American Psycho

Rating:
Summary: dangerous
Review: I found this book to be truely the sickest piece of literature I have ever read, however, alot of it was right on with reguards to the shallow materialism that is so prevalent in our society. this book basically made me nauseated with each torturous killing, making it impossible to enjoy.I have always been interested in a little gore, but this went way overboard. I hope this doesn't get in the hands of any future Jeffrey Dahmers, but it most likely already has.

Rating:
Summary: Unintelligent tripe...
Review: Never before in my entire existence have I encountered a piece of work that is worth my going on-line to decry it. Alas, this is it - Ellis's AMERICAN PSYCHO, perhaps the most atrocious piece of literary garbage to come out of the 20th century. Putting aside the obvious criticisms which I'm sure everyone is already aware of, I can only say that this book serves solely as an outlet for Ellis's crude imagination. If you take away this book's shock-value, you're left with no story, no conflict and characters thinner than the paper they're written on. Ellis seems to have constructed his protagonist out of what skimpy details he could remember about personality disorders from his ninth grade psychology class. He never attempts to answer the question: Why does this killer do what he's doing? I'm attacking this work NOT for its excessive graphic violence, and more for its extreme lack of substance. Ellis knows about as much about his subject matter as most of us do about quantum physics; giving the whole work an amateur feel and making it a laborious-at-best read. It's a waste of time, money and trees.

Rating:
Summary: look ma, no hands!
Review: Bateman's culinary expertise notwithstanding, I still maintain that nothing beats some fava beans and a nice Chianti.

Rating:
Summary: PIECE OF JUNK........
Review: This is the worst book i have ever read in my whole life. The thing that gave me a head ache was the length of first three/four chapters. They are very very long. And another thing that made me throw the book out of the window was mentioning every detail about clothing characters wear. Yea....another thing, whats the point of writing a whole chapter about how HE dresses in the morning.

Rating:
Summary: DECIDE FOR YOURSELF
Review: DON'T BELIEVE THE HYPE (PRO OR CON). ALMOST EVERYONE'S HEARD OR READ SOMETHING ABOUT THIS NOVEL. INSTEAD OF LISTENING TO YOUR FRIENDS OR REVIEWS TALK THIS BOOK UP (OR DOWN), BE AN INDIVIDUAL AND DECIDE FOR YOURSELF. IF THIS GIVES YOU ANY CLUE AS TO MY FEELINGS, I PASSED ON TAKING ANY UNREAD NOVELS WITH ME ON A RECENT TRIP TO FLORIDA AND INSTEAD STARTED READING THIS BOOK FOR THE 3RD OR 4TH TIME. THOUGH THE STORY IS DATED (LATE 80'S), IT STILL STANDS UP AS A RIVETING GLIMPSE INTO THE MIND OF A FICTIONAL "AMERICAN PSYCHO". WHILE I'M REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO THE FILM TREATMENT OF THIS WORK, I'M ACTUALLY BIDING MY TIME FOR THE DIRECTOR'S CUT (NO PUN INTENDED) ON VHS AND DVD. WHEN YOU'RE DONE, CHECK OUT THOMAS HARRIS' RED DRAGON (BETTER THEN S.O.T.L. AND/OR HANNIBAL). FEEL FREE TO DISAGREE WITH ME BUT AT LEAST SACK-UP AND READ THE BOOK FIRST.

Rating:
Summary: Bateman Lives In All Of Us
Review: This book disturbed me deeply on so many levels. If you are even the tiniest bit squeamish you should probably pass. If you are much younger than 25 much of it will probably be lost on you (the book's appeal is deeply rooted in the loathsome eighties). Otherwise, read it and never forget it because none of us are ever far removed from Bateman and his pals if we're not vigilant. And don't completely skip paragraphs where Bateman describes what everyone is wearing. You will be tempted to, but this is a mistake. Some of the book's best gems are hidden within these paragraphs. Now excuse me, I have some videos to return...

