Thursday, August 04, 2005

... this is not an exit.



Boy oh boy. Sometimes a work comes along that you think you can graspe, take hold and look at with inquizzitive eyes, without plunging into it's darkness - but Bret Easton Ellis' third novel, AMERICAN PSYCHO, is not one of those works.

I think we all know the subject matter and probably have seen the film with Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman - Wall Street yuppie/mass murderer - actually, I rented the film last weekend and found it to be still quite disturbing, but poignant and fascinating at the same time.

The book - not surprisingly, is more so of everything. The descriptions of wardrobes and restaurant dishes are numerous and overwhelming (I continue to feel my mind slip as Bateman goes into the greatest detail of each piece of 80's garb!) - the story is even more obscene - and the murders... well... are borderline unacceptable.



This is the first book I have read by Mr. Ellis - his style is fascinating yet repetitive at the same time. Moments of reflection and contemplation of Bateman's actions come in the form of ironic statements of psychoticness that are slid in amongst Bateman's derranged ramblings of materialist grandeur! The pace of the insane descriptions are frantic... and often very effective, creating the same twitching/throbbing sensation of Bateman in my own mind.



Yet, with all of the commentary - ironic - critical look at impact of materialistic obsession and how sick and empty the consumer life can be... the book seems far too obsessive with the details of torture and murder. I understand the impact a description of destroying a homeless man and his dog can be to the reader... and how variations on murders will help show how Bateman judges all equally... but the repetition of the slaughters... and the enormous details of each (including the pornographic - yet emotionally void honesty of the sex scenes) seems to open a dark place in the readers mind. These images are so offensive... so imaginatively violent... that they attempt to deter me from finishing the book.

Last night, a mere 60 odd pages from fruition - I put it down... unable to stomach the events I had read. Granted, I finished the words... but the scene grew in my mind... twisted, became more... I saw moments within the murder I never wanted to see.. and that was my imagination beginning to take Bateman's psyche and using it as fuel for my own. That disturbed the hell out of me!



I will finish the book - I will read the rest of his works... but I am unsure how Mr. Ellis' own mind handles the balancing act of writing these words... and looking at them as words... as opposed to his own derranged thoughts.

Yo

93 comments:

Kern said...

Jed: I liked the thoughtful analysis of the book. What you said toward the end is quite true. It becomes harder and harder not to feel yourself being pulled into his world. In many respects, it's strange how he's able to so calmly recount some of the events that happen. I think it's his pure lack of emotion and bizarre rationality that makes the book 100 times more disturbing than if the words were an actual confession of a blathering lunatic. I say that if yr going to read more Ellis, please let the next book be Less Than Zero. I read that book in the sixth grade, and my friend Jarrod contends that this has a lot to do with my present mental state today. I think there were far more influential factors, but that's another story...

Damfino said...

Did you do any blow while reading it?

On a more specific note, I dug seeing Sean Bateman added in the story... though I am not sure how necessary it was. Rules was written right before this, correct?

Kern said...

I don't remember, but I think American Psycho came out in 1990, and Rules came out later.

Seriously though, get Less Than Zero. It's so much better than the film it's ridiculous. Though the film does have two things going for it. One is Robert Downey Jr., who played that role like he was born for it. And secondly was the scene where Andrew McCarthy and Jami Gertz go looking for him at a club which is playing a version of Inna Gadda Da Vida by Slayer.

That ruled!!!

Kern said...

By the way, Ellis has a new one coming out this month called Lunar Park.

Damfino said...

Saw that... kinda why I wanted to read through his stuff... though, no libraries carry it (cept Galmoramma for some reason).

Kern said...

Lunar Park sounds messed up but interesting. Are you saying Glamorama is the only one they have at the library? I've heard that one's quite good, actually. I'd think that you'd be able to score a used copy of Less Than Zero somewhere, though. Half Price Books, perhaps?

urnotme said...

Yo
Thanks for calling last night.
Did you sell your car?

Damfino said...

Sorry Stevens... did not get home til 8:30. Showing car tonight.

Chili was good - you are a poser.

Damfino said...

I don't think it is blasphemy to not read Ellis - I am not sure he is even that respected an author.

I agree that his characters could be cardboardish... something that is bothering me a tad - but then again this book is definitely not a character study... it is much broader.. and Bateman may not even be really seeing anyone!

Never read any Hesse or Wolfe - but then again, I am just stepping out of King - so I got a few to read.

urnotme said...

Let's not forget Silvia Plath and Jose Conseco.

Damfino said...

HA! Conseco is on Surreal Life now!

krysta jo said...

Good morning all

Damfino said...

I loved the Trial - Kafka is definitely not the easiest read.

I could not get through Camus' The Fall - all told in first person with the narrator seemingly lying all the time.

Kern finished it.

Kern said...

I need to go back and restart The Trial. I started it last year, but I was really distracted and I need to give it another shot.

Morning KJ and Urnotme.

Kern said...

I did love Camus' The Fall however. It's been a while, I can never remember the specifics well enough to hold a good conversation about it later.

