American Psycho
Ratings394
Average rating3.7
A frequently banned book for the Read Harder Challenge. Yikes–hard to read (shallow yuppies, violence, torture, admiration for Donald Trump), but deserving of the many academic articles written about it (as seen in JSTOR!).
Warning: There will be some spoilers.
Normally a book of this length would take me two days to read. But at times I wanted to quit and delete it from my kindle. It took me roughly six days to read this book. I don't even know where to begin with this review honestly. Those who praise this book are 100% right. It is interesting, groundbreaking, disturbing, dark, and gut wrenching. However those who say it is graphic, boring, and utter trash are also correct. There were times where I didn't know what I wanted to rate this. One chapter it deserved 5 stars and then on some chapters it deserved none. I just added and divided by two.
There are chapters dedicated to singers, chapters dedicated to complete psychosis, and we see how the upper class lives. The book was all over the place just like the main character and in the end I felt empty and used.
Read the book first then watch the film. I never thought I would actually say this but I enjoyed the film way more than the book. At times I wanted to give up but then at times I was hooked. I love books that are based on satire but I wasn't thrilled with this.
Probably my favourite book to date. Definitely my favourite character in any book i've read.
What a crazy book. All of the vignettes throughout the book got a little boring after a while. It made me yearn for an actual plot than just a glimpse into the mind of a scary, rich psycho. I don't know if this book lived up to all the hype surrounding it. Yes, it was unnecessarily gory and demeaning towards women...but does being a sensationalist make you cult material? I'm not convinced.
Having read both Glamorama and The Rules of Attraction, I have to say Ellis does have the gift of throwing the reader off balance and keeping the reader thinking. I applaud him for not dumbing down his material for the layman. But I'm just not a fan of this book. Next time I need a dose of crazy I'll turn on my TV and leave this book alone.
I have twice attempted to read this book, but somehow I just can't get through it. I understand the subtleties and the reason for the way it is written, but the book is so gritty, graphic and dry, that I have struggled to finish it. No doubt I will give it another go at some point....