Rating:
Summary: How He Filled His Void
Review: I have to say that this has to be one of the most fabulous books I have ever read. With the exception of Apt Pupil, I have never read about such a violently depraved trip into insanity. Ellis has done a phenomoenal job of navigating you through the twisted, rotting mind of Patrick Bateman. If ever there was a story of a lost soul, this is it. Bateman is a paradox of a man, hating the world he lives in and the people that surround him, yet wants to impress and get the approval of those he despises. My favorite example of this is when he and his peers compare business cards. Bateman seems to get little pleasure out of impressing his peers, and has an empty void inside him that needs to be filled. He does this by inflicting all the disgust and disdain he feels in his everyday life through the torture and murder of women ranging from prostitues to old girlfriends. Bateman is also sickened by the poor and destitute, believing they are lazy, disgusting slobs that just want hand-outs from people with money so they do not have to get jobs; and he reacts to those feelings in the same brutally violent manner as with the women he kills. Ellis has created a character that you do not feel any sympathy for, but you pity. This is a man who can not find joy in anything except others' anguish and suffering, and THAT is truly pitiful.

Rating:
Summary: You know this world; you're almost living in it.
Review: This novel is nothing short of a masterpiece. It starts off with a strong, powerful voice and a twisted point of view that hooks the reader in, and it doesn't disappoint after that. The story follows a man's journey (not descent, not even a journey.... more of a stroll) with complete and utter madness. The book is quite unsettling at times (I was almost sick at one point, so the squeamish should stay away), but this just shows its power. If something you know to be only a story has that kind of control over you, it is something to be respected. Elis creates a character you could never sympathize with but still want to read about, and places him in a world that is so like and unlike our world that it's scary. Read this book. You will not regret or forget it.

Rating:
Summary: This is the review you want to read - UNBIASED
Review: I was recommended this book months ago by a fellow co-worker. Not knowing anything about the outcry when it was originally published and simply discarding his recommendation of it as just another "pop" book to pass the time, I didn't come about to reading it until I heard of the movie coming out in April of 2000 through all the news at the Sundance Film Festival. Reading a book before seeing the film is always a good idea so I decided to pick it up and now I give it a review. The first eighty pages actually shocked me more so than what everyone fears about this novel. The lifestyle and lack of care of money (since the characters are quite wealthy) was a wake up call. The characterization of the wealthy yuppie was brilliant; of how Americans in the '80s turned away from engineering degrees for law and financial get-rich-quick thinking. And Ellis shows this, though not in depth but in an overview, with great charm, with an almost whoa-is-society/what-direction-are-we-going enlightenment. With regards to sex, some graphic descriptions within the novel may offend those with a more conservative life, but Ellis's descriptions are no more shocking than anything seen in a Marquis DeSade, Anais Ninn, John Updike, D.H. Lawrence, or a Henry Miller novel, all considered fine additions to anyone's library. The violence may be over the top, as shocking as films as Reservoir Dogs, Deliverance, Silence of the Lambs, and Casino yet no more gruesome than some of Stephen King's most frightening work. Why many readers and special interest groups think of this book as a representation of misogyny is hard to tell when looking at it logically. Some of the violence is disheartening and Ellis makes you feel awfully depressed (very effectively and quite on purpose) at points during the reading, but every character associated with Patrick Bateman is somewhat loathsome and his contempt on his own life and those he chooses to do harm on makes an effective portrait of the world Bateman lives in - a world filled with shallow individuals that use money, sex, and drugs for recreation only. The misrepresentation of misogyny comes into effect only for the fact that Bateman is heterosexual and some of his gruesome deeds focus around those of the opposite sex, for no other reason. As for language and profanity, it is truly not much of a concern for the avid book/film lover. There is nothing that has been said in this novel that Robert Deniro, Joe Pesci, and Al Pacino haven't used in film (see Goodfellas and Glengarry Glenross for examples). The remainder of the story is quite humourous actually. Examples of this include an entire chapter on Bateman and a group of friends just making plans through the phone (imagine call waiting and three way phone calls at its worst), chapters on sellout-music artists and how Bateman tries his best to place an artistic spin on their efforts, Bateman's ridiculous poem to an old girlfriend, the escapades that surround trying to get a reservation at the hourly hip restaurant of the moment and its quite embarrassing result (along with attempt after attempt after attempt), just to name a few. Some people who read the novel may be annoyed with Bateman's obsession with what people are wearing, but one can easily skip entire paragraphs whenever they pop up without taking anything away from the book. Judging this book as entertainment only, I have given it the highest rating possible. I enjoyed it and thought it was quite shocking, humouress, frightful, depressing, and theatric at different points. I recommend it but for only those who aren't shocked by a good horror book (though this isn't a horror book). Stephen King is pretty mainstream now so I doubt it would be much of a problem. And for those who take life too seriously, do avoid this book. You have to let some of this novel just roll off your back. As an artistic masterpiece, I won't say anything in much detail. The novel may be forgotten in thirty years from now or it could become a classic depending on how one looks at things - look at Anthony Burgess, Joseph Heller, Jack Keroac and Hunter S. Thompson to name a few. And with that I wrap up my review.