Damfino said...

I am a illiterate fool - John Grisham? A Time to Kill was awfully dark!

(please, if you are a John Grisham fan - don't take offense... then toss yourself out of a moving vehicle)

Kern said...

Hmm...I haven't read that much Ellis to be honest. I have found that my choice is a less obvious one, though I believe still appropriate. I would say Russell Banks. One probably wouldn't immediately pick him, but when they look at his canon they might feel different. Look at the books he's written: Affliction(abusive father, alcoholism), Sweet Hereafter(Bus accident killing and maiming schoolkids), Rule of The Bone(Sleazy runaway malcontent running away to Jamaica to meet his real father who is a scumbag), Continental Drift(a book about the parallel lives of a refugee smuggler and a Hatian woman who longs to come to America and the tragic way their paths cross).

Yep. Banks for me.

Damfino said...

I desperately want to read Affliction and then see Schrader's flick.

Ford is awfully depressing as well.

Kern said...

I was going to say Ford, but I didn't know if he qualified as being "dark" enough. I love Ford though.

Also, some of John Updike's stuff is not too cheerful. I've only read the first two Rabbit books, but they were pretty dark.

Damfino said...

Anybody know any peppy writers?

D. Adams? D. Sedaris? B. Campbell (he he)

Kern said...

I like Sedaris. Don't you think there's an undercurrent of darkness in some of his stories, though? I just read one he did for GQ this month, and it was kind of dark. I loved it, though.

Kern said...

Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett was rather peppy.

Damfino said...

Sedaris does have some darker undertones... his latest is definitely his most "dreary."

Is that a novel or a comic?

Kern said...

Wow, I cannot see any parallel between Sedaris and Ford other than the fact that they write short pieces. Beyond that, I can't think of a thing they have in common. I'm sad to see you had a sour Ford experience, especially if you were reading Rock Springs, one of my favorite books ever.

Kern said...

I think part of the reason Rock Springs resonated so deeply with me is that I covered the title story in a night class I really enjoyed, and there is something about Ford's style that really draws me in. I really dig stories that I feel could happen to me.

Damfino said...

Deit - you ass. The only connection between Ford and Sedaris was the short story format. What world are you dreaming of where I said Ford was similar?!?! Ford has fictional characters and never really talks about himself.

You are on crack.

Sedaris makes me laugh - and I share in his insecurities... but Ford talks like a poet - his words really dig into my chest... I am not sure how... but he has a mastery of the language... it is beautiful.

Damfino said...

I might have compared them because they were 2 of 4 authors that I read that year!!

I would never say they are alike - Sedaris has a small amount of sadness in his work.. a little dread - Ford is swimming in it!!

krysta jo said...

Some of us have nothing scholarly or significant to add to the conversation.

Kern said...

Hmm...nipples.

Discuss.

Damfino said...

I like them quarter size or smaller.

Kern said...

Deit: I didn't think you were referring to me as desparate.

Kern said...

Jed, is that including the aereolae(sp)?

Damfino said...

Why do guys have nipples?

Kern said...

Jeez, I would have thought a change of topic to nipples would have drawn people to the thread in droves.

Kern said...

I enjoy them as well. Not by personal experience, but from the brochures, they look fantastic.

krysta jo said...

brochures?? Alex have you been reading the breast self-exam brochures at the doctor's office again?

Kern said...

Didn't Jenna Jameson become an author recently? I would say she might...

Kern said...

KJ: Bust-ed!

Damfino said...

We have lurkers!

I wish I could lactate!

krysta jo said...

Jed you are weird.

Kern said...

Jed wants to emulate those squirting videos he's so fond of renting.

He thinks they are udderly fantastic.

Kern said...

How do you know we have lurkers?

Damfino said...

You were a lurker!

Kern - your udder joke makes me vomitous... but in a cute way.

Lactation is so cool - I would hate soaking my favorite bras... but love making my own sustinence!

Kern said...

Good post, thanks.

Anonymous said...

I THINK YOU ARE ALL EVIL!

FIND THE PATH TO PURITY THROUGH HIS HOLY SAVIOR

Damfino said...

Oh yeah! But that can't be good for you!

Damfino said...

So true... so true.

Why do we keep getting bombarded with this crap?!?

Kern said...

Um, I seriously hope that whoever the anon. poster is, is actually one of us being funny.

Otherwise, whoever it really is, sucks at life.

Kern said...

Good post, thanks.

Damfino said...

BTW, Kern - I mean KJ was the lurker.. sorry.

krysta jo said...

OH my .... now you all have the HOLY SAVIOR after you.

Way to go guys.

Who was a lurker?

Kern said...

That link to the Holy Savior goes to Carrot Top. In case anyone wondered.

Kern said...

Jed was saying you were lurking.

Kern said...

I doubt it could taste any worse than the original Powerbar.

Damfino said...

That leads to a carrot top site. O god... he has images of working at McDonalds!

Why is this promoting on our blog?

Damfino said...

Getting late on the uptake.

KJ was the lurker.

