American Psycho

‘O, from this time forth, my thoughts be bloody or they be nothing worth.’
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark

There is something rotten in the state of New York and this time there is no to-be-or-not-to-be pondering; this time it surely is madness. Madness visits more heads in a single day then gladness does in a month. This is not fact but tragic logic. Many have succumbed to the temptation of insanity because it is, quite frankly, a rational adjustment to an irrational world. How then, in a world of such schism as our own, can we aim to measure the distance between insanity and genius? “Why, of course, by success”, some say. American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis is a literary slap on the face of such people.

Dante read the line, ‘Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate’, as he passes through the Gate of Hell. More than six hundred and eighty years later, American psycho begins with the translated version of the same warning, ‘Abandon all hope, ye who enter here’, as the narrator sees the line scrawled on the side of a bank building. Now New York is a city that has always been projected as a Hellish metropolis where crime and violence is not just life but a life-style for some. It is, thus, very important to warn any one who wants in on this ride to know that they are indeed entering a place of very little hope and much misery, both textually and otherwise.

The New York of this novel is set in the late 1980s and seen through the eyes of Patrick Bateman; a successful individual who has done well for himself and is ‘handsome, well-educated, intelligent.’ This is in the day or to put it better it is a persona. For, left to himself and the night, it is very much a case of ‘stay with us, Lord, for it is almost evening’ with Bateman. Keep in mind that this is the 80s and yuppies are pissing on Manhattan like the puppies they really were. There is easy money flowing, jobs positions that are sinecure, hierarchical education from famed institutions, ‘hard-bodies’ i.e. beautiful young women throwing themselves away to rich lovers and plenty of drugs. And in the middle of this entire spiritual vacuum is the vacant soul of Bateman. Our Patrick Bateman. He couldn’t have put it better;

‘There is an idea of a Patrick Bateman, some kind of abstraction, but there is no real me, only an entity, something illusory, and though I can hide my cold gaze and you can shake my hand and feel flesh gripping you and maybe you can even sense our lifestyles are probably comparable: I simply am not there.’

This uninflected first-person narrative is quite precise, detailed and expressive throughout the novel. The problem is that he is detailing only the vacuum of his life: his tastes in fashion, adolescent pop-music, expensive restaurant cuisine and liquor and the women that are only too easy to get with his money. There is a yearning for something better but yearning belongs to the lower classes and is ill-suited in the head and heart of a man who has it all. And so, while the tone remains the same, soon the actions change.

Patrick soon starts killing people for fun and for reasons that no one, not even him, really understands. He kills innocent people from various walks of life, sexes, jobs, races and sexual-orientation. He is an impartial omnipresence in psychosis (hence the psycho and not the psychopath).

The novel has been highly criticized and frowned upon due to its highly aggressive description of women and the violence towards them. It’s full of homo-phobic and racist expressions and is a controlled, important piece on the aestheticization of violence. It is fantasy but fantasy that takes place in a real world. It tells society that such people not only do exist but must exist because if a ‘handsome, well-educated, intelligent’ and successful man like Bateman is so annoyed and disturbed by his own lack of achievement and worthy place in society then the reality has to be not more subtler but actually ten times louder. Bateman's world may be divided between the streams of conscious and unconscious but Ellis's own tone is pure satire and sarcasm.

There are deeper mechanics involved in the novel but I wouldn’t want to spoil the findings for anyone reading this review. Read it for yourself and discover exactly why Patrick Bateman has occupied a seat in popular literature. But as you do keep one thing in mind: Abandon all hope before entering and that THIS IS NOT AN EXIT.

There are several funny excerpts in the novel but here is a 'personal favourite':

Do you like Phil Collins? I've been a big Genesis fan ever since the release of their 1980 album, Duke. Before that, I really didn't understand any of their work. Too artsy, too intellectual. It was on Duke where, uh, Phil Collins' presence became more apparent. I think Invisible Touch was the group's undisputed masterpiece. It's an epic meditation on intangibility. At the same time, it deepens and enriches the meaning of the preceding three albums. Christy, take off your robe. Listen to the brilliant ensemble playing of Banks, Collins and Rutherford. You can practically hear every nuance of every instrument. Sabrina, remove your dress. In terms of lyrical craftsmanship, the sheer songwriting, this album hits a new peak of professionalism. Sabrina, why don't you, uh, dance a little. Take the lyrics to Land of Confusion. In this song, Phil Collins addresses the problems of abusive political authority. In Too Deep is the most moving pop song of the 1980s, about monogamy and commitment. The song is extremely uplifting. Their lyrics are as positive and affirmative as, uh, anything I've heard in rock. Christy, get down on your knees so Sabrina can see your asshole. Phil Collins' solo career seems to be more commercial and therefore more satisfying, in a narrower way. Especially songs like In the Air Tonight and, uh, Against All Odds. Sabrina, don't just stare at it, eat it. But I also think Phil Collins works best within the confines of the group, than as a solo artist, and I stress the word artist. This is Sussudio, a great, great song, a personal favorite.

American Psycho movie trailer