The story is set in new york amongst the 1980s wall street boom. Narrator rachel newman is studying criminal psychology at college, her ambition being to join the fbi at quantico to hunt serial killers. The modern classic, the basis of a broadway musical, and major motion picture from lions gate films starring christian bale, chloe sevigny, jared leto, and reese witherspoon, and directed by mary harron. Reading american psycho can be disturbing at times, but the casualness with which ellis presents the graphic scenes is as horrifying as it is genius. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Oct 04, 2012 reading american psycho can be disturbing at times, but the casualness with which ellis presents the graphic scenes is as horrifying as it is genius. This study guide consists of approximately 41 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of american psycho. The passage where he agonizes over the quality of business cards indicated to me at least that his entire focus is on his outward appearance and how it compares to the people around him. The real of the novel is patrick batemans real, it is both imaginary and symbolic. Differences between american psycho book vs movie page 1. At the end patrick calls his lawyer and tells him that he killed her with a nail gun. The content of the movie created a good deal of controversy because of the explicit sex and violence scenes. In many ways the text of american psycho is one mans ultimate series of selfies. American psycho vintage contemporaries kindle edition.
Several of his novels, including american psycho, have been adapted into films. My reading of american psycho is that most of what happens in the book is patricks fantasy. At the end of american psycho patrick bateman realizes. Jul 02, 2010 american psycho begins with the words at the entrance to dantes hell, scrawled in blood red lettering on the side of the chemical bank near the corner of eleventh and first. He is the quintessential citizen of consumer society who consumes the victims of his insanity. Bateman killed homeless people, coworkers, and working women. Like the bret easton ellis book that its based on, the ending of mary harrons american psycho is rather ambiguous, and has been a source of debate amongst fans for a long time. Bret easton ellis is a very, very good writer and american psycho is a beautifully controlled, careful, important novel. The ending of american psycho finally explained youtube. I still think american psycho should be in my top ten books of all. American psycho vintage contemporaries kindle edition by ellis, bret easton.
The story is told in the first person by patrick bateman, a serial killer and manhattan businessman. Bret easton ellis answers critics of american psycho the new. Before we can talk about the ending of american psycho, we need to get one thing straight. American psycho study guide from litcharts the creators. I still think american psycho should be in my top ten books of all time.
Director mary harrons american psycho 2000 is a terrific horror film where patrick bateman christian bale is a wealthy new york banking executive who hides his serial killer alto ego from everyone around him. No matter which way you spin it, the things going on in his. These characters are exaggerated stereotypes of the 1980s wall street yuppie class that ellis. Vintage books purchased the rights to the novel and published the book after the customary editing process. The movie, american psycho, is taken from the book of the same name that is written by bret easton ellis. In american psycho, bret easton ellis imaginatively explores the incomprehensible depths of madness and captures the insanity of violence in our time or any other. It stars christian bale, willem dafoe, jared leto, josh lucas, chloe sevigny, samantha mathis, cara seymour, justin theroux, guinevere turner and reese witherspoon. My brother read the book when he was 15 and loved it. The end of american psycho author bret ellis is firmly on the record as saying that he didnt think american psycho should be made into a movie, because as quoted in an interview with indie publisher creative loafing the medium of film demands answers which in his opinion makes the story less interesting. It is based on the controversial 1991 novel american psycho by bret easton ellis, which also inspired a 2000 film of the same name, which starred christian bale. American psycho might have seemed like a straightforward film about a psychotic serial killer.
To have the american psycho explained, one must know the plot first. American psycho is indeed very hard going with all of the minute detail that bateman gives for every aspect of his daily life. My heart broke a little when patrick bateman says this confession has meant nothing. American psycho also gained bad press when it was revealed that reallife serial killer paul bernardo considered the book to be his bible. Sep 01, 2010 the best part of the movie is the beautiful cinematography, which highlights the stunning italian countryside. Theres a scene toward the end, the confession scene, that is my absolute favourite.
While initially appearing straightforward, the film intentionally unravels at the end, making plenty of people wonder whether or not patrick batemans murders. Bret easton ellis made the choice to seamlessly integrate that fantasy with the real events of patricks life so that the reader has to figure out where the fantasy ends and reality begins. What about the confession he left on his lawyers answering machine. Abandon all hope ye who enter here is graffitied across the side of a bank in bloodred paint. At the end, he turned to me and asked if i thought it was all imagined.
The book ends as it began, with bateman and his colleagues at a new club on a friday night, engaging in banal conversation. Ellis later wrote that people assumed that american psycho would end his career. Exploring the polarizing ending of mary harrons film. American psycho essence of trash the washington post. As his novel american psycho arrives in stores and death threats are. Set in manhattan during the wall street boom of the late 1980s, american psycho follows the life of wealthy young investment banker patrick. He talks and acts as if he was crazy for real, and makes that. Ive been known to be both a picky reader and a finicky film critic, and even i think the movie version of bret easton ellis novel, published in 1991, is faithful to the text its based on. The reader is introduced to the novels narrator, patrick bateman, a 27yearold wall street investment banker.
Now that american psycho, which is the subject of this months guardian book club, has become an established feature of the literary landscape and is generally acknowledged as a. Like the bret easton ellis book that its based on, the ending of mary harrons american psycho is rather ambiguous, and has been a source of debate amongst. Like the bret easton ellis novel that inspired it, the film leaves open the possibility that patrick bateman didnt really kill all those people. Towards the end of the movie, we see patrick bateman in an apartment full of dead bodies. If the book took place in another city, it is quite possible that the plot would be altered to fit the culture of that locale. In the years since american psycho, he has written several other novels and screenplays, including a film adaptation of his own novel the informers and the 2012 independent film the canyons, which starred lindsay lohan. The sign seen at the end of the book simply reads this is not an exit. American psycho is a musical with music and lyrics by duncan sheik and a book by roberto aguirresacasa. Hunter, american psycho is largely a critique of the shallow and vicious aspects of capitalism. American psycho by bret easton ellis the banned book brigade. American psycho vintage contemporaries kindle edition by. As film adaptations of books go, the movie american psycho released in 2000 is fairly spoton.
