Thread: Bret Easton Ellis

I'll have to read American Psycho. I've passed it up a hundred times in the bookstore -- not sure why

I agree with that last. I don't really read Palahniuk, but he's for real.

Ellis is one of the few writers who can really pull off first person present.

That is an amazing statement

I'm not being cute, but how are they not comparable? Which out of Ellis and Palahniuk is supposed to be the literary god? I've only read one book by each, and both failed to rock my world for similar reasons. That, plus I've heard both authors garner some pretty high praise.

So, which is unanimously considered to 'have the goods'?

To me, Ellis. Palahniuk is more of a study in style, while Ellis is much more enduring. Ellis is doing the neo-Joyce thing too, which makes him much more interesting to me.

I've read "American Psycho" which I thought was great. It did seem to prattle on in stages (particularly the chapters devoted to 80's artists and his descriptions of what people were wearing) but I reminded myself that that was the whole idea of Patrick Bateman: that he was obsessed with superficiality and status.

It did beg the question of how a despicable character like Bateman could be so intriguing as a protagonist. But I guess it seemed to satiate a curiosity in me: getting into the mind of a killer.


I recently got hold of "Less Than Zero" which I'm looking forward to reading...

Personally I think Less than Zero is his best work. I love how he presents the world in this completely laconic way, so that even these terrible acts that most normal people would consider horrifying are just run of the mill. You can definitely see the progression through this novel to American Psycho (which did get a better movie adaptation).

I feel that its a pretty decent attempt at echoing the apathy that existed in the 80's. Which is easy to say in hindsight, and just plain impressive when you take into account how young he was when he wrote it.

Its really decent black humour, I thought Clay was the best narrating character I'd read since old Catcher in the Rye...

I've read every Ellis except Glamorama.

American Psycho and Lunar Park are both books I would suggest reading. Lunar Park is my favorite, actually. He really pared down his style on that one to make it very accessible.

It sort of came out around the same time as No Country For Old Men. They were released about a month apart. McCarthy did the same thing with that book.

Maybe there was something the air that made these two heavily stylistic writers choose simplicity.

His style in Glamorama is inspiring. I'd suggest you check that one out. The story is kinda weird, but the overall read is quite enjoyable/interesting, especially for a writer.

EDIT: He also uses two of the main characters from the college book. The main girl and the guy who goes to Europe.

Originally Posted by Dr. Malone

His style in Glamorama is inspiring. I'd suggest you check that one out.

I intend to read that book. The problem is that I intend to read about 500 other books, too.

Glamorama was my first B.E.E. novel to read, and the only to this date. I originally read about 200 pages of the book and just couldn't do it so I put it down for almost a year. Then I got bored one day and started it again, this time within a week I finished it. I admit, the first half is absolutely a beating to get through. But, when you finish the entire novel, you look back on the first part in complete awe and admiration. Without that long long setup, there is no appreciation for the end. I loved it and a week after finishing it, I could not stop thinking about it. It truly blew my mind.

So, I recently read Imperial Bedrooms, and am not entirely sure what to make of it. The continuation on LTZ's principal characters was great, and I even found the self-referential world-in-a-world explanation was quite an interesting ploy. Apparently the narrator in Less Than Zero, the one we come to know as Clay, is actually just a depiction of the "real Clay" by "the author". Imperial Bedrooms stars the REAL Clay, and he's much far more twisted and paranoid than the apathetic Clay of the past.
It was an unexpected route to take, Ellis got to weave in some commentary about the LTZ film adaption, and even reference The Informers, but I'm just not sure if it was what I wanted. Clay ends up closely resembling Patrick Bateman, and combining that with the fast-paced thriller narrative it didn't really feel like it had much in common with Less Than Zero at all. Anyone else read it? Impressions?