It will be a little difficult to believe this! | Strange But True Incident

American Psycho is one of the greatest novels of our time. Since its release, the majority of serious literary works have appeared to be hidden behind an unflattering layer of sophistry due to its obstinate, unwavering, and unyielding confrontation with this age. It is one of the two zeitgeist pieces of fiction that defined America at the end of the last century and the start of this one, the other being Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club. The latter book examines disillusionment from the viewpoint of a newly marginalized youth class that is impoverished and without opportunities. Both books had a genuine seismic impact, but in the case of American Psycho, there was also a very false outcry. The book's extreme violent passages, the objectification of women, the use of pornography, and the purported "manipulation" of the reader were the main targets of those reactions. However, they were frequently motivated by false beliefs and acts of bad faith American Psycho holds a hyper-real, satirical mirror up to our faces, and the uncomfortable shock of recognition it produces is that twisted reflection of ourselves, and the world we live in. It is not the novel that bourgeois critics adore, calling it "life-affirming" (which is frequently code for "deeply conservative"). Suburbanites are not provided with simple answers or the reassurance that a flawed but essentially good superhero is there to save them from evil people. It is not implied that faith or love can turn the tide. The only feeling that lingers is that we have left behind a world devoid of empathy and compassion, where monsters can flourish and go undetected. However, even though the It's nearly hard to separate American Psycho from the criticism it received, and analyzing those criticisms aids in identifying the subversive elements of the book. One of the most striking aspects of the book is how the reader is manipulated. Bret Easton Ellis defies convention by giving us a glamorous, murderous protagonist with inherited wealth, elite education, a toned physique, pricey clothing, and financial acumen. Its profile is a far cry from the stereotype of the serial killer as a depressed misfit. If Bateman hadn't been a murderous psychopath, he would most likely be hailed as the quintessential example of American success. The American WASPish elite's avaricious and power-hungry tendencies are directly compared in the book to mental illness. American Psycho uncomfortably closes the gap between the morbid, depressive preoccupations of the serial killer and the psychotic cultural aspects of the US, such as wealth fixation, gun obsession, overseas militarism, and growing military fetishism at home, by fusing Bateman's routine daily activities with his brutal homicides. The recurring metaphor describes how a society gives in to materialist consumerism and loses its human values in favor of an obsession with appearance, ultimately destroying society.

I remember arguing about the novel's violence against women with a female friend around the time of its release. She stated, and I have heard this argument many times: "This text becomes not relevant if you experience the violence and misogyny of the patriarchy yourself First and foremost, it's crucial to keep in mind that every element of American Psycho is entirely made up and based on the culture of the era in which it was written. It is only necessary to reiterate this truism because a lot of people still foolishly insist on conflating authors and protagonists.

Second, the novel is always just as much about the reader as it is about the author. We read novels through the prism of our own cultural upbringing and react to them accordingly as readers. The most effective ones arouse powerful emotions in us and the environment we live in. Thus, it is impossible to analyze the novel in a "objective" manner.

Rather than being artists, the book's critics were primarily activists or polemicists. Individuals hailing from a However, I think the primary cause for concern with the book is that, even though Bateman is portrayed as conceited, blustery, dishonest, misogynistic, racist, and narcissistic, American Psycho's narrative style compels the reader to take up his viewpoint. First-person, present-tense narratives typically lead the reader to assume the protagonist's worries, such as the "How to get rid of the body" syndrome. As a result, the reader shares responsibility for both the objectification and the violence that characterize consumer society. However, it's also essential that the reader form a moral opinion about the nature of these actions in order to participate in this discussion. That may fall on a spectrum from utter disgust to cold detachment, or even strange fascination. The idea here is that the viewer is However, attempting to analyze the violent passages in the book yields little results. To do so is far more pathological than the scenes themselves, which serve only to highlight the novel's true theme—the barbaric legacy of the consumerist/imperialist world we live in—by highlighting how they deviate from Bateman's ordinary existence. Those who are sensitive or unable to detach themselves from violent scenes will find them upsetting. Yet they are absolutely essential in American Psycho. More generally, any attempt to dictate what belongs in a novel and what doesn't has to be censorious and ugly by nature. The scenarios are consistently acted out within the creative realm of the Similar to Tyler Durden in Fight Club, Bateman ushered in a new era of American cable television antihero culture. Without Bateman, popular flawed heroes would never have emerged, such as Dexter, in which the psychopathic agent of destruction is recast in a cynical and reactionary way (as the good guy who aims to serve and protect the decent suburbanites). He is the more innocent counterpart of Wall Street's wolves, Gordon Gekkos, and the many pantomime villains of corporate capitalism.

The book is currently receiving unfavorable reviews that resemble a stampede of scared kids. It is absolutely delicious that they came from intelligent people who were unable to see past their own discomfort and shock to determine the true nature of it. This astounding miscalculation is