unrealistic and random. Often times it feels like Ellis wrote the actions of Bateman just for shock value and I wasn't impressed. The graphic scenes didn't bother me, but it came off sloppy and disorganized.
I'm going to have to pass on reading anything else from Ellis. I can only imagine how much worse it gets.
i love the message of this book, it's so funny and disturbing and profound. however; this book took me so goddamn long to read. i also am not sure if i hadn't seen the movie before if i would have liked it as much. 3.5 as a safe “i liked it but there's issues”