/lit/ - Literature

>>4900601
bamp

>>4900601
Just my opinion, I do not think any B.E. Ellis is worth reading.
>inb4 you just can't relate to the yuppie lifestyle
I think the only people that like him are middle class kids wanting to live in a privileged wasteland.

as for Glamorama, haven't read it. I've only read Less than Zero, American Psycho, and Lunar Park... I would've mentioned Rules of Attraction but I never finished it.

>>4900978
Yeah, I understand. He's also a bit of a dickhead, but I'm interested in his novels anyways.

What did you think of Less Than Zero compared to American Psycho?

>>4900985
it's written better, for sure, but I'd still prefer to reread AP over LTZ

Also, I disagree about him being a dickhead. He's no more a self-righteous asshole than anyone else in that scene.

I've never been to new york but Los Angeles would rank up there in pretention
>90024 here, so I am familiar with the privileged art scene

may i ask where you ran in 'social class'?

>>4900601

I liked American Psycho but I don't really care for the other books because of their subject matter.

>>4901000
*rank

>>4901002
what did you like of American Psycho? I simply like the mind fuck of it all. Entire chapters on Whitney Houston, Genesis, Huey Lewis; i think it shows perfectly how people mindlessly obsess over bullshit despite actual shit going on.
>i'd articulate myself better but I am drunk.
>everclear (straight) with shots of fresh squeezed lemon juice for a chaser

>>4901026

> i think it shows perfectly how people mindlessly obsess over bullshit despite actual shit going on.

Pretty much this. I see this all the time IRL and the great thing about it is it doesn't have to rely on yuppie culture. Just how shallow people act can be compared to all around. I know people who are just as fucking shallow and fake as Bateman (minus the killing of people....I hope).

Another interesting thing is the reversal of contrast. Usually, a character is in direct contrast with his or her environment to make them stand out but Ellis did the complete opposite where you have shallow individuals vs. shallow individual who kills. When you really think about it, is Bateman REALLY that more disgusting than the people he associates with?


And definitely the question: Did he really do all of it? I think Ellis does a fantastic job of hinging that answer completely. On one side, it's so easy to believe that he was able to get away with killing all those people and saying all those ridiculous things in front of people because he was insane but it's also plausible that he did indeed kill everyone and no one is really paying attention to what he says because they're too absorbed in their own world to notice.

And it all comes together to make a form of hell for Bateman that is explained both realistically and plausibly and explained on a symbolic level

>>4901049
>is Bateman REALLY that more disgusting than the people he associates with?
yes, yes he is. but, I think it spoke more of the consequences of the pressures on that social lifestyle
>Did he really do all of it?
i don't think that was ever a question. i think he did do it but, as for the paul allen thing, everyone is so oblivious to everything, being so self-absorbed, that he doesn't even know WHO he killed. who he thought as paul allen was actually someone playing along, for their own devious reasons. same way allen thinks bateman is marcus.

though, i agree, most are either completely oblivious due to their own self-absorbed nature, and others, though they don't exactly know it is Bateman, choose to ignore the horrors because it is unpleasant.

not symbolic, i think it is pretty blatant.

>>4901000
>He's no more a self-righteous asshole than anyone else in that scene.

Doesn't really change the fact that he's a considerable douchebag.

>may i ask where you ran in 'social class'?

Upper-middle class, grew up in suburban Tennessee, near nashville. Can't say I relate to the subject matter BEE most often discusses, but I enjoyed the satire and absurd humor of AP.

>>4901086
>Doesn't really change the fact that he's a considerable douchebag.
haha I lol'd. I guess, having grown up around smug assholes my entire life, I consider that the norm.

>I enjoyed the satire and absurd humor of AP.
i can appreciate that. ithink that is what made AP such a cult classic.

>>4901082

> everyone is so oblivious to everything, being so self-absorbed, that he doesn't even know WHO he killed. who he thought as paul allen was actually someone playing along, for their own devious reasons. same way allen thinks bateman is marcus.

Interesting. I saw it as he did actually kill the Paul Owen, it's just that all the guys look the same and Bateman's lawyer is the one who mistook who he ate dinner with.

>not symbolic, i think it is pretty blatant.

I think it says more if it isn't symbolic however people with the symbolic view have tangibility and I think that's the brilliance of Ellis.

>>4901105
>paul owen
it was owen in the book, wasn't it? i recently the the film but haven't read the book in years.

>I think it says more if it isn't symbolic however people with the symbolic view have tangibility and I think that's the brilliance of Ellis.
i could not have said it any better, this work is not objective and interpreting it symbolically can speak for any social category, from the privileged to the street punk

>>4901093
>i can appreciate that. ithink that is what made AP such a cult classic.

Yep. IIRC, at the end of one chapter, Bateman runs around with his coat behind him as a cape, screaming like a banshee. I always thought that scene was one of the more hilarious moments, and I lump it into the "absurd humor" quality of AP that I like so much...