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Graphic: Gore, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence
Moderate: Drug use, Homophobia, Racism
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Biphobia, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Cannibalism, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Classism
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Alcohol
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Drug use, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Vomit, Antisemitism, Cannibalism, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual harassment
Ummm...wow. I'm not even sure where to begin. For context, I've never seen the movie, and I thought 'what the hey, I should read the book first'. Surprisingly, somehow, I really enjoyed it. This book is a really interesting satire of consumerism and elitism in such a capitalistic place as NYC, while also being a fascinating stream-of-consciousness look at the mind of an incredibly mentally ill individual. As a book, the narrative voice is far more interesting and important than the actual plot itself. That being said, I knew that this book was going to be dark and gross, but I was not prepared for HOW dark and gross. Most of the book is fine, but there are a handful of chapters that are extremely descriptive in the gore, and horrifically 'creative'. I have a pretty strong stomach, and multiple times I needed to take breathers from chapters being too intense for me. *If you choose to read the book and want to try and dodge the worst of it, the chapters titled 'Girl' or 'Girls' contain the worst of the worst*. Other than that, I thought it was a brilliant read and for the most part, incredibly well written. It would have had 5 stars from me if it weren't for a few things: 1) while some of the gore was appropriate, a good chunk of it was a bit too gratuitous, although it could be argued that it was necessary for the reader's understanding of the character, 2) it's a VERY slow read, and doesn't pick up much until the halfway point, 3) some motifs were very well-played, while others were a bit overused and overdone, 4) gonna be honest, not a fan of the ending. I somewhat understand what the point of the ending was supposed to mean, but I just think it fell a bit flat in its efficacy compared to the rest of the book. But other than that, if you're looking for a genuinely funny, dark, and macabre character study, I would recommend this book.
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Antisemitism, Cannibalism, Abortion, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Body horror, Drug abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder
here’s the thing: american psycho is not meant for you to idolize bateman or any other characters in the book, you are not meant to like anyone; the whole point of american psycho is meant to criticize yuppies, capitalists, and in general just rich people who derive pleasure from viscously punching down on those who are less fortunate. notice how each of bateman’s victims (excluding paul owen) were people from marginalized groups or just people that he thought were “lesser than”, ie women, queer people, poor people and/or anyone who wasn’t white, and even at times kills small helpless animals, again because he views them as lesser than. his rampant killing of people from these groups are meant to symbolize the sheer violence of capitalism and how minorities are treated because of it, and that point is further proven by the fact that the author is a queer man, literally someone part of a marginalized group. the fact that people lack the critical thinking skills to understand that this book is meant to CRITICIZE people like bateman rather than IDOLIZE him is both disappointing yet not surprising unfortunately, it’s almost like you gotta spell it out for people who’s brain is smaller than an atom. if you don’t like reading books where there’s no likable characters and it takes more than 2 brain cells to understand the theme and message of the book, then american psycho isn’t for you.
with that said, it’s a very slow paced book, with chapters that ultimately can be skipped (sometimes it’s literally just bateman ranting about his fav music), and it’s extremely violent and gory, something that not everyone is a fan of. despite that, the writing’s spectacular, with it being so vivid and descriptive (mainly in the gory parts) that it’s sure to make you want to shit yourself in pure fear and terror, and i loved delving into the mind of patrick bateman and the idea about society and its functions that he, along with the other characters, are meant to represent.
Graphic: Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Violence, Murder
Moderate: Drug abuse, Homophobia, Cannibalism, Classism
Minor: Antisemitism
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Drug use, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Cannibalism, Murder
I will say though, his perpetual fall in trying to understand himself is one that anyone in their 20s could empathise with…just maybe not in terms of killing people for fun.
Overtime, I just disliked the main character more and more, yes it’s fictional, yes I went in thinking I wanted to hear the crazy shit, but slowly it just got harder and harder to read. I didn’t care anymore about his thoughts, I didn’t care about anyone around him either but then I deeped that’s pretty much what the author wants me to feel (I hope). These people are pricks, everyone is fake and the only time you feel for anyone is the innocents that have no “character”. As in, they’re just random homeless people or escorts.
If that was the point, which again I assume it is, yeah, the author did a great job making me dislike everyone.
Anyways, 3 stars because when the story isn’t being slowed down by “lemme check my hair” or “this guy is wearing an Armani suit with…etc etc”, the feeling of a downward spiral does become clearer, and of course I am always going to love the detective scene and the lawyer scene at the end.
Otherwise, I think I am being a little generous with 3 stars, maybe the film is influencing that but either way. Good book, don’t recommend if you easily get bored or you don’t wanna read some actually horrifying shit.
Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body shaming, Drug use, Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Vomit, Gaslighting, Classism