My experience reading American Psycho (full review) books short

"I buy a very hard apple at a Korean deli which I eat on my way to meet Jean who, right now, stands on the Sixty-seventh Street entrance to Central Park on a cool, sunny day in September. When we look up at the clouds she sees an island, a puppy dog, Alaska, a tulip. I see, but I don't tell her, a Gucci money clip, an ax, a woman cut in two, a large puffy white puddle of blood that spreads across the sky, dripping over the city, onto Manhattan." - p.357, American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis._________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________HAHAHAHA! I've been driven half mad, but I finished it. I swear, this was probably the worst reading experience in recent memory. Awful, awful reading experience. But probably not for the reason you think...___________________________________________________________________________________________I think most people know what American Psycho is about, it being so woven into the current fabric of Western culture (popularised particularly by Christian Bale's portrayal in the movie adaption of American Psycho.)___________________________________________________________________________________________But in case you don't, in a sentence, American Psycho follows Patrick Bateman (26 y/o at the start of the book), who works on Wall Street, is filthy rich as a given, and is also a homicidal psychopath.___________________________________________________________________________________________We, the reader, are in Bateman's mind, having the pleasure to experience the vile actions that he commits, along with his daily life of meeting colleagues, buying and talking about clothes, going to trendy restaurants, following his gym regimen, going on dates, talking about his music tastes, renting videos, taking explicit substances; uppers, downers, alcohol et cetera, et cetera.______________________________________________________________________________________The vile things Bateman says and does in the book is vile, no doubt. Still shocking even to this day and age, you have to have a strong stomach and wear mental protection to get through the book without contracting depression or moralistic rage within the pages like a venereal disease. But that is not what made the reading experience so unbearable. What made it unbearable was that for large swathes of the book, it was BORING!___________________________________________________________________________________MY WORD, THE DESCRIPTIONS! The mindless drone of descriptions of clothing brands, the spec-jargon of the electronics he buys, full on chapters reviewing the discography of music artists, etc. I remember being bored to the point of anguished stupor. I got to the point where I wanted Bateman to return to his more "unsavoury tendencies", just to avoid another mindless list of Armani suits or trousers from Oscar de la Renta._____________________________________________________________________________________THE BEST THING about "AP" are the themes. Superficiality reins supreme. Bateman is obsessed with presenting a good image to the world, hiding his Jekyll nature. But who can blame him?_________________________________________________________________________________________The truth is, no one in Bateman's Wall-Street world listens to a word anyone else says. They speak conventionally, and answer conventionally. Bateman can confess to his crimes, and not one person in his circle would react. Bateman exists outside convention, and does what he wants there. In the end, Bateman may be a psychopath, but you could suggest that it's a honest reaction to the world he inhabits; one where the meaningless insanity of materialism is marginally veiled with moneyed pleasantries.____________________________________________________________________________CONCLUSION: Look, I'm glad I read it. The themes are a strong critique of Wall Street yuppie/general upper-class American culture (which probably remains today). The writing style is a part of Bateman's mindset - his twisted perspective is a part of Ellis' critique. I even laughed at points when it was effective in its satire.___________________________________________________________________________________But, man, it was not enjoyable overall. I fell asleep reading it more than once. I don't say this very often, but the movie is far better. I'm ready to read something else. #americanpsycho #comedy #bookreview

Category