Review: American Psycho

Title: American Psycho
Author: Bret Easton Ellis
Picador

Well, where do I start?

The problem with a book like this is that on the one hand, it is absolutely brilliant. You might even say a stroke of genius. On the other hand, it's twisted, it's graphic, and in a way, I hated reading it. I'm 99.9% sure I won't read it again. Ever.

It's twisted, it's horrific, the character of Patrick Bateman is dark, masochistic, and the descriptions are graphic and leave nothing to the imagination. The book (and its characters) get darker and more disturbing as it unfolds, and the shorter chapters really sped up the pace towards the end.

The blurb describes the book as 'a bleak, bitter, black comedy about a world we all recognise but do not wish to confront' ... I think this sums up the novel well, and, having finished the book and having read the more gruesome second half of it, it is easy to almost forget that the beginning of the book was much more light-hearted, actually quite funny.

For me, it was only when I realised exactly how much darker the end of the book was compared to the beginning that I really began to appreciate this book. The most brilliant thing about it is that when it starts, as a reader, you know what you're about to read. It's a book about a psychopath. At the start, it's black comedy, but it's not disturbing in any way. Then gradually, the idea of compassion, sympathy, all sense of personality, is stripped away from the characters and the story descends into... Well, to quote the blurb of the book once again 'America's greatest dream... and its worst nightmare'.

Would I recommend it? Not necessarily. That's not a criticism of the book in any way. I just think that this book is not for everyone. If, when you pick up a book, you want to read a nice story with a resolved ending and a cast of nice characters, then this book is not for you. But if you're prepared to see this through to the end, if you're prepared to read graphic sadomasochism... You can't read 'American Psycho' and expect to enjoy it. It's not a book to be enjoyed. But it is possible to appreciate it, if you're prepared to give it a little thought.

Introductions...

As this is my first post on this new blog venture of mine, I am simply going to introduce myself and the blog.

My name is Claire, I am 16 years old, and I love reading, watching TV and films, listening to music, writing, drawing, and learning languages. I'm not new to the whole blogging thing, I have had Ears To The Ground going for nearly two years, just rambling about music, and although I sometimes (ahem... at the moment) go for a long time without posting, I still love writing about music...

However, recently I've been moved to write more about other interests of mine... Namely, books (oh, also films, but we'll talk about that on another occasion). I've loved reading since... Well, ever since I learned to read, and reading has also inspired me to write a lot.

There's more to it than just a love of reading, though. I do think that sometimes it is easy to let reading fall by the wayside, especially if (like me, and a lot of other bookworms I know) you're a very busy person. Reading 'a few chapters a day' turns into reading 'a chapter or so a week' and before you know it, you're barely reading a thing.

What with exams, music lessons, good TV and sleep to catch up on, I found that my rate of reading slowed up a hell of a lot last year. And so, I present to you one of my 2013 New Year Resolutions: to read more. It's pretty simple, really, but there's another part to it for me. This year I aim to read a few of those books that I've been meaning to read, books that make '# books everyone should read' lists, maybe a couple of classic novels. I have a (fairly extensive) 'to-read' list, which I've had going for quite a while, and this year I'm making a real effort to knock a few titles off that list.

What with this resolution to stand by, and so many good books to read, I thought 'why not blog about it as well?'. So here I am.

I'll probably post a few book reviews as I finish books, but I'll also post periodically with an update of what I've been reading lately (and what I think of it so far), what I'm planning to read soon, and so on. Between these updates, you can see a list of all the books I'm currently reading over on the right hand side of the page.

Well, that's my introduction over. Hopefully, before long this post will be buried under a treasure trove of book reviews and recommendations.