Rating:
Summary: American Psycho : A Novel
Review: The first eighty pages actually shocked me more sothan what everyone fears about this novel. The lifestyle and lack ofcare of money (since the characters are quite wealthy) was a wake upcall. The characterization of the wealthy yuppie was brilliant; of how Americans in the '80s turned away from engineering degrees for law and financial get-rich-quick thinking. And Ellis shows this, though not in depth but in an overview, with great charm, with an almost whoa-is-society/what-direction-are-we-going enlightenment. With regards to sex, some graphic descriptions within the novel may offend those with a more conservative life, but Ellis's descriptions are no more shocking than anything seen in a Marquis DeSade, Anais Ninn, John Updike, D.H. Lawrence, or a Henry Miller novel, all considered fine additions to anyone's library. The violence may be over the top, as shocking as films as Reservoir Dogs, Deliverance, Silence of the Lambs, and Casino yet no more gruesome than some of Stephen King's most frightening work. Some of the violence is disheartening and Ellis makes you feel awfully depressed (very effectively and quite on purpose) at points during the reading, but every character associated with Patrick Bateman is somewhat loathsome and his contempt on his own life and those he chooses to do harm on makes an effective portrait of the world Bateman lives in - a world filled with shallow individuals that use money, sex, and drugs for recreation only. The misrepresentation of misogyny comes into effect only for the fact that Bateman is heterosexual and some of his gruesome deeds focus around those of the opposite sex, for no other reason. As for language and profanity, it is truly not much of a concern for the avid book/film lover. There is nothing that has been said in this novel that Robert Deniro, Joe Pesci, and Al Pacino haven't used in film (see Goodfellas and Glengarry Glenross for examples). The remainder of the story is quite humourous actually. Examples of this include an entire chapter on Bateman and a group of friends just making plans through the phone (imagine call waiting and three way phone calls at its worst), chapters on sellout-music artists and how Bateman tries his best to place an artistic spin on their efforts, Bateman's ridiculous poem to an old girlfriend, the escapades that surround trying to get a reservation at the hourly hip restaurant of the moment and its quite embarrassing result (along with attempt after attempt after attempt), just to name a few. Some people who read the novel may be annoyed with Bateman's obsession with what people are wearing, but one can easily skip entire paragraphs whenever they pop up without taking anything away from the book. Judging this book as entertainment only, I have given it the highest rating possible. I enjoyed it and thought it was quite shocking, humouress, frightful, depressing, and theatric at different points. I recommend it but for only those who aren't shocked by a good horror book (though this isn't a horror book). Stephen King is pretty mainstream now so I doubt it would be much of a problem. You have to let some of this novel just roll off your back. END