I saw it in london and it does have some sex and violence but nothing beyond what he could. During batemans spiral downward into his evil desires. It is also, and in the end this matters most, a bad book. Although, having worked for people with the same status of affluence as most of the characters in the book, i did find it a bit disconcerting to see how limitless that particular lifestyle. Indeed, some countries deem american psycho to be so disturbing that it can only be sold shrinkwrapped and cannot be purchased by anyone under the age of 18. The theme of materialism and consumption in american psycho. I had all the characteristics of a human beingflesh, blood, skin, hairbut my depersonalization was so intense, had gone so deep, that my normal ability to feel compassion had been eradicated, the victim of a slow, purposeful erasure. And i dont get the apartement being all fresh and the bodys cleaned up, and the lady asking him not to come back anymore. Watching the ending of american psycho 2000 the audience are left in the same puzzling wonder asking, did patrick bateman kll those homeless people, coworkers, and working women. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading american psycho vintage contemporaries.
Jul 21, 2012 i keep hoping for one of his books to grab ahold of me. Elliss iconic book about 1980s consumerist culture and masculinity was published in 1991. He said that he had dinner in london with paul 10 days ago. American psycho, bret easton ellis american psycho is a novel, by bret easton ellis, published in 1991. What i consider the ending of american psycho is the point in the film when our unlikely protagonists world starts falling apart, quite literally, and like in nolans inception, the highly fragile dream world that patrick bateman played by a devilishly. American psycho is the story of patrick bateman, a rich, arrogant, twentysomething yuppie in 1980s new york, who also happens to be an insane serial killer. American psycho study guide from litcharts the creators of. American psycho is a novel that makes a statement about modern society. The theme of materialism and consumption in american. Earlier in the novel patrick and his other mergers and acquisitions friends go to a club in nyc called tunnel. Jul 14, 2010 now that american psycho, which is the subject of this months guardian book club, has become an established feature of the literary landscape and is generally acknowledged as a modern classic, it.
American psycho summary from litcharts the creators of. Sep 02, 2017 before we can talk about the ending of american psycho, we need to get one thing straight. Jun 09, 2010 the modern classic, the basis of a broadway musical, and major motion picture from lions gate films starring christian bale, chloe sevigny, jared leto, and reese witherspoon, and directed by mary harron. In american psycho, patrick bateman and his band of incredibly wealthy wall street colleagues live lives of utter excess, purchasing nothing but the finest things, wearing only the finest clothes, eating at only the chicest restaurants, and looking down on any who fall short of their standard. In the end, it could be a guy who cleans windows fantasizing about the whole life he could have had. American psycho is a 2000 satirical psychological horror film cowritten and directed by mary harron, based on bret easton elliss 1991 novel of the same name.
The best part of the movie is the beautiful cinematography, which highlights the stunning italian countryside. Mar 27, 2016 in hindsight, an american psycho looks a lot like us. However, during the last moments of the film, patrick. The book is now going through the editing process at vintage. American psycho by bret easton ellis books the guardian. Batemans habitat is the offices, restaurants and night clubs of upper east side manhattan.
The major theme is the satirisation of the american dream, as twisted by the excesses of the 1980s. Christian bales american psycho movie ending explained. Comedy of menace maybe, but definitely not comedy of manners. Bret easton ellis still stuck with american psycho. The film adaptation of the bret easton ellis novel american psycho was released in 2000, and has been confusing viewers ever since. American psycho is a novel by bret easton ellis, published in 1991. Just finished reading american psycho then watched the film.
American psycho is not just about violence, though, and as previously stated the latter only takes up a small proportion of the book. In hindsight, an american psycho looks a lot like us. The american is pretty slow at times, but the shift in tone is somewhat refreshing. The effect the city has on the characters of american psycho makes new york city its. American psycho by bret easton ellis, signed abebooks. Patrick bateman moves among the young and trendy in 1980s manhattan. In hindsight, an american psycho looks a lot like us the. The book and the film versions of american psycho have one thing in. American psycho begins with a quote from dantes inferno. Bret easton ellis american psycho even people who have never read bret easton ellis american psycho likely do not expect to hear the phrase comedy of manners in reference to it. I was so disappointed in that book that i gave it to the library for their friends sale.
However i feel that in the last few years, via youtube clips and gifs, the internet has propagated this idea that patrick bateman is some sort of hilarious, anticonformity, antihero. The ending of american psycho finally explained looper. American psycho by bret easton ellis, paperback barnes. Jul 16, 2014 american psycho is indeed very hard going with all of the minute detail that bateman gives for every aspect of his daily life. The novelists function is to keep a running tag on the progress of culture. American psycho begins with the words at the entrance to dantes hell, scrawled in blood red lettering on the side of the chemical bank near the corner of eleventh and first. I was disappointed with imperial bedrooms and bought the first edition not waiting for the paperback. I would say that the best source for research was the book. Later he goes back to the apartment, only to find the bodies are all gone. Ellis explained that the book was really about the dandification of the american male. Set in manhattan during the wall street boom of the late 1980s, american psycho. It adds to the whole euro indie fell that the film has.
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