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miraa_exe's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, and Cannibalism
emzella's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail
zakcebulski's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Hmmmmmmmmm.
Yeah, I don't know about this book.
Let me start off by saying that I think that this book was written exceedingly well, and, in fact his book is a very clever satire on the hyper-material focused lifestyle of New York Yuppie culture.
In this book we follow Patrick Bateman who is an investment banker, though funnily enough, we never actually see him doing any work.
Patrick is more worried about his outward physical appearance and getting reservations at all of the most hip locations in NYC.
Patrick is also, supposedly, a serial killer.
Patrick spends his time hyperfixating on his looks with lengthy diatribes pertaining to each piece of the suit- whom it was made by, and even the cost. Now, these sections, which often cover paragraphs and paragraphs can be drawling and sloggish, but, in essence that is the point.
The point is that Patrick and his friends are so obsessed with their appearances that they spout off the most nuanced detail in an effort to seem cultured (The Patty Winters Show was on...) and also, to give an air of superiority- we know about something that you can't understand.
But, it comes off as overly redundant and stupid because.... why would we care? It makes people look very silly in putting so much effort into knowing the minute of every single thing.
Going off of this there are several (and I mean several) times when Bateman is confused for another character because they are all described as the same fucking person. And, in essence, they all want to be the same person, which is insane to think about. I think that this plays into the criminal idea of "hiding in plain sight" which is not hard when you consider that there are no differences between dozens of affluent white men all striving to be the same idealized version of a Gordon Gekko "Greed is Good" type character while delving into the hedonistic vices of the 80s and early 90s.
A lot has been talked about this book's approach to sex and its very hyper- masculine tone. I can absolutely see how the subjugation and subservience of women can be offensive, I think that Ellison strikes a delicate balance in this book, albeit one that is still not fun to read.
Ellison's writing can absolutely come off as misogynistic when read through a totally genuine and played straight tone. However, I think that he is actually attempting to bring the readers in on the joke and poke fun at people who think and act like Bateman and his friends. I do not think that Ellison actually believes the shit that he writes about toward women in general, but, whether or not he succeeds in his subversive satire on the overtly masculine yuppie culture is up to the individual reader to decide.
I cannot, nor would I want to tell people who are offended by the overt misogynistic tones of Bateman and his friends that they are wrong or just don't understand. Because, at the end of the day, I think that that is the exact critique that Ellison is going for.
Now, on to the serial killer side of things. I think that Ellison writes Bateman to be a very Humbert Humbert style of character- i.e. one that is wholly unreliable and daydreams about committing heinous acts, while not actually doing them, meanwhile being totally capable of committing them. I for one do not believe that Bateman committed any of the heinous acts that he described in the book. I think that they were total fantasies. With that said, I do also believe that Bateman was/ is also totally capable of committing these crimes.
I truly think that he was just one step away from snapping and going on a murder spree that he described.
With all of that said, I also think that the graphic depictions of murders, rapes, necrophilia, animal abuse and body defilement are some of the most graphic and vile things that I have read in a very long time, and possibly ever. There were some parts of these descriptions where I had to lower the book and take the a breather before continuing.
I think that this is where the book started to lose me a bit. I know that the entire point- the emphasis- was in Bateman supposedly committing these abhorrent crimes and then on the next page describing some mundane facet of life pertaining to his attire or a restaurant or something... but, it just didn't work for me because I felt that the entire message was "you never know how well people are hiding behind a mask of sanity". But, Bateman isn't. Bateman is a prick throughout the book, and not one that I think is portrayed as believably sane, or not a colossal asshole. To me, it is entirely feasible that he is a serial killer who is just on the edge of murder.
Coming from a knowledge base of true crime studies there are many killers who when they are caught the general consensus is- "no way it could be _____!"
Bateman is not that. Bateman is a piece of shit who is the walking archetype of a person that is totally capable of committing crimes against those he sees as less than.
Overall, I think that this book is a great and scathing criticism of consumeristic culture and material pursuits.
I think that it does fall flat in terms of its portrayal of Bateman being a complete madman who is actually a horrific murderer. But, maybe that was the point- maybe Bateman thinks that he is pulling one over on us and the world that he inhabits, but I don't know.
This is one of those books that I would have a son of a gun time recommending to anybody because of its subject matter. While I do think that the book is meant to be read as a non-serious and satirical take on the hypermasculinity of the 1980s Wall Street scene ala The Wolf of Wall Street, I cannot in good faith say that people who are offended or off put by this book are wrong. I think that this book rides a very very thin line between overtly satire and the real-life fantasies of people who do walk among us. I think that there is a very specific mindset one had to be in to read this book and not throw it across the room in disgust at the subject matter, and when you're in that mindset, I think that there are sections that do work well as poking fun at materialistic consumerism culture that was and is so prevalent in the USA as a symbol of "I am better than you".
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Mass/school shootings, Cannibalism, Murder, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
wednesdayboy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Car accident, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
eli_mo23's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Cannibalism, and Murder
jayvdw's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
First off, the book is very slow, especially in the beginning. It fits the theme and sets the book's tone, but it doesn't read nicely. The book has some big themes and criticisms about 1980s America, which is very interesting and insightful. Patricks focus on clothing, brand, music and materialism really sets a mood whilst reading and depth to the characters. BUT IT'S FUCKING BORING. Personally, I skipped most of these, the long lists, I understand why they are there and that Bret intentionally puts them in the book to be boring and bore the reader.
The book is super super gross and not at all for the faint of heart. The book goes into detail about the murders and sex. It is very unsettling and I sometimes strayed away from reading for a few hours after certain chapters.
My favorite part of the book is clearly a few chapters near the end.
Overall, I think this book is very interesting and learnful. Even in the modern day a lot of the themes are still present or even worse. The book is however a very boring read or very gross most of the time, due to this I gave it a low rating, simply because I did not enjoy reading it for most of the book, I also feel like the book could have been half the size. The ending was a let down in my opinion and a bit too vague. It would have been better if the ending focussed more on the trustworthiness of Patrick.
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
This book is gross and very very explicit with sex, murder, rape and torture. Not only to men and women, but also animals and children.vicplusnone's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child death, Death, Drug use, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cursing and Homophobia
Minor: Abortion
kazli's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
phibs's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Although Ellis manages to deftly weave grim comedy throughout, his postmodernist critique remains explicitly crude and vile, leading the reader to question how necessary Ellis’ innumerable graphic depictions of wanton violence against women were to the narrative at large.
Director Mary Harron certainly cherrypicks the best of Ellis’ novel to adapt for cinema, leaving the novel little more than a compendium of desensitised butchery and $300 ceviches.
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Cannibalism, Abortion, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
brennach's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Cannibalism, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Ableism, Panic attacks/disorders, Transphobia, and Antisemitism
Minor: Dementia, Abortion, and Pregnancy