Who has read American Psycho ? I need you...<spoilers>

I am a bit pretentious and am a big BEE fan so take what I say with a pinch of salt, but:

I think AP is a great novel and one of the funniest ever written. Obviously, as you can see from the reaction here, it's not for everyone, but for many people Pat Bateman / Bret Easton Ellis' wry observations of the society he's among are pretty funny. I would also argue that it's about as "misogynist" as Schindler's List is "anti semitic". Just because an author chooses to portray unpleasant events in his novel does not necessarily mean that he condones those events. (we can argue here about the level of detail BEE goes into and I would agree with others and with BEE himself that he did definitely go too far... but I don't think that that ruins the book).

Also, as an aside: it is most definitely not "all a dream". It's left a little unclear whether he actually committed the murders or not, which isn't the same thing. For what it's worth, I think that the whole point is that he did do them, but no one else notices because they're all so superficial that they don't notice, to put it a bit simply.

But obviously it's not for everyone, but I can't stand by and watch it get a kicking when I like it so much.

Oh :( I had forgotten those rats.

The film is hysterical. There are no rats. The most disturbing scene is when Bateman has the two girls in his room and opens a set of grotesque-looking implements. The other "bloodier" scenes with Jared Leto and with the girl running away from the chainsaw, are exaggerated to be slightly ridiculous and tongue-in-cheek. It's certainly a tour-de-force from Christian Bale.

I loved the writing and comments on modern shallow culture and parts of it were very funny (like when they all compare business cards or the chapters on Whitney Houston)

But unfortunately the violence was abit much and I ended up skim reading those bits because I just didnt want the images in my head (some of which still are) The violence is the one thing which has stopped me rereading this.

It is a sickening book in terms of the descriptions of violence and torture. But I agree that it is also important in its depictions of the shallowness and soullessness of our modern culture. One of the things that I find most profound is the way the protagonist can't tell people apart; they all wear the same designer clothes and say the same things and meet at the same places - everyone has merged into one amorphous mass; no-one has any individual identity any more.

The final words are actually 'THIS IS NOT AN EXIT' which I think is fantastic on so many levels.

ditto, becstarlitsea - have also avoided the film.

Mattellie "...can?t help wondering whether some people are misremembering the book because the film is fresher in their minds."

Since it was me who started taking issue with the ending, I have to say... I've never seen the film. After hating the book there was no way I was going to sit through a movie of it! It was the book's ending I didn't like. Along with everything else about it

I read it ages ago, I still have it but don't think I would read it again

Some scenes are ingrained in my mind, yet they are so over the top that they lose their ability to shock after a while, which is probably the point

But I did think it was a good book

I read it at the time and binned it.

Then bought another copy.

It really is both horrible and a modern classic (as is the film). It's certainly a better read than Less than Zero and The Rules of Attraction.

The slick consumerism and the distorting nature of the world Bateman exists in (not sure he actually 'lives' really) is fascinating once you get past the images of torture. I consider the "it was imaginary" element to be crucial to not putting the book in the bin, which I didn't get the first time round, and just reacted viscerally to the viscera...

I think I read it when I was about 16, tbh I didn't get the whole "it was imaginary" thing, I think it leaves it open to interpretation. It didn't traumatise me, I did find certain parts shocking, but even at 16 I realised that it was a commentary on consumerist society.

It's an interesting book, and as for the mysogynistic aspect, well yes it is, as are a whole lot of books.

I was unmoved by Wolf Creek too, 2 of my sisters had to leave the cinema as it was too brutal/real. I was a bit tbh after I watched it. I am not generally bothered about fictional violence (there are some exceptions).

Really graphic descriptions of female torture.

It is an important book but the misogyny is difficult to stomach. Brett easton ellis actually admitted he went too far with the torture scenes. But ultimately I feel it is an important book, the violence dissolves into oblivion, like the designer clothes and the souless characters. It has been very influencial. His prose is beautiful. Not for the faint of heart though.

i think it ranks alongside vernon god little as the biggest load of rubbish i have ever read

I read it in my early twenties, appreciated the literariness of it and have clearly forgotten most of it having now read the above posts. I think it is one of the must reads but in a detached, analytical sort of way rather than snuggling down for a cosy winter evening of reading. TBH I have found others to be worse esp Irvine Welsh.

Sorry, haven't read all the posts as began to get freaked out again.

I was working with two men when I read it and we all started it together. The men LOVED it and I was completely horrified by the content. Admitted this was about 15 or so years ago but I disposed of my copy in the bin (first and only time I have done this with a book) and would not consider reading it again. Women-hating claptrap dressed up as fiction. Foul.

I read it when I was a teenager - it certainly didn't stay with me as I barely remember it. Gross out descriptions don't really bother me too much.

The stuff that gets to me is when there's more of a backstory to the victims - James Herbert is very good at this. I read the first two Rats books when I was a kid and a lot of them stayed with me, still freak me out now. But that's what I want from a horror novel really - I re-read the Rats books a few times.

Yes, I agree Mattellie

It?s interesting, although there is a line in the middle of an earlier scene in the book saying ?but since this is all a dream anyway?? the book most certainly does not end in this way but deliberately leaves it as open to interpretation.

The film, however, does end in this way so I can?t help wondering whether some people are misremembering the book because the film is fresher in their minds. The book is much more subtle and ambiguous than the film.

Hated it, hated thenimages that stayed with me and felt it actually was a poorly written book on terms of characterization/plot etc etc with a cop out ending.

The only thing he seemed to take care in writing was the violence. Sick.

Beautifully written, gripping and harrowing.

And the only book I've wished I hadn't read. The ending made me feel like I'd wasted my horror and disgust.

I don't think you can compare it to a horror novel or a graphic thriller.
It is superbly written and I agree with Mattellie that it needs to be read after Less than Zero and Rules of attraction, or at least having them in mind.
I even liked the open ending.

It is disturbing, very disturbing (I def wouldn't be able to read it again), but it is a great book (and I also loved how he even put a character from a Jay McInenary novel)

It is the most horrible thin I've ever read and pretty boring in parts too. After I read it (I was a student and living in a dodgy part of Newcastle) I slept with a knife under my pillow for weeks.

If you want to read some BEE Less than Zero is a much better book.

is this the one that begins with him ripping a tramps head off etc? over rated imo

I'm with dotty2's flatmate and other posters - the only book I have ever binned. Disgusting. Agree with becstarlitsea - the ending is no excuse. The intent if it is to depict disintegration is no excuse either. It is totally vile.

I read it in my early 20's and found it disturbing. A number of the scenes stayed with me for a while. What I took from it was the shift in perspective on the values contained in the book. The interesting thing for me about the book is not the depiction of the violence but the way that it made me feel about the devaluation of human life. It's not a comfortable read.