American Psycho... I am disappoint

By spklvr · Mar 29, 2011 · 769 · 8
  1. I bought the book for a dollar at a second-hand shop, and have been excited about reading it for a while now and finally got started a couple of days ago. So I'm not that far into it yet. I'm on page 92, chapter “Deck Chairs” to be exact.

    So, to quote the soon-to-be-annoying meme, I am disappoint. First of all, every conversation he has with his “male” friends are more gay than the entire Queer Eye cast combined. Not that I have a problem with gay guys (in fact, I think most of them are awesome), but straight guys having an argument about whether your socks should match your shoes or your pants, are douchebags. End of story. (Anyone having a serious argument about this are douchebags btw...)

    Second, the listing what everyone is wearing is getting boring. At least be quicker about it. Because of that I also can't help but draw comparisons between Bateman and Becky Bloomwood (Confessions of a Shopaholic). And I must add, Sophie Kinsella did the listing of clothing a lot better.

    What bothers me even more is the huge amount of random seemingly unimportant characters. So many are introduced at once, and in an disorderly fashion, and he's with different people every time, and he mistakes people for other people, and then they argue about who they are, and then someone I thought was a close friend earlier in the book didn't recognize him later, but I might be confusing him with someone else. Everyone also sound pretty much the same. All the girls are exactly alike. Not a single guy stops talking about fashion, restaurants and talk-shows to mention last nights game. He uses the word “hardbody” far too often, and it's getting annoying. It also doesn't sound like a word so many people would be using on a regular basis, but they are... is it a normal word? I've never heard it before I read this book.

    On a side note, the writing isn't that great either. Confusing and some sentences are really awkward. These small little things hinting at bloody murder and that the book is relatively easy to read, awkward sentences aside, is the only thing keeping me interested, and the only thing I can imagine kept other people interested before the events of the book became common knowledge.

    Anyway... as said, I'm not that far into the book so maybe all these things will make sense to me later. Must say, can't wait for all the murders. And no one ruin anything for me. I haven't even seen the movie.

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  1. Bay K.
    See the movie. :)
    I think it'll be much better than your read.
    Bay K., Mar 30, 2011
  2. arron89
    I can't help but feel you're missing the point of the book. Bateman is a self-obsessed douchebag with a label fetish. Every outfit that everyone wears, every meal at every restaurant, every interaction with anyone remotely important, Bateman describes at great length because that's the kind of person he is. You aren't supposed to like him, or want to be him, he's a satire of everything terrible about 1980's Wall Street.

    Bret Easton Ellis' writing style might take some getting used to, I guess...he has a tendancy to use very long, complicated sentences, but I really, really love his style. The murders aren't the point at all, and the fact that they're written about in the same style as every other mundane aspect of his life is kinda the point.

    I dunno, I think you should keep reading cuz American Psycho is by far my favourite book ever and probably the greatest piece of American satire in existence, but if you're not enjoying it by now, I don't really think you're going to enjoy the rest either...
    arron89, Mar 30, 2011
  3. Gannon
    arron is right, I also think you might be missing the point a little. That is not to say you might like the point if you did get it. His obsession with labels rather than style is clear. His obsession with the right restaurant over the food is clear. He is supposed to be the douchbag you describe. That he confuses charcters shows us that section of 80s society's closeknit fabric and absolute unwillingness to differ from their hyper-stylised norm. The character's use of "hardbody" is also enlightening, I think. First, it's derogatory to women - reducing them to pure sexual objects, but this shouldn't be a surprise. And again it renders Bateman as someone in with a certain crowd - this is their language, and, I suspect, highly referential to the 80s vernacular of that crowd. Perservere, but be warned the style remains.
    Gannon, Mar 30, 2011
  4. spklvr
    You see, I figured out he was obsessed with labels, was a douchebag and that everyone looked pretty much the same. That's the problem. I got it AGES ago! I do not need it repeated to me, at least not to the extent it is being repeated. Move on already! Bring out something new. But my impression might change as I finish the book. I'm not such a stubborn person. :rolleyes: I once read a book I hated until the second to last page, and suddenly I loved it. And I guess I can cope with all those random people that are pretty much identical if I just remember that no one matters...

    Edit: Is it possible that the book is lost on me because it's before my time? I wasn't alive in the 80s and didn't really care about what people wore and how they looked like until 2004...
    spklvr, Mar 30, 2011
  5. arron89
    I guess the less familiar you are with the idea of 1980s Wall Street, the less effective you'll find the satire. But really, Ellis is all about the writing style. Story is just incidental, even character development is second to his writing style. You're right, he establishes most of the satire early in the book and spends the rest of the book subtly developing this character more and more (in some interesting directions, and with interesting results), but really, the reason people love him is because of his writing, which is amazing. So if you don't like his style, or find it boring or repetitive or something, then I don't think the book's for you. That's not to say you won't like it, just that you probably wouldn't like it quite as much as I do.
    arron89, Mar 30, 2011
  6. C J Thorne
    I agree with all the comments above in regard to Ellis' writing style and Bateman's personality. I'm ashamed to admit I personally bought this book excited by the prospect of its infamous gore, and was disappointed to find these scenes were almost beside the point.

    I believe this book could easily have been written as a short story, and this might have been more effective by not draining the reader so much with the mundane and repetitive details. I'd still recommend persevering, or if you're morbid like me you could always just skip to the interesting parts haha!
    C J Thorne, Mar 30, 2011
  7. Ashleigh
    I agree with Arron and Gannon, it does sound as if you're either missing the point, or it just isn't your kind of novel all together.

    I haven't read it yet, but have wanted to, so this discussion has actually made me want to find out for myself. ;)
    Ashleigh, Mar 30, 2011
  8. spklvr
    My complaints aside, it's definitely worth a read. The book isn't bad, it just isn't as good as I thought it would be, seeing as everyone loves it so much.
    spklvr, Mar 30, 2011
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