Your Opinion: Novelist Bret Easton Ellis

[Mike 03]

Poll question: Your Opinion: Novelist Bret Easton Ellis

Hack or genuine Artistic Writer?

ON EDIT: I should explain, the reason I am posting this poll is that the movie adaptation of "The Informers" is due to be released soon.

[Captain Hilts]

1. I think he's really, really creepy. nt

[MrSlayer]

2. American Psycho was hilarious.

The movie was shit but the book was great. Just fucking bizarre.

[Mike 03]

3. I am really appreciating your input. Keep it up, please!

This is fascinating, or as he would write, "way, way fascinating."

[Mike 03]

4. Kick, just in case anybody missed it and wishes to participate. NT

[Mike 03]

5. Kick again. I can't believe, out of all the threads I posted that have dropped, that this

is one whose results I actually care about.

Any of you live in Los Angeles in the 80s?

If so, what do you think of this depiction of that time?

[nomorenomore08]

6. I've only read 'American Psycho,' but I think it's a very significant work.

People tend to focus on the brutally graphic murder scenes, which is understandable, but I think the book actually goes much deeper than a mere splatterfest. Patrick Bateman is perhaps the most frightening fictional character I've ever encountered, not only because of his actions but because of what he embodies - the whole "Reagan" ideology taken to an extreme, but fairly logical, conclusion. In this line of thinking, not only is greed good a la Gordon Gekko, but "different" (e.g. non-white, non-heterosexual) means inferior, if not utterly expendable. Think of Bateman brutalizing prostitutes, or killing an older gay man along with his dog, or gouging out a black homeless man's eyes and then adding insult to injury with a racist taunt - scary, scary stuff, not least because it seems only a step or two removed from contemporary (post-Reagan) "conservative" ideologies.

[jeff30997]

8. Yeah,that was one of the scariest novel I've ever read.

mostly for the reasons that you mention.Even Bateman's "friends" are terrifyingly shallow,self centered

and materialist.The gore was pretty disgusting but I've read more brutal and graphic scenes in other

novels.I never read any of his other books either.

[He loved Big Brother]

7. Well...

He's no DFW. He's just a product of his time. I think he will fade away. I can't see him going on to be a classic author.

[PittPoliSci]

9. i don't really care one way or the other about him.

but he definitely seems haunted, even obsessed with his own characters.

on edit:
i don't think he's a hack though.