parkerlearnstoread

[parkerlearnstoread]

If Black English Isn’t a Language, Then Tell Me, What Is? by James Baldwin is one of my favorite essays every and should be required reading for any linguistics or English major.

[parkerlearnstoread]

Currently reading:

Finished reading:

Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie

The Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

[parkerlearnstoread]

The Marlow Murder Club

by Robert Thorogood

The Marlow Murder Club is a failed attempt at emulating Agatha Christie. Simply put, this is a book written poorly, with few twists and an unsatisfying ending.

My first issue is that Thorogood writes as though he is trying to show the audience that he understands women's issues. Yet he falls short. Sporadically throughout the novel; one of the four main women will have an issue that relates back to a misogynistic culture mentioned. Examples being; Judith and Suzie being unseen as women over 50, Tanika being expected to provide for her family financially and be a house wife, and Becks being pushed to the role of pastor's wife. Thorogood will give us an insight into these women's lives and tease us with some three-dimension aspect, but ultimately give us nothing more that a "she is a victim to this issue. Sucks to be her." with no depth given, and without the issue being revisited at all.

Next, the plotline is simply far too simplistic. It essentially goes like this:

Judith seems something happen She has a suspicion Shes right But theres no proof! A different thing happens! Judith has a new suspicion And...shes right But theres no proof! Another thing happens Judith has a suspicion Shes right (but in a slightly different way that she thinks) There's no proof! Judith solves the murders

There just is no challenge. There is no point where the Murder Club have to start from scratch again, because every lead they have is right and connects back into the case, even if it fades out of mind for a few chapters. Genuinely, the first half of this book everytime a theory was suggested I thought "yes, but that can't be it because thats so fucking cliche." and y'know what? They were all right.

Overall, I read this book because I just wanted to finish it. It will not be one I read again and Thorogood will not be an author I revisit. Perhaps I am just the wrong audience for this book, but it certainly was not to my liking.

[parkerlearnstoread]

American Psycho

by Brett Easton Ellis

American Psycho was controversial before it was even released. In the months leading up to it hitting the shelves, author Brett Easton Ellis was sent not just hate mail, but death threats. On the surface I can understand why people would see just his writing of this book as completely immoral. A story of a man who manipulates, tortures, murders and rapes women without any motive other than pleasure. However; this book is more than the "powerful sigma-male" icon that modern day redditors praise it as.

First of all, this is a book ripe for readings. Covering broad bases; class, sex and feminist readings are all right there. When I was in my senior years of high school I would have love to read this just for how easy an essay would have been. Analysing just the character of Bateman would give you more paragraphs than you would ever need. My favourite aspect of Bateman is the absolute unreliability of his story telling. Early on we are greeted with this when he tells us that he mentions torture and the like casually at dinner. We can see this isn't really happening due to the lack of reaction (although this could be a comment on the lack of care the people Bateman interacts with have for anything). At times, whether he is lying, or he is just that unpredictable is unclear. His short confessions of murder amidst other ramblings are one example of this. Then the entirety of the chapter in which he shoots the saxophonist. The lack of consequence he faces for this despite the high speed chases and the helicopter incursion implies it never happened at all. Or perhaps it displays his privilege in this society. Regardless, we cannot be sure anything is as he states at all.

I am not a fan of gore, which makes this book seem a unique choice, and at times I also nearly gave up, but the writing style drew me back without hesitation. The way Ellis has Bateman list everything when he enters a new situation is a perfect way to demonstrate his superficiality and how his world is shaped by brands and value. This is extended in the sex scenes, the way Bateman's depicted to list endlessly the positions and acts, without any emotion at all. It distances him from everything and emphasises his control (or desire for it). Further on in the book it is exciting to see the lists gradually falter. Starting with Bateman admitting he is unsure of the brands worn, then leaving out items, moving to only noting the extraordinary until finally they're skipped all together. It is a subtle yet excellent way to demonstrate his faltering grip on reality, loss of comfort in the bourgeois setting and ultimately a lack of care to control his persona and stay as the calm, collected, wall-street banker, Patrick Bateman. Another small writing detail that illustrated his growing disassociation, that I found excellent, was in the aforementioned saxophone chapter where on the run the pronouns shift from the personal "I" to "he" and "Bateman". This demonstrated a disconnect between the man in the body and the way he portrays himself to everyone else.

I enjoyed this book for its writing and style, but struggled to work through the actual content of it. Ellis is an excellent writer and I wouldn't hesitate to read more from him.