American Psycho by B. Easton Ellis
Yet another novel I never know was a novel. So, I adore the film version of this. It is a fun, disturbing, and disgusting ride. Ever wanted more of those things? Read this book. So much is left out or modified in the film adaptation.
First, let me say, a lot in this book is "rich, white dude problems." From chapters and pages about suits, who is wearing what, who has what, hardbodies, nice tits, and the internal monologue keeping with who the hell Bateman even liked, your head spins like crazy. I will not lie, there were SO MANY characters in this book, I had a hard time keeping up with who was who. I am still not sure I remember the significance or name of quite a bit of people mentioned. Let's also note how the movie ends with three chapters left that may be jumbled into one lunch scene. Fair Warning: in the novel, NO ONE is off the table from Bateman, not even children.
Oh, lord confusion. Bateman as a sexist, racist, homophobic, psychopath, or was it all a dream? Also, I feel like something gets solidified with the fact he does not kill the cab driver that robs him in the end. A lot of things remain unanswered as far as his mass killing sprees. (Also, why the hell did the movie include a chainsaw being thrown down the stairs flights to nail a chick? To cover up the way he actually killed the women?) Whew. One thing I will say, Patrick was brutal. How many times can a decapitated head be sexualized? Read this book and tell me you're final count. I stopped bothering to count past five. Dream or not, the man did some pretty fucked up shit to people here. As bad of an individual, he was personality-wise, I liked him all otherwise.
Sure, the novel is full of racism, misogyny, homophobia, and infidelity. But, it also had spectacular moments of gore, suspense, confusion, did that really just fucking happen, and some fun characters to follow that never broke their arches. Courtney is desperate, Evelyn is a bimbo, Jean is precious, Tim (man he 86'd himself), the idiot crew of friends, the escorts and prostitutes, Luis, the other affair Jeannette, among others I am sure I am skimping. All were not too bad to follow because they basically stayed the same and disappeared, or in Jean's case, began appearing more.
So questions, how did Bateman manage to keep rotting bodies, a bloody apartment, dry cleaning evidence NOT being turned over, and other things without anyone noticing? Bodies start to stick. Cutting someone open or mutilating a person stinks. You're telling me NO ONE noticed the smell of all things? How the hell do you consistently clean the blood off the wall, floors, carpet, etc. and they still appear presentable without clear signs of bad, terrible wear. And the maid? She just shut up and cleaned? Some very unrealistic things - that work if it was really a dream, but was it? That is unsatisfying. I like the idea of a psychopath coming to terms, and no one, absolutely not a SOUL, believes him, and he must LIVE with it.
We only hear or get hints of what Patrick really does at the start, but we do finally get a murder in Chapter 16. Which I think is fair. It steadily gets worse. Always remained brutal. Why he gotta be so mean to the animals? Honestly, studies show that's how MOST start their violent journey. Let's just say, the rat in the vaginal canal was a "Jesus Christ" kinda scene LOL. I just have a hard time processing animal deaths, but I get why they existed here. It is essential to display Patrick as the fucking lunatic he is.
I will say, if he lived in such a fantasy world, I can't say I am too different from him. For legal reasons, that's a joke. But, are any of us? Let's not get too deep into that one. Bateman was somewhat open about his desires or lifestyle, and we have such classic lines throughout the work. His "friends" also note how into serial killers he is. Even if it was all some fabricated delusion, Bateman made a great psycho and character to follow.
Overall, do I think this was a good psycho? Yes. Do I think the confusion from the end was fair? Nope. And for the moment of truth: No. I did not like this ending. I felt confused and ripped off. Granted, I didn't even know it was a novel to start; however, there is no written squeal to my book. So, him living on with it just falls flat. We can assume he will go madder down that rabbit hole. I did not feel satisfied by its ending, "this is not the end," when it is the end. I've never seen the second film, either. But, either way, darn. I am not even sure if I knew how I would end it myself. What can you do? Only two options: he gets away with it or not. But then it never happened got thrown in. Now, I feel like a whole mess of the time I dedicated to this monster of a novel because what the actual fuck happened? Could I end it better? Probably not. It was a good ending. I can admit that, but I, personally, was not happy with it.
Ellis did claim that is book was going to end his career. It did not. However, considering it was set to be published in 1991 and did not even get a hardcover until 2012, and its subject matter, terminology, theme, and imagery, not hard to see why he got threats and hate mail for it. It almost, please note: ALMOST, seems like this may be the novel version of A Serbian Film in terms of reputation, reaction, and reader limitations. Great book. I would recommend to anyone who enjoys one brutal fucking read such as myself.
First, let me say, a lot in this book is "rich, white dude problems." From chapters and pages about suits, who is wearing what, who has what, hardbodies, nice tits, and the internal monologue keeping with who the hell Bateman even liked, your head spins like crazy. I will not lie, there were SO MANY characters in this book, I had a hard time keeping up with who was who. I am still not sure I remember the significance or name of quite a bit of people mentioned. Let's also note how the movie ends with three chapters left that may be jumbled into one lunch scene. Fair Warning: in the novel, NO ONE is off the table from Bateman, not even children.
Oh, lord confusion. Bateman as a sexist, racist, homophobic, psychopath, or was it all a dream? Also, I feel like something gets solidified with the fact he does not kill the cab driver that robs him in the end. A lot of things remain unanswered as far as his mass killing sprees. (Also, why the hell did the movie include a chainsaw being thrown down the stairs flights to nail a chick? To cover up the way he actually killed the women?) Whew. One thing I will say, Patrick was brutal. How many times can a decapitated head be sexualized? Read this book and tell me you're final count. I stopped bothering to count past five. Dream or not, the man did some pretty fucked up shit to people here. As bad of an individual, he was personality-wise, I liked him all otherwise.
