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Original poster

to tell 13 yo DD she can't read American Psycho? - also alternatives please. (Content Warning from MNHQ)

120 replies

GatherlyGal · 28/12/2017 20:06

So my (very mature) 13 year old DD has come home from town with American Psycho which she bought in Waterstones. I'm a bit surprised they sold it to her tbh but I suppose it's not their job to police who is buying what.

Anyway at the risk of making it sound even more exciting I've taken it off her and plan to return it. She's very interested in psychopaths so any slightly more appropriate suggestions would be very welcome!

OP posts:
LittleGreenBranch · 28/12/2017 20:26

Uncle montagues tales of terror is an interesting and creepy enough read for a 13yr old. Maybe too basic for her but have a look into it.

littlepeas · 28/12/2017 20:27

I read Pet Semetry when I was around 13 and it's true that a lot of it went over my head - I understood the basics of the story but wasn't mature enough to be really disturbed by it. It may be that it's similar with psycho, but I wouldn't risk it personally.

TheLesserWeevil · 28/12/2017 20:28

Oh good god, I wouldn't give it back to her straight away! My 40 year old, ex-army husband couldn't get through the second half because it was so grim in parts! If I were you I would skim read it and then discuss the subject matter with her - does she really want to read graphic descriptions of torture, sexual violence etc? Obviously if she's determined (and has a Kindle) it would be hard to stop her, but make sure she is fully aware of what she's letting herself in for - it's properly disturbing for many people, regardless of age. Am racking my brain for alternatives - A Clockwork Orange is brilliant but heavy going...

littlepeas · 28/12/2017 20:29

One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest?

SantaClauseMightWork · 28/12/2017 20:30

I think a lot of the posters are just not getting it. There is no way she won't read it now. She will find a way to read it.

I8toys · 28/12/2017 20:31

No way its horrible and graphic. I remember the kittens.

Mindhunter is popular at the moment - and I remember reading books by Paul Britton such as the Jigsaw Man looking at criminal psychology - why people do the things they do. Not sure if you want real life cases or fiction.

NovemberWitch · 28/12/2017 20:32

Dexter? Silence of the Lambs?

Commuterface · 28/12/2017 20:32

God no you can’t let her read it. I read American Psycho when I was 17 and was horrified by it then. It’s not a simple story of psychopaths. How about some Stephen King?

TooSarcastic · 28/12/2017 20:34

Maybe compromise on the topic by offering her a couple of the other suggestions here. Once she has worked through those let her have the book and be frank with her about it's content. Removing the book won't stop her from still searching it out, it's more likely to appeal, so compromising and being open about it may be of more use

Foodylicious · 28/12/2017 20:34

Take it off her.
Maybe a bit of Stephen king instead if she is adamant about wanting something horror ish?

I read Carrie and a few others at 13. Possibly a bit young but i found them much less disturbing then than I do as an adult.
Also, if she has not read it, get her Hitch hikers guide to the galaxy. Awesome book

hiyasminitsme · 28/12/2017 20:36

That book gave me nightmares as an adult.

TrustyPatches · 28/12/2017 20:37

I would certainly take it off her but like others have suggested it's readily available on the internet. I read it in college and to be honest I wish I hadn't, it does stay with you. Wouldn't let her see the film at that age either as although it's significantly tamer it's still absolutely horrifying.
As a PP has suggested I would also recommend In Cold Blood. I read that at a similar age.

Original poster
GatherlyGal · 28/12/2017 20:38

I've taken it away and will tell her I fully expect her to try and read it. I am going to try and explain about violence and sexual violence. Looking forward to that bedtime chat!

OP posts:
Mbear · 28/12/2017 20:41

Even though she is a mature reader, I think she won't get the black humour aspect of AP - which as a pp mentioned was all about the 90's excess and consumption. Patrick Bateman appears in a couple of BEE books (rules of attraction and something else). I actually really like his stuff and read it at a similar age, but the themes and motifs were lost on me, so my reading of it was very literal. I had read some of his other books first though, so had some idea of his work.

freddiepurrcury · 28/12/2017 20:42

I was a really advanced reader at 13 and read Silence of the Lambs, A Clockwork Orange and a lot of Stephen King- as a previous poster said a lot went over my head, however I don’t think this would be the case with American Psycho. It’s so much more graphic and disturbed me as an adult. I definitely think it would have traumatised me at that age. I really feel for you trying to stop her from reading it now. I think an above poster’s idea of introducing her to some Stephen King in the meantime is a very good idea. Also being very frank about the content of American Psycho. I might have considered not reading it if I’d been told Just how graphic the violence was.

OhhiMark · 28/12/2017 20:44

How about Perfume by Patrick Suskind? I agree with pps that Pandora's Box has been opened and at 13 she'll find a way to read it. Your best bet is to supervise as best you can. Maybe ask her to read it to you? Sounds silly but having her actually say the words might make her realise how grim it is before she is too far through it. I haven't read it but I'm reading English Lit at Uni and some others on the course are taking the modern American literature module which includes American Psycho. I've heard that quite a few of the students are struggling to handle it. It's deeply misogynistic and so I guess particularly difficult for women to read.
I have always been fascinated by psychopaths and the gothic - it's a kind of compulsive horror at the depths of mankind - and was a precocious reader like your daughter so can understand her interest but AP is a step too far for me.
Is she aware of exactly how graphic it is?

lljkk · 28/12/2017 20:44

Darren Shan for OP's DD. If she wants to read adventure horror.

Rudolph85 · 28/12/2017 20:47

I read this at around your DDs age. Actually I only got about a third of the way through and decided I didn't want to read it anymore because it was too horrible. I guess it was a lesson in monitoring for myself what was good and bad for me to read. Wierdly I can't remember anything about it, think I blocked it out.

TeamEponine · 28/12/2017 20:47

Has she read Flowers for Algernon? Great book and far more suitable for a 13 yo.

SouthWestmom · 28/12/2017 20:48

Off topic and I'd say no actually.

But really - why wrote/read the book? From the descriptions at what point is it literature and at what point is it just weird porn?

ClashCityRocker · 28/12/2017 20:49

I think the thing that will perhaps go over her head at 13 is that for a lot of the book, it's ambiguous as to what is actually happening and what is actually 'real'.... Which is kind of the whole point of the book.

And if that's missed, it's little more than a gore-fest with a few weird, irrelevant boring bits in between.

Rudolph85 · 28/12/2017 20:49

My mum was totally unaware I was reading it or if she realised, she had no idea what it was about. If she'd tried to stop me I would probably still have tried to read it.

littlepeas · 28/12/2017 20:50

Florence and Giles by John Harding or Crippen by John Boyne?

scrabbler3 · 28/12/2017 20:50

I think that she's still planning to read it. She'll buy it and hide it, or she'll find it online. I think that your best bet is to put her off it by being
very very frank - maybe tell her about one of the gruesome scenes and explain that adults have said online that they felt sick/had sleepless nights/regretted reading it.

RhythmStix · 28/12/2017 20:52

Why on earth is it in a literature module? It is torture porn and nothing more. It's the written equivalent of Hostel or Saw.

McEwan's 'Enduring Love' is a fascinating study of obsession and sociopathy. So is Shriver's We Need to Talk, The Wasp Factory......lots.of decent literature out thete which doesn't scrape the floor of hateful misogynistic violence and rape. Yuk.