American Psycho

I've decided to periodically add book reviews to this blog. If anyone is reading this, it will be something different and I really enjoy doing it.

So here we go; my first review will be of American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis.

Ellis paints a portrait of a man called Patrick Bateman, who lives in the materialistic New York City in the 80s.

In his third novel, Ellis creates a world where everyone is exceedingly narcissistic and self absorbed; characters in the novel don't hear or see each other. They are however concerned with where they are seated at a restaurant, and with all the designer labels they are wearing. Friendship is reduced to comparing designer clothes, business cards and contemplating the differences between different brands of bottled water together. Seduction and romance are nonexistant, and as for sex, in the novel Patrick has sex with many women, and each scene is as unmemorable as the last, often resulting in boredom on the part of the participants.

In this materialistic sphere everyone is equally rich, equally in designer fashion and equally superficial, making them interchangeable (Patrick and others in his circle of "friends" are often mistaken for one another), and this makes it uncertain as to whether Patrick actually committed his gory crimes only in his imagination. But does it even matter? Even the heinous crimes he theoretically commits result in nothing; there is no recognition, no consequence, no missing of any of his `victims'.

Ellis flawlessly satirizes modern consumerism, exposing its redundancy through his unique prose; gaining personal wealth, a perfect body, designer clothes, designer girls, no longer makes a person stand out. In Bateman, he creates a character that is so caught up in his materialisic world that he is not free to have whatever he wants and be happy; on the contrary, he is trapped in a rigid, monotonous existance, and he loses his identity, and control over himself.

Ellis' novel embodies the makings of a true contemporary tragedy. Patrick Bateman is a man with everything, and nothing. Ellis uses this vapid character to portray the growing lack of emotion and rise in a purely consumer society. Bateman is perhaps one of the most crucial characters in 20th century literature, and Ellis is definitely one of the most important authors.

Yes, I warn you that the violence is graphic and horrifying. But don't get stuck inside that. Look further. Don't miss this book!!!!