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A review by venusdapoopiehead
American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
challenging
dark
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
5.0
TLDR: american psycho is a book with vivid and descriptive writing, horrible yet intriguing characters, and an important message about society. it is not just a book about a serial killer-it is about the cruelty of capitalism and the intricacies of identity and mankind. it is, however, very slow paced and there’s sometimes chapters where there isn’t much plot and it’s just patrick info-dumping, and there are a lot of triggering and upsetting scenes, know yourself and your limitations.
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Violence, Murder
Moderate: Drug abuse, Homophobia, Cannibalism, Classism
Minor: Antisemitism