Sure, the novel is full of racism, misogyny, homophobia, and infidelity. But, it also had spectacular moments of gore, suspense, confusion, did that really just fucking happen, and some fun characters to follow that never broke their arches. Courtney is desperate, Evelyn is a bimbo, Jean is precious, Tim (man he 86'd himself), the idiot crew of friends, the escorts and prostitutes, Luis, the other affair Jeannette, among others I am sure I am skimping. All were not too bad to follow because they basically stayed the same and disappeared, or in Jean's case, began appearing more.
So questions, how did Bateman manage to keep rotting bodies, a bloody apartment, dry cleaning evidence NOT being turned over, and other things without anyone noticing? Bodies start to stick. Cutting someone open or mutilating a person stinks. You're telling me NO ONE noticed the smell of all things? How the hell do you consistently clean the blood off the wall, floors, carpet, etc. and they still appear presentable without clear signs of bad, terrible wear. And the maid? She just shut up and cleaned? Some very unrealistic things - that work if it was really a dream, but was it? That is unsatisfying. I like the idea of a psychopath coming to terms, and no one, absolutely not a SOUL, believes him, and he must LIVE with it.
We only hear or get hints of what Patrick really does at the start, but we do finally get a murder in Chapter 16. Which I think is fair. It steadily gets worse. Always remained brutal. Why he gotta be so mean to the animals? Honestly, studies show that's how MOST start their violent journey. Let's just say, the rat in the vaginal canal was a "Jesus Christ" kinda scene LOL. I just have a hard time processing animal deaths, but I get why they existed here. It is essential to display Patrick as the fucking lunatic he is.
I will say, if he lived in such a fantasy world, I can't say I am too different from him. For legal reasons, that's a joke. But, are any of us? Let's not get too deep into that one. Bateman was somewhat open about his desires or lifestyle, and we have such classic lines throughout the work. His "friends" also note how into serial killers he is. Even if it was all some fabricated delusion, Bateman made a great psycho and character to follow.
Overall, do I think this was a good psycho? Yes. Do I think the confusion from the end was fair? Nope. And for the moment of truth: No. I did not like this ending. I felt confused and ripped off. Granted, I didn't even know it was a novel to start; however, there is no written squeal to my book. So, him living on with it just falls flat. We can assume he will go madder down that rabbit hole. I did not feel satisfied by its ending, "this is not the end," when it is the end. I've never seen the second film, either. But, either way, darn. I am not even sure if I knew how I would end it myself. What can you do? Only two options: he gets away with it or not. But then it never happened got thrown in. Now, I feel like a whole mess of the time I dedicated to this monster of a novel because what the actual fuck happened? Could I end it better? Probably not. It was a good ending. I can admit that, but I, personally, was not happy with it.
Ellis did claim that is book was going to end his career. It did not. However, considering it was set to be published in 1991 and did not even get a hardcover until 2012, and its subject matter, terminology, theme, and imagery, not hard to see why he got threats and hate mail for it. It almost, please note: ALMOST, seems like this may be the novel version of A Serbian Film in terms of reputation, reaction, and reader limitations. Great book. I would recommend to anyone who enjoys one brutal fucking read such as myself.
Alexis,
ReplyDeleteI have been pondering Ellis' claim you mentioned towards the end of your post, about how he thought it would surely end his career. Amazing how we as authors rip our books to shreds and yet are so taken aback if someone praises it. Sure, looking at something a thousand times sours the manuscript as a whole to us the author, but the mental image of Ellis looking at American Psycho a hundred times and editing Bateman's mental state is surreal enough to mention it. He thought it'd end his career and instead, it launched him to the stratosphere and launched Bateman to the unholy circle of fictional serial killers.
I agree with you and David both. I LOVED Jean, loathed everyone else. Another note I agree with is the idea of a repentant psychopath, but I think the way the reader cannot discern what's actually happen--and, theoretically by extension, Bateman--would allow for any of that with Bateman. He can't do it. He can't rule it out, which I discussed in my main post regarding the ending of this.
Shocker--I love this book. I love Patrick Bateman and the ambiguity of American Psycho. However, I'm not one of those types who love vague endings. I personally am a proponent of the theory that the "This is not an exit" is a marker Bateman himself has placed there. None of it happened. It's merely one long, twisted nightmarish fantasy Bateman uses to either warn himself or remind himself of what he really is down to his core, under the surface.
- HH
DeleteInterestingly, even though there's not an American Psycho pt2 I read that Ellis essentially writes all his stuff in one "universe." From what I understand, Bateman first made an appearance in another novel and there was NO indication that he was unhinged. Ellis then wrote in the early 2000s Lunar Park, which from the description is extremely meta and has Ellis as a character and Bateman as a "spirit"... I don't know, the description kind of lost me, but Wikipedia says that Bateman has some kind of death in that.
ReplyDeleteI'm not like you and HH though in terms of accepting ambiguity. I absolutely love it and thought it was well done in this novel. To me, "This is not an exit," was about as good an ending as this story could have had. I don't remember much of the movie, but my research (mostly Wikipedia based) found Ellis thinking that the movie removed the ambiguity and tried to throw it in as a cheap twist at the end. I like how it permeated the whole of the story in novel form, really embracing the idea of the unreliable narrator.
Oh lord, if you love ambiguity, you're really gonna love the fucking disastrous mess The Sculptor is.
DeleteI did not know that Ellis has them all in the same universe. That is rather fascinating! He is like a writer of fiction universe (I am thinking comic universes here LOL). The would give his readers some answers; however, unless your a writer, I don't actually know many readers who follow one author with everything they write. Someone may read this one and be absolutely horrified and never touch a work by Ellis again. Seems like such a dangerous line to draw for himself but nonetheless, fascinating to know. Thank you!