What are you reading?

American Psycho.
Saw a reference to it in the paper today and figured it was time. I saw the film in the theater but didn't really get it at the time. Too young I guess.
 
Iain Aschendale said:
American Psycho.
Saw a reference to it in the paper today and figured it was time. I saw the film in the theater but didn't really get it at the time. Too young I guess.
Click to expand...

That book is vile to the point of hilarity. So many publishers refused to touch it that had insta-buzz and was an immediate best seller, I believe.
 
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Iain Aschendale said:
American Psycho.
Saw a reference to it in the paper today and figured it was time. I saw the film in the theater but didn't really get it at the time. Too young I guess.
Click to expand...
I loved the film. I should read the book, too. I wonder how much it will change my perspective on the movie.

My favourite aspect was the amount of status the 'it' restaurant had, and how much it demeaned Bateman that it was out of his grasp. They played it straight: even the modest characters eventually reveal an unusually high opinion of Dorsia. Best part:
"We should have gone to Dorsia. I could have gotten us a table."
Bateman looks away. "Nobody goes there anymore."
Click to expand...
 
Stuart Dren said:
I loved the film. I should read the book, too. I wonder how much it will change my perspective on the movie.

My favourite aspect was the amount of status the 'it' restaurant had, and how much it demeaned Bateman that it was out of his grasp. They played it straight: even the modest characters eventually reveal an unusually high opinion of Dorsia. Best part:
Click to expand...
The movie is very campy, tame, and satirical. The book is, uh, not.
 
I'm about 30% of the way through Birth of a Dynasty by Chinaza Bado. The setting has potential, since it's an African-inspired fantasy world with giants, magic, and seers. However, I'm not a fan of how all these elements seem to have taken a backseat to a drama about squabbling noble families. Hopefully the fantasy stuff will become more prominent later in the book.
 
Back to reading Phillip K Dick's complete short story collection. Last one was A Present for Pat, which is hilarious and probably my favourite so far. Seems he uses the name 'Pat' a lot in his stuff, like in Ubik and I forget what else.
 
I'm currently reading Embers of the Hands by Eleanor Barraclough. It's a New York Times Editors' Choice, and one of The New Yorker's "Best Books of 2025". :)

It's a new study of the Viking age based on the artifacts they left behind and what they can tell us. Board games and buried ships, runic stones and runic sticks, graffiti left behind by bored teenagers, religious pendants and children's toys. It's fascinating and great fun. :)

(So fine, I'm a history nerd) ;-P
 
I'm currently reading Invader by C.J Cherryh, but yesterday I was recommended a novelette by someone called 100% Match. I 100% would not recommend it to anyone. I didn't finish it even and it's so short, not because it triggered me, because it does have every trigger in the book of triggers, but just because it's trashy. My opinion only.
 
Homer Potvin said:
The movie is very campy, tame, and satirical. The book is, uh, not.
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Yeah, that's an understatement. I'm about a third, less than halfway, through though and it's just getting tiresome. I know we're supposed to see how hollow and empty Bateman is through his endless fixation on what brands everyone is wearing, but the point has been made. As is the point that he is (probably, I'll have to slog through to form an opinion) a serial killer. However, it's starting to read less like "look how proud Bateman is of useless knowledge" to "look how proud Bret Easton Ellis is of useless research."

Pet peeve of mine that I've mentioned before is when writers do so much research and include every little smidgen of it in their work to show you just how hard they tried to get everything right.

Also, to reveal a bit of my inner Patrick Bateman, the references to Cole Haan and Allen Edmonds as desirable upscale brands haven't aged well in the last few years. Hell, I wear AEs!
 
Iain Aschendale said:
Pet peeve of mine that I've mentioned before is when writers do so much research and include every little smidgen of it in their work to show you just how hard they tried to get everything right.
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Does is count as research if you lived through it, like Bret Easton Ellis did? Or if the novel is more or less contemporary, being written in 1991? I feel like I could do something similar with the 90s without having to look up anything.
 
CatrionaGrace said:
Oh, so really old history. ;)

I'm not familiar with the book (obviously) so thanks for clarifying that.
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The movie was made in 2000, I think, so the 80s thing had a bit more distance.

Stanger Things is much better example. That was just made now and earned a lot of its appeal from the 80s nostalgia. Very different perspective obviously, because you know 40 years later what people will be nostalgic about.

Of course, Stranger Things wouldn't have worked in modern settings with smartphones and Internet. Lots of shit doesn't. Your average Hitchcock movie would have been over in 5 minutes if they had the Internet back then.
 
I read a summary of American Psycho a little while ago. Since I don't have the constitution for reading "graphic depictions of torture and murder," that will be the end of my familiarity with book or movie except by hearsay. My nightmares are weird enough as it is.
 
CatrionaGrace said:
I read a summary of American Psycho a little while ago. Since I don't have the constitution for reading "graphic depictions of torture and murder," that will be the end of my familiarity with book or movie except by hearsay. My nightmares are weird enough as it is.
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The movie is great. Pure satire and hilarity. The book... meh. Aside from the controversy and blacklisting, there isn't much else to it.
 
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