Bret Easton Ellis, The First 3 Books
Over the course of the last few weeks I decided to read the first 3 books written by Bret Easton Ellis in order of publication. The first Less than Zero, then The Rules of Attraction and finally the book he is known for most American Psycho.
Less than Zero has a different take on how fiction is usually done.The plot is secondary or close to non-existent. It has a style that mimics everyday life, we are effectively reading the journal entries of Clay. We read as he goes to see his friends, hangs out at parties, meets up with girls, as he drives around and also when he visits his therapist. It's written in small chapters, more like paragraphs that are used to break up from one setting or moment to the next.
The characters are soulless and self centred. They live in narrow mindedness occupied by their own problems. It's a snapshot of how youths' delusion can lead to them believing that the world revolves around them.
Rules of Attraction launches us into the human experience of college. The book has 3 primary first person narrators, Sean, Paul and Lauren. The 3 of them are placed in a love triangle, Laurens trying to get over Victor, Sean is into Lauren and Paul likes Sean.
Similar in tone to Less than Zero with themes of nihilism, wealth and mindless sex we are left with character that are single minded and solely focused on themselves.
The switching of narrator from chapter to chapter shows us how 2 people can view an interaction so differently. Sean thinks Lauren is crazy for him, Lauren will just about sleep with anyone and Paul is obsessed with Sean and Sean barely ever mentions Paul.
We also get cameos from Patrick Bateman, Clay and a French roommate whose chapter is written entirely in French.
When you think of American Psycho you imagine Christian Bale, his face splattered with blood. Patrick Bateman has become a pop culture figure, the man on Wall Street with the fat wallet. Patrick Bateman is a man of designer brands, he has the luxury penthouse. He eats out in flashy restaurants and admires Donald Trump. Patrick Bateman is living what some might see on the surface the American dream.
From his office to the gym, to torture and murder, and from to clubs to fancy restaurants. We pivot around the life of Patrick Bateman with no resolution in sight. A man that has lost sight of what life is and who finds his salvation in objects and inflicting pain on others.
By reading a body of work by a writer in order of publication you get to see how their style and voice grows from one book to the next. From Less than Zero to American Psycho you get to experience the maturity of Bret perfecting his prose.
I really enjoyed American Psycho, murder aside Bret really captures the empitness of a life which is singluarly focused on just accumlating more stuff for its own sake. For a novel written over 30 years ago it is very much still relevant.