Deit is vile.

Kern said...

Wow, I am really getting bothered by all the crass commercialism that is trying to infect the Damfinoblog?

What's next? Banner ads? Pop Unders?

So true, so true.

Kern said...

I had a NON-original Powerbar for breakfast this morning. It was not too bad. It reminded me I need to do my crunches more often. There is much room for improvement on the body of the Kern.

Damfino said...

I like how you specified the "non-original!" I have been slacking on working out as well - my gut is pure doughy goodness.

krysta jo said...

This is possibly the most interesting thing I do with my day.

Kern said...

Hmm...I don't know if that was a compliment or a razor encrusted insult. Maybe it was both.

Huzzah for ambiguity!

Damfino said...

Cept for the Gilmore viewing!

krysta jo said...

Diet --- don't make fun of me and my 'sad' life. Please. It makes me cry and then I have to sit in the corner and quietly sing show tunes while hugging my knees to my chest while I recover from the saddness that is my life.

Gilmore was fantastic last night and I so got my friend Sara hooked on it.

krysta jo said...

Aggh I so have to remember to go pick up 10 state fair tickets for my friends.....

Kern said...

Ah the state fair, speaking of tubs of lard...

I like to tell people that my recollection of the Iowa State Fair was that people enjoyed eating things that were either: fried, on a stick, or fried on a stick.

Not that in general there's anything wrong with that, but Christ on a Cracker, some of the people you run into there are just downright creepy.

Of course the Puyallup fair is the same way up here...

And before everyone thinks I am some snotty city bastard, my grandfather has run a concession trailer for 30 years in Indiana, and I have worked the trailer selling popcorn and caramel corn, as well as sno cones.

I'm actually a third generation concessionist, but did most of my stint at the Sierra 3.

krysta jo said...

Despite the fact that people are scary, inappropriately dressed, and downright dirty, the state fair is the best event of the entire year. Where else can you take in the diverse population of Iowa while playing with newborn piglets, viewing the midget donkeys, and eating a guinea grinder? Nowhere and that's what makes it so gosh darn special. I cannot wait, though this year I'll only be able to spend 6 days out of the 10 at the fair and that's a super disappointment. You never know what you'll run into when you turn the corner by the cop shop.

Kern said...

Well, that's another take on it.

I didn't mean any disrespect. I have to say, I did like the livestock part of it. And I'm all for fried food as anyone who knows me knows.

There's just something about a cross section of the populace that attends the event that gives me the creeps. And if it's really hot I get cranky.

Kern said...

I don't remember the midget donkeys, either.

Though I do remember the midgets Jed had chained in the basement...

krysta jo said...

The midget donkeys are quite awesome. They have spikey hair.

It's all about your attitude at the fair. If you go expecting to get hot, get bumped into by extremely obese and half-clothed people, and get cranky, you likely will.

krysta jo said...

OOo make the check out to Krysta Jo's College Fund.

Thanks for the continued support.

Keep on truckin'.

Kern said...

I think we did awesome. Give yourselves a round of applause everyone, you did great.

I think we started branching out when we took the left turn at Nipple Junction.

Kern said...

By the way, small update. I'm now up to page 11 on my short story. I sent Dan Mastrofski the first nine pages last night and he was really into it. Yes!

Kern said...

Sweet! I love Woody.

Woody Allen, dammit.

Bloody perverts.

Kern said...

I would tweak my nipples, but being in the office it would be considered bad form. Though with as cold as it is in this room right now it wouldn't be hard.

No, it would, actually. Very much so. I mean it wouldn't be difficult.

Yes, that's what I meant.

krysta jo said...

Oh my good lord.

Kern said...

What?

Kern said...

If it helps, I was talking about my nipples.

krysta jo said...

I am just always amazed at where the conversation on this blog goes.

Damfino said...

You guys are a goofy bunch... keep the nips at attention.

Yo

Damfino said...

Filth mongers unite!

Kern said...

Boy are they ever. It's downright arctic in here!!!

Kern said...

I was almost expecting a GROSS KERN. But alas, it was not to be.

I think you have to say something especially bad for one of those.

Damfino said...

Kern - you are such a tease.

Damfino said...

BTW crew - I am out tomorrow - be back on Monday.

KJ - I will be doing some grillin out on Saturday before the flick - you are welcomed to join us (though I know you said you would be away til the flick). Call me cell.

krysta jo said...

It totally has to be bad to get the patented GROSS comment. Gutter Jed is the best at that.

krysta jo said...

Jed - will do. Sis is in ignoring phase again so I may be around.

Damfino said...

Steaks - potatoes - green bean casserole... beer.

All yummy.

krysta jo said...

What time?? I can so bring dessert.

krysta jo said...

GROSS DEIT

Damfino said...

7 is the movie - before that.

Later cats - yo

Kern said...

Deit got the patented GROSS comment. Wow. That's like a badge of honor.

krysta jo said...

Hey...anything I can do to make your life better.

Kern said...

I've never said anything that earned the gold star of filth. One day...