Reading thoughts: American Psycho
Feb. 4th, 2026 03:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
valzhangOkay. Everything is fine. I'm going to talk about American Psycho.
It was hilarious, to start off. From the way people talk about it—well, people don't talk about it like it's a comedy. But it is one. I mean obviously the movie could be funny too but this was in some ways more humorous. Because even aside from being evil (and boy is he evil), Bateman is weird. He is so fucking strange. Actually everyone in this book is a nutcase but obviously since we're in Bateman's head we see his quirks the most and it's awesome. I guess you could say it's not really presented like a comedy, but the things that are happening and the general atmosphere of the whole book are so ridiculous you can't help but laugh.
Of course, that's the intention. It's very clearly a satire of the privileged, the culture surrounding these yuppies (not that I know anything about them... again, gen-Z, not American, we've been through this). Entwined with the exaggeration is this really uncomfortable sense of reality of the time this book is set in and I liked that, too.
I know everyone hates the brand names, the heavy presence that they have in the story, just lists upon lists of clothing and brands and names and whatnot. But I'll say the same thing about it here that I did with the Shards: I liked it. I found them entertaining and I really do not think the book would be the same without it. Like did I pay attention to them? Of course not. But it very much lends itself to the vibe of the book as a whole and I don't think it would be the same without it, even if individually they don't matter that much.
All the characters are caricatures but it really works. At first I was stressed a little by their interactions but the more you get into the book the more you realise nothing will ever have consequences, nothing will ever change. No matter what he does. I think it's a pretty good portrayal of how Bateman feels, and the lifestyle he leads that is so utterly shallow and same-y.
Speaking of shallowness, it really was written clearly in Bateman and how it intertwined with his evil... I like his monologues about losing his sense of humanity (which were pathetic in their own way) but I think they are only so starkly effective because he is so fake and phony about everything on the outside. The man does not genuinely love anything except killing and even then he sometimes gets bored with it. I also like the choice not to reveal much of his backstory or what happened in his life leading up to now; it's almost as if it's totally irrelevant, the whole of his life is what it is now.
The violence was not so bad. I expected it to be way worse from the way everyone was talking about it, but it was really just more graphic and creative than usual. It was gross but I did enjoy them, the author must be a real sick freak to think of shit like that. That is not an insult or a compliment it is a statement.
Things I didn't like about the book were... well, it's definitely not for everybody. A book like this could never be written today and that's probably a good thing. It's gratuitously violent and offensive even as you consider that it's making a point about its protagonist. Yet despite that there were also times where it got boring. Never the interactions with other characters or the murder scenes, but the music reviews, the chapters where nothing happened and it was just the monotony of his life—sure, it's a great way to convey that he's also bored, but that doesn't make it less of a pain.
Regardless, it's still great and I enjoyed it. It doesn't really have a plot at least not in a classical sense, it's just a peek into Bateman's life and how depraved it is. His narration is perfect for the character, nearly everything is entertaining and hilarious as fuck, it's effective in what it has to say about the culture of masculinity and wealth.
That being said, I will say that I think the movie probably does a better job of delivering on the themes. It feels a lot tighter and clearer and it was directed by a woman, so.
Vox icon because Vox is Bateman-coded. Overall, let's say... 9.5/10. It's amazing and funny and I hope nothing like it is ever written again.
It was hilarious, to start off. From the way people talk about it—well, people don't talk about it like it's a comedy. But it is one. I mean obviously the movie could be funny too but this was in some ways more humorous. Because even aside from being evil (and boy is he evil), Bateman is weird. He is so fucking strange. Actually everyone in this book is a nutcase but obviously since we're in Bateman's head we see his quirks the most and it's awesome. I guess you could say it's not really presented like a comedy, but the things that are happening and the general atmosphere of the whole book are so ridiculous you can't help but laugh.
Of course, that's the intention. It's very clearly a satire of the privileged, the culture surrounding these yuppies (not that I know anything about them... again, gen-Z, not American, we've been through this). Entwined with the exaggeration is this really uncomfortable sense of reality of the time this book is set in and I liked that, too.
I know everyone hates the brand names, the heavy presence that they have in the story, just lists upon lists of clothing and brands and names and whatnot. But I'll say the same thing about it here that I did with the Shards: I liked it. I found them entertaining and I really do not think the book would be the same without it. Like did I pay attention to them? Of course not. But it very much lends itself to the vibe of the book as a whole and I don't think it would be the same without it, even if individually they don't matter that much.
Everything failed to subdue me. Soon everything seemed dull: another sunrise, the lives of heroes, falling in love, war, and discoveries people made about each other. The only thing that didn't bore me, obviously enough, was how much money Tim Price made, and yet in its obviousness it did. There wasn't a clear, identifiable emotion within me, except for greed and, possibly, total disgust. I had all the characteristics of a human being—flesh, blood, skin, hair—but my depersonalization was so intense, had gone so deep, that my normal ability to feel compassion had been eradicated, the victim of a slow, purposeful erasure. I was simply imitating reality, a rough resemblance of a human being, with only a dim corner of my mind functioning. Something horrible was happening and yet I couldn't figure out why—I couldn't put my finger on it. The only thing that calmed me was the satisfying sound of ice being dropped into a glass of J&B.
All the characters are caricatures but it really works. At first I was stressed a little by their interactions but the more you get into the book the more you realise nothing will ever have consequences, nothing will ever change. No matter what he does. I think it's a pretty good portrayal of how Bateman feels, and the lifestyle he leads that is so utterly shallow and same-y.
Speaking of shallowness, it really was written clearly in Bateman and how it intertwined with his evil... I like his monologues about losing his sense of humanity (which were pathetic in their own way) but I think they are only so starkly effective because he is so fake and phony about everything on the outside. The man does not genuinely love anything except killing and even then he sometimes gets bored with it. I also like the choice not to reveal much of his backstory or what happened in his life leading up to now; it's almost as if it's totally irrelevant, the whole of his life is what it is now.
The violence was not so bad. I expected it to be way worse from the way everyone was talking about it, but it was really just more graphic and creative than usual. It was gross but I did enjoy them, the author must be a real sick freak to think of shit like that. That is not an insult or a compliment it is a statement.
Things I didn't like about the book were... well, it's definitely not for everybody. A book like this could never be written today and that's probably a good thing. It's gratuitously violent and offensive even as you consider that it's making a point about its protagonist. Yet despite that there were also times where it got boring. Never the interactions with other characters or the murder scenes, but the music reviews, the chapters where nothing happened and it was just the monotony of his life—sure, it's a great way to convey that he's also bored, but that doesn't make it less of a pain.
Regardless, it's still great and I enjoyed it. It doesn't really have a plot at least not in a classical sense, it's just a peek into Bateman's life and how depraved it is. His narration is perfect for the character, nearly everything is entertaining and hilarious as fuck, it's effective in what it has to say about the culture of masculinity and wealth.
That being said, I will say that I think the movie probably does a better job of delivering on the themes. It feels a lot tighter and clearer and it was directed by a woman, so.
Vox icon because Vox is Bateman-coded. Overall, let's say... 9.5/10. It's amazing and funny and I hope nothing like it is ever written again.
Is evil something you are? Or is it something you do? My pain is constant and sharp and I do not hope for a better world for anyone. In fact I want my pain to be inflicted on others. I want no one to escape. But even after admitting this—and I have, countless times, in just about every act I've committed—and coming face-to-face with these truths, there is no catharsis. I gain no deeper knowledge about myself, no new understanding can be extracted from my telling. There has been no reason for me to tell you any of this. This confession has meant nothing...