OcUK Book Club #12: Bret Easton Ellis - American Psycho

Forde said:
Oh, get off your high horse. Readers can read their books however they want.
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I'm not on a high horse, I just happen to think a lot of the descriptions and mindless repetition are integral to the book and also a lot of fun to read. But if you're going to just miss out whole sections, why stop there? Why not split the book into ten parts and then use a random number generator to tell you which one to read first?
 
Makunouchi said:
I'm not on a high horse, I just happen to think a lot of the descriptions and mindless repetition are integral to the book and also a lot of fun to read.
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That's great for you, but clearly other people don't agree. Look at uknowist's post above. I think it's better that as many people as possible read decent books lie this and if skimming past the frequent sections of intensely boring fashion-related minutiae gets more people reading it then that's all the better, surely? The ambition of those sections is EXTREMELY clear and BEE only keeps them up because Bateman would not be able to stop himself doing it. We the readers, on the other hand, are not complete psychopaths and it's easy to get the message early on.



Makunouchi said:
But if you're going to just miss out whole sections, why stop there? Why not split the book into ten parts and then use a random number generator to tell you which one to read first?
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:rolleyes:
 
Well the book arrived today for me, I've still got to finish Fountain Society by Wes Craven first but I'll be interested to see if I'm tempted to skip any of it or whether I'll enjoy it more than the Rules Of Attraction.
 
I got about half way through American Psycho a few months ago and had to stop (due to lack of spare time). Perhaps this thread'll give me a push in the right direction.

As a side note. Just before I read (part of) American Psycho, I read The Aquariums of Pyongyang which I highly recommend for anyone who likes challenging literature. I warn you though, it's deeply chilling.
 
Just watched the film and loved it a couple of weeks ago so very interested to get the book now, I'm guessing it's far superior to the film? would have liked to get it off the kindle store as well for convenience :(
 
Random question but what are book club people using to read? The physical book or an e-reader such as the kindle?
 
My copy pre-dates my kindle, so I'm using the old fashioned type :D . Not sure if you can get it on kindle yet anwyay; can't see it on Amazon.
 
I''ve put the book on my phone and have been reading it mainly when i get spare time in work, i've read further than my first attempt a few years ago and just to note that; I have not skimmed any of the long discriptions of fashion wear lol. I am enjoying the book a lot more second time round and is actually quite funny in various parts, which I dont remember from before. Glad I have picked it up and tried again tbh!
 
Ok well I finished the book a few nights ago, rather enjoed the novel in the end and got used to the long descriptions of various clothing etc, I did find the music chapters a bit tedious but nothing to really put me off the book.

****SPOILERS****

My opinion on the ending which im sure would be up for debate is he actually had not killed anyone, it was all in his head. Towards the end his mental state is even worse than at the beginning of the book, the fact he mentions the park bench following him was a point I remember. Also the whole incident where he basically went on a killing spree I think was meant to be far fetched and made to show how unbelievable his stories really are.

I think all the characters in the book are all living a sort of fantasy believing they are more important than they really are to feed their own egos. The fact they always refer to the Zagat as some sort of bible about wheres hip and trendy to go, Patrick Bateman was no exception to this but he also had an obsession with serial killers and used the books he read on serial killers in the same way as the Zagat. So lived out his fantasy of being one in his head in the same way he did about being a VIP in Manhattan.

I also thought about why Pat Bateman did not kill Jean(or at least hate her). I came to the conclusion that Jean was not really like any of the other characters in the book, she didnt seem to care about image as much as the other characters and didnt really have a huge social status like everyone else did, I think Pat Bateman may have respected her more for this?

****END OF SPOILERS*****

Hope that makes sense! The only bad thing bout the book is I do sometimes feel it went on a bit too long but this also gave more of an insight about how psychotic Patrick Bateman is. Overall rating after reading it from beginning to end now: 8/10

Would recommend it to people but would warn them it can be a difficult read but gives more of an understanding for the character.
 
I've just finished it tonight and it does have a few moments where I've laughed heartily at the description or incongruity of the situations and it's decently enough written in that there weren't any jarring idiosyncrasies in writing style (apart from where it slips into third person which seemed out of keeping) but for much of it I felt no real interest in the characters or the life they live. Essentially I found it difficult to engage with them, if demonstrating the vapidity, self-absorption and pointlessness of much of that particular time period was Mr Easton Ellis' aim he's succeeded marvellously.

For what it's worth I did read all of it, descriptions of minutiae about clothing and chapters about bands included - in fairness the chapters about the bands didn't bother me much.

I'll leave any more detailed comments on the content or theories about the book until a few more people have finished at least.
 
mmm, I might give this a go. I have it on my shelf already. I do currently have a few books on the go though, so i will probably have to wait until i have finnished one of them. I did read Rules of Attraction a few years ago and didn't really like it at all tbh.
Might wait until the next book you all try to join in.:)
 
Apologies for the slight bump, only just found this thread!

Forde said:
Oh, get off your high horse. Readers can read their books however they want. Much of the sections under debate are repetitive in the extreme. It's perfectly understandable why BEE included them (and they should be included in my opinion) but while their inclusion is crucial in portraying Bateman's obsessive personality, their actual content becomes far less important as the novel plays out.
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It's not only crucial to help you understand his personality, it's also a psychological behaviour modifier actually acting ON the reader. Just try it, force yourself to wade through the descriptions of nothing, the intricate exploration of the utterly tedious and worthless. This is, for me, one of the most interesting aspects of the book. You can not only read about what drives him, but you can feel it as well.

This was done quite deliberately. And to ignore or skip those sections means that you miss out on an amazing piece of psychological manipulation by the author.

Those pieces weren't left in after the editing by happenstance. They're meant to be read, and they're meant to be read for a reason.
 
Forgot about this. I finished it the other week, and finished Less than Zer0 the other day. I'm working through his stuff and I think that Rules of Attraction was the best, American Psycho being close but not that close and Less than Zer0 the weakest of the 3 that I have read. That may be understandable because it was his first and he did it whilst still at College and still honing his craft.

American Psycho is a great read though. It is often hard going and pretty though provoking. I still think that the insight that it gives within the coprorate, ego obsessed, fashion orientated, world is still relevant in this day and age. That side of the book was what got me more than the 'violence' and the 'killings'.

I came to the conclusion that it doesn't matter if the killings were real or not, more so that it is reasonable that they could have happened. It's an indictament of that side of people and that sort of life that they lead that it can turn these people against the very thing which they used to idolise.

A good read, and a great author.
 
Mr^B said:
Apologies for the slight bump, only just found this thread!



It's not only crucial to help you understand his personality, it's also a psychological behaviour modifier actually acting ON the reader. Just try it, force yourself to wade through the descriptions of nothing, the intricate exploration of the utterly tedious and worthless. This is, for me, one of the most interesting aspects of the book. You can not only read about what drives him, but you can feel it as well.

This was done quite deliberately. And to ignore or skip those sections means that you miss out on an amazing piece of psychological manipulation by the author.

Those pieces weren't left in after the editing by happenstance. They're meant to be read, and they're meant to be read for a reason.
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That's exactly what I felt reading it. By the end of the book I felt slightly mental myself, and was both amused/worried that I'd felt myself relating to Bateman or enjoying the book. In that respect it was obviously a success, although I don't see myself reading it again for a while because it is a real slog to get through.

I have to return some videotapes.
 
Time for a new selection I think. The first one to answer this question correctly, gets to choose:

What were the dimensions of the painting above the fireplace in Bateman's apartment?

Numbers are between 1 and 30, excluding 22.
 
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