Am I the only one that found this really hard to read?

[Dylan]

And not for the violence, but for how it was written. I've seen a lot of people say this was an easy read, but I found it more difficult than most books I've ever read.

I loved the book and thought it was brilliant, but I really struggled with reading it at times. The lengthy clothes/brand-name descriptions, Bateman's free association thoughts, the long unending monologues on Genesis and Tina Turner, the undistinct characters who all blend together, the first-person narration that is clunky at times, etc.

I realize most of this was intentional and necessary, but I really did have a hard time with it at times.

[Rolls]

Dylan wrote: "And not for the violence, but for how it was written. I've seen a lot of people say this was an easy read, but I found it more difficult than most books I've ever read.

I loved the book and though..."

You're certainly not alone with your opinion. I pretty much had exactly the same experience with my read through of AP.

Also to some extent I think that because I loved the film so much, the book became a more complex affair because of that. I don't normally have cross-talk from film watching to book reading, but here I certainly did. The only other time that's happened was with Layer Cake.

[Isaac]

I don't know if I'd say it was "hard to read," but it definitely blurs together.

Frankly, not much happens for a lot of the novel, and it's quite repetitive. I get that that's by design, but it does make the whole thing feel less... crisp.

[M.V.]

I found it horrendous to read. It's meant to be unenjoyable. That's the moral point of it. This is a bit naughty but it is relevant - here's a link to a youtube video comparing the film American Psycho (which is much more geared towards audience pleasure) and The Silence of the Lambs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_X_H...

[Anthony]

Although I loved the book, I'd be lying if I didn't say I'd skip thru some of the ten page discussions about his suitcase.

[Danny]

I definitely feel as if all that long-winded prose was intentional. M.V. got it right when he said it was about the moral issue.
You're not supposed to like this guy. At all. You're supposed to be bored with him, annoyed by him, make fun of him, and then when he does something terrible and you find that you enjoy it... you finally start to understand why Patrick Bateman enjoys it.
The book is a reveal of its own reader.
You work through all of the boring text in pursuit of something scandalous and gross. You're looking for more murder. You want to see more blood because it's the only thing that can turn this boring book (life) into an interesting one again.

[Mosquitha]

I found it easy to read when I was a teen, I was really into horror/splatter films so the more of this stuff, the better. But I tried to read it again recently and for sure I did not find it an easy read. On the other side, it is a very good insight in the mind of a psychopath.

[Jane]

The things you mentioned like the long descriptions of clothing, food etc are actually part of the things I like so much about it. The book is, for me, a mind-fuck and I love that kind of insight into someone's thought process. His mind feels very chaotic yet focused in some ways and I can relate to that! I should point out, that's mostly where the relatability ends haha.

[Maezy]

Dylan wrote: "And not for the violence, but for how it was written. I've seen a lot of people say this was an easy read, but I found it more difficult than most books I've ever read.

I loved the book and though..."

I'm in the same boat. I loved the book but all of the nonsense about clothes and the entire chapters on music I mostly skimmed through. A friend recommended it and I loved it but there were some tough spots to get through. Yet at the same time, it really built on how scatterbrained Patrick is.

[Samgelina]

Probably a redundant comment, but it's nice to know I wasn't the only one who felt this way towards the book. It was definitely a complex read

[Natty]

I don't think it's an easy read at all!! It's often confusing and difficult to get to grips with - which, in the end, I found to be a brilliant representation of Bateman's psyche.

[the girl in question]

Not for me, I found it very easy to read, but once I start to enjoy a book it becomes easy to read it. It was difficult to read the parts where he tortures that girl in his apartment with a rat, though.

[Everett]

I didn't have any problems with the writing style, however, I definitely had a hard time reading some of the torture scenes, particularly that of his ex-girlfriend.

[Everett]

My absolute favorite chapter is "Summer" pages 278-282 where he spends some time in the Hamptons with Evelyn. I think this is the first time we're really told just how completely devoid of emotion Patrick really is.

"There wasn't a clear, identifiable emotion within me, except for greed and, possibly, total disgust. I had all the characteristics of a human being- flesh, blood, skin, hair- but my depersonalization was so intense, had gone so deep, that the normal ability to feel compassion had been eradicated, the victim of a slow, purposeful erasure. I was simply imitating reality, a rough resemblance of a human being, with only a dim corner of my mind functioning."

[Kim]

Dylan wrote: "And not for the violence, but for how it was written. I've seen a lot of people say this was an easy read, but I found it more difficult than most books I've ever read.

I loved the book and though..."

No, I couldn't finish it.

[Lynsey]

Very hard to read. Found the group scenes (especially the one with the business cards) hard to understand.

Maybe I'm just dense??

A bold claim here, but a book that actually works better as a film!

[Robert]

One of my all time favorites. Not an easy read but worth the slog. Funny, dark, disturbing, revealing.