Brett Easton Ellis – American Psycho

Ellis’s infamous novel concerning 1980s consumerism is especially nightmarish in atmosphere. The novel follows the life of twenty- six year old Wall Street stockbroker Patrick Bateman through the use of stream of consciousness narrative. The character is a shallow narcissist, obsessed with material goods and his own appearance to a great extent as well as being incredibly judgemental of those in a ‘lower’ position within the social strata. What gives the novel a shocking edge is that these routines and thoughts manifest themselves in events of psychotic actions such as homeless killings and brutal murders of prostitutes by Bateman. The plot ultimately extrapolates upon the shallow, obsessive consumerist culture of the rich to a violent and shocking conclusion.

Whilst the above description may provoke you to believe that the book is depressing in its view of Bateman as a character, at times it undoubtedly is. Many passages conveying the apathy of Bateman and his ‘yuppie’ friends are a quite frightening view of humanity. But for all the darkness of the book, there is a strong sense of black and satirical humour throughout. Bateman’s long, obsessive compulsive style daily routines are amusing as well as tragic with an elongated chapter devoted to Bateman’s morning routine. Such a chapter would have not been included within a conventional narrative but here it is very necessary as it serves to highlight the claustrophobic trappings of his lifestyle. Other sources of humour derive from Bateman’s style of dress which is exactly the same of many of his colleagues. Furthermore, due to his superficial nature and belief in one-upmanship over others, Bateman scarcely knows these ‘friends’ and often they mistake each other for someone else due to their indistinct clothing and mannerisms. Satirical jokes like these penetrate deep into the ultimately soulless and conformist commodity culture.

However, it must be argued that the book is possibly stereotypical and inaccurate in its depiction of the novel’s characters. The book portrays somewhat two dimensional characterisations of bankers, them being shown to embody entirely self serving actions and thoughts. Whilst in times of a recession now, readers may champion such a portrayal, it would have been a more well rounded book if the Wall Street workers were less dislikeable and had other dimensions of character. Moreover, the book is fundamentally flawed by Bateman’s instances of killing. It is hard to believe that a man with a comfortable lifestyle and a circle of friends despite elitist and detached aspects of thought would resort to murder. The novel’s other pretence that all these characters are deeply shallow could be viewed as ridiculous. Many of the Wall Street workers are shown to have endless discussions upon rich lifestyles and fashion as opposed to deeper and serious concerns but it seems unlikely that these individuals would not have been cultivated by anything else throughout their lives. It is this implausibility which ultimately mars the book.

Whilst the book will be remembered by readers for its presentation of yuppies, the violence is particularly horrific. Elements of cathartic descriptions of murders and brutal occasions of necrophilia add a shocking dimension to the story which is somewhat ill at ease with the reader. It is necessary to say that these passages of the novel are far more violent in what they show then any film or computer game. The impact is undeniable but it could be argued that the gore is fundamentally unnecessary and a chapter devoted solely to the action of a murder is likely just included for desperate shock value. The book attempts to intertwine satire with the thriller aspects of the murders but it never quite succeeds. The satire is undoubtedly far superior to the dark murder/ thriller trappings of the book.

American Psycho is very enjoyable as an amusing ride through a suffocated and hollow lifestyle but as a genuinely accurate condemnation of the yuppie culture, it doesn’t quite succeed. Nevertheless, its humour and satire make it a worthwhile read but the gratuitous gore at the centre of the novel is very off putting.

2 Responses to “Brett Easton Ellis – American Psycho”

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