The best way I can describe American psycho is that its fucking amazing from a technical standpoint, but from a readers perspective itās absolute hell
the obsessive amount of brand mentions did get so dull, as did the massive amount of description of seemingly arbitrary routines. HOWEVER, as a method to represent the obsession with appearances and the way America/ success in America is almost entirely defined by brands and appearances, itās perfect. I mean, even though the book was published in 1991 before all this shit happened, it conveys how America has turned into extremist capitalism so well. You canāt escape brands, everyone is surrounded by advertisements- from tv adverts to now undisclosed ads in influencer content. And yet, even in the top rings of success, even above it all, you canāt escape the constant reminder that the system has failed most people, and youāre just profiting on it. Les mis and its messages haunts the narrative, through every homeless person he mocks to each prostitute he mutilates. The fact that he, as the upper class, as pretty much the non-monocracy version of the ruling class, is a perpetrator of a class system he benefits from, and one where he is enemy to most. The book is called *american* psycho, of course.
despite Batemans reception as the typical āalpha maleā, he seems to be, in some respects, so far from those peopleās ideals of masculinity. Yes, heās rich, heās powerful, he sleeps with loads of women, heās at the gym all the time. All of which does align with the aspirations of toxic masculinity. However, batemen also spends half of the book talking about how heās on the verge of tears, how heās crying because heās not being listened to, how he wants to be loved. He may be one of the most immoral/ evil characters in literature, but you canāt deny heās emotional as hell and is in touch with his emotions. I donāt know where I was going with this point, but I just thought it was interesting.
the gore was sickening, naturally, in a way that I havenāt felt from other books with gore in them. I managed perfectly fine through blood meridian, but I nearly threw up many times at this book. It was jarring and depraved and again, not sure where Iām going with this point, but I couldnāt yap about this book and ignore the heinous shit he gets up to.
Patrick Bateman is almost a parody of the kind of man hes representing. I know the book is largely inspired by the authors own experiences with a lack of fulfilment despite being rich, but thereās surely more to it. He (patrick Bateman) is a satire of masculine ideals at its worst. Now Iām not saying men are inherently bad or whatever, but the way a large amount of men are socialised- due to the media, gender expectations, role models, bad behaviour not being given consequences- does lead to gender influenced crime, such as seen through Bateman character. His actions almost take on a dystopian approach: pick a societal issue and amplify it to highlight its danger. For example, obsessively consuming porn have lead to cases of violent behaviour against women due to the violent nature of the content. This also links to the fetishisation of lesbians. Both of these issues are seen, and amplified, in Batemans character, to the point where (due to how graphic it is) the issue is impossible to ignore. The issues of the wealthy (especially wealthy men) getting away with crimes due to their privilege is amplified through him.
also a quick note at the end before I finish this yap, very very interesting how heās violently prejudice towards gay men but not towards lesbians. Something something, viewing others only as methods for his own pleasure. Something something many homophobic men are threatened by gay men because they worry gay men will treat them how they treat women. Something something there is definitely something homoerotic about Batemans character.
anyways, all in all, incredibly well written book, awful reading experience. I will never touch this book again <3