An American Classic or tasteless Tat? (American Psycho - Bret Easton Ellis)

Member Name: allybally

Product:	American Psycho - Bret Easton Ellis
Date:	24/05/07 (163 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Descriptive and detailed introduction to the main character

Disadvantages: Exceptionally gory and in some parts over Hollywood-a-fied

Author: Bret Easton Elllis
Publish Date: April 1991
Number of Pages: 399
Age Suitability: Strictly for adults with strong stomachs
RRP: £7.99 Amazon Price: from £3.15


I, like most was aware of the stigma that followed American Psycho before I decided to read it. Perhaps the stigma and warnings of graphic violence and vulgar descriptions was part of what tempted me to buy it. I wanted to know if this book could really be as horrific and gut-wrenching as it sounded; whether the book had more going for it than just shock value horror. I wanted see for myself if this book really was a great contemporary classic novel to be celebrated, and ultimately, I wanted to test myself.

***Brief Summary***
Patrick Bateman is an American Yuppie living the high life in the scruples-free and indulgent era of the 1980’s in New York. He epitomises greed and spends his time and money on women, drugs and fancy restaurants. Unsurprisingly, his need for continual gratification leads him into a delusional, sick and depraved world of deceit, abuse, murder and unimaginable torture.

***Who is Bret Easton Ellis***
The American author now 43 years old is highly-disputed as a modern day classic writer. His first novel, Less than Zero was published while he was still in school in 1985 and won critical acclaim however, his 1991 offering American Psycho caused mass uproar with some heralding it as one of the greatest contemporary literature offerings while others dismissed it as nothing more than a tasteless book written for pure shock value in order to sell more copies.

Interestingly, Easton Ellis who is divorced and has two children surprised the world in 2005 following the death of his dear friend Michael Wade Kaplin by throwing his sexual orientation in to question. In an article written following an interview with the author, Easton Ellis claimed Kaplin had not only been his best friend, but also his lover for the last 6 years. Since then, many have drawn inferences from this in an attempt to better understand his work.

Other Works by Bret Easton Ellis*
Less than Zero,
Rules of Attraction
The Informers
Glamorama
Lunar Park

He is currently working on a sequel to Less than Zero.

***What I liked***
American Psycho is written in the first person which, whether we like it or not allows the reader to get further in to the protagonist, Bateman’s head. Writing in this style makes it impossible to avoid his thought process and how he sees events in his life. This style, coupled with the use of regular flashback scenes is part of what makes this such a disturbing book to read.

There was a gradual build up to the book. When we first meet Bateman, yes he appears to be a lonely and narcissistic creature but there are only hints of the terror of what is to come. Easton Ellis takes a considerable amount of time to allow us to get to know the main character (although secondary characters do not get the same focus although, Bateman doesn’t see those around him as being worthy of too detailed a description) which in my eye, is key to successful story telling. For me, there was a brief comparison with Joseph Heller’s Something Happened in that (apart from the obvious) the book didn’t have much of a plot but instead concentrated on building up a picture of the man behind the unthinkable including the mundane daily tasks that form part of his routine and character.

Easton Ellis is, if nothing else a fantastically descriptive writer. His attention to detail meant as a reader I could imagine his friends’ faces, the suits they wore, the creases in their faces. I could imagine being in his apartment; was able to visualize the layout as if I was standing in his living-room. It also meant that when he described how he played with and tortured his victims, I watched the scene unfold as if through his own eyes. The scene involving his drugged girlfriend and a prostitute was one of these scenarios. For this, you need a strong sense of self and an even stronger stomach.

What I was most impressed with was the manner in which Easton Ellis managed to take the reader on a journey of emotions with Easton Ellis. By exposing his weaknesses, insecurities, loneliness and desperation, despite being totally disgusted with the man he becomes, the reader (admit it or don’t) can’t help but feel the smallest sense of empathy and pity for the man. The care he takes to show the whole man in his entirety, instead of the easy one dimensional murderer is perhaps the greatest success of this book while also being the reason so many have critisied it. After all, no one wants to admit they can identify - no matter how slightly with a character as ugly as Bateman.

***What I didn’t like***
Firstly, let’s get the issue of uncensored and in most cases totally unimaginable violence and depravity out of the way. I can’t imagine anyone would have enjoyed this, and I admit, there were some parts I found myself reading through half closed eyes, desperate to skip the page. I did struggle to understand the necessity to go into such detail in some parts, particularly towards the end. The Rodent scene springs to mind instantly as perhaps pushing the boundaries purely for the sake of pushing the boundaries. I felt that as the book came to an end, the picture had been painted already and perhaps this was added unnecessarily. Saying that, the point of the book was to get inside the mind of Bateman and there is no denying Easton Ellis succeeded in doing so.

I found the book too long with a handful of chapters seeming relatively irrelevant to the story or to building a profile of Bateman and his life. I felt Easton Ellis spent a bit too much time setting the eighties inspired scene when many of his readers would have been familiar with the decade enough to manage to grasp the point with a few pages excluded.

I am a woman so some (ignorant folk) may imagine me to be too girlie to deal with a book as gritty as American Psycho, however I am an avid reader and my library includes books such as Junkie by William Burroughs which is far more depraved than American Psycho. When I make the comparison, perhaps where American Psycho falls short is in its slickness. It was written as if its author was already envisaging it as the film which inevitably yet bravely followed a few years ago. It is almost too neat and the “shock” scenes sometimes feel a little too contrived and for me, some of these scenes importance and contribution to the book was lost as a result.

***Conclusion***
Is this an American classic or glorified violent tat? I am not sure I think either label is appropriate. Whilst I commend Bret Easton Ellis for tackling this project with conviction, and whilst I admire his literary and descriptive ability, I do feel it has been tainted slightly by the slightly Hollywood feel. The violence, whilst recognised as a necessary part of the story could have been approached differently in one or two places.

This is not an enjoyable read. It is not one that will make readers feel in the slightest bit comfortable and when finished, I am sure all readers have put it down with a sigh of relief. However, if you can read it without the focus being on the violence and vulgarity and more on the human quality of Easton Ellis’s writing, I believe most will see this book as a fascinating and worthwhile read.

Summary: Patrick Bateman allows greed and materialism to lead him into a world of horror