documentno_is 's review for:

The Shards by Bret Easton Ellis

3.75

challenging dark reflective tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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 What Works: 

The self hatred, the desperate longing, the pantomime, the charade,

Susan asking Bret why he couldn’t just keep it up, the schism of Bret and Robert (who he is vs. the masculine straight idealized version he’s chasing,)

the tangible participant,

Brett as a drug addled unreliable narrator

, perception vs. reality, L.A as the setting- it’s insane phony privileges mixed with the realistic seedy underbelly of cults and killers, the absurd New Wave soundtrack, the raging hormones & horniness as Bret spirals over his desires, Numbness, ‘ludes. 

You could never make the argument he doesn't have style. 

 

What Doesn’t Work: 

I wonder if all revered authors get to a point in their career where editors become too afraid to tell them “you need to cut.” This same story could have told in 200 less pages, although I like E’s writing enough to go along for the ride even when I’m rolling my eyes about the superfluous repetition and building details. I can almost appreciate BEE’s refusal to check his ego at the door- I think some of the more insufferable aspects of his personality shines in this metafiction because I don’t think he wants us to like him, he tells us that he’s a liar, he’s faking it, it’s all facade and aesthetic.

BEE has always been somebody encapsulated in privilege barely able to see outside of it, and that works in this kind of novel where they all cannibalize each over it. The rich eating the rich, if you will.

I think just by virtue of this book coming out in 2025 Ellis has somewhat refused to keep up with the times (certainly politically- we all know White) and his writing suffers for it. Some of the old tropes and trappings feel stale and hollow, no longer carrying the weight and shock value of his heyday. 

 

I still think this one is worth reading, better than some of his other recent works due to the nostalgia factor, and at least the suspense of this builds into something somewhat satisfying and gripping.