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A review by stewardii
The Informers by Bret Easton Ellis
challenging
dark
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
As a reinvigorated defender of this man’s work, I have to assume this is the worst of his fiction (I now only have Lunar Park to go).
There are fleeting moments of brilliance. For me these were the stories that dabbled in the (yes, ambiguously) supernatural. I also enjoyed ‘In the Islands’ - but perhaps this is because I knew Tim Price from American Psycho, and learning of his strained relationship with his father and his introverted nature was revealing, knowing that he goes on to become an alpha male finance bro. His writing of men - damaged, emotionally unintelligent men - is so, so brilliant.
The truth is his narratives need the driving force of character. Because his characters are so often so similar by design, you need an anchor. Even if that character is a vapid nobody, it helps to perceive the world around them through a shared, continuous lense, and the anthology approach to this spreads the reader’s attention way too thinly.
There are moments of graphic violence in this that are not earned in the way they are in American Psycho. One in particular is unremittingly grim - worse even than in that book - and I just couldn’t fathom why it was there. It didn’t make me think enough to justify its making me feel the way it did. Conversely, there is a graphically violent chapter which is by far the best in the book.
What a weird read.
There are fleeting moments of brilliance. For me these were the stories that dabbled in the (yes, ambiguously) supernatural. I also enjoyed ‘In the Islands’ - but perhaps this is because I knew Tim Price from American Psycho, and learning of his strained relationship with his father and his introverted nature was revealing, knowing that he goes on to become an alpha male finance bro. His writing of men - damaged, emotionally unintelligent men - is so, so brilliant.
The truth is his narratives need the driving force of character. Because his characters are so often so similar by design, you need an anchor. Even if that character is a vapid nobody, it helps to perceive the world around them through a shared, continuous lense, and the anthology approach to this spreads the reader’s attention way too thinly.
There are moments of graphic violence in this that are not earned in the way they are in American Psycho. One in particular is unremittingly grim - worse even than in that book - and I just couldn’t fathom why it was there. It didn’t make me think enough to justify its making me feel the way it did. Conversely, there is a graphically violent chapter which is by far the best in the book.
What a weird read.