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

[ComeWhineWithMe]

I really want to read this book but is it really terrible? I am a bit scared to read the zoo bit.

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).

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 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

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

ditto, becstarlitsea - have also avoided the film.

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.

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.

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.

Oh :( I had forgotten those rats.

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.