Book Review: The Rules of Attraction by Bret Easton Ellis

Ellis displays his engaging and captivating stream of consciousness writing. He speaks through the thoughts of varied characters in a college where self-absorbed, bohemian students find themselves in more parties than classrooms, and sex and drugs run rampant. “The Rules of Attraction” offers a dark and satirical take on the upper-middle-class college student culture. Set in the fictional college town of Camden, New Hampshire, the novel is narrated in first-person by the sexually students, in particular, revolving around three: Paul, Sean, and Lauren. The novel begins and ends in mid-sentence, giving the impression that there is really no beginning and end to the story. The reader was just there for the ride, passing like a tourist through Camden and glancing sideways into their lives.

“The Rules of Attraction” is fundamentally a story that studies the rules of attraction that exist between affluent students in a college town. Plot is unnecessary. The traditional aspects of stories are accessories. The important stuff is in the questions that are asked: Who will you hook up with tonight? What are you going to wear at the party? How do you get laid here? Who do we need to see to get drugs? Through satire and dark comedy, Ellis portrays the corruption of youth and the discrepancy between reality and fiction. This exaggerated and distorted manner in showcasing campus life hones the reader’s awareness to these particular realities.

The portrait of campus life for these students is heavily aided by the shifting first-person which illustrates the varying priorities that are juggled throughout the year and paints events from multiple angles. The reader’s interpretation is an essential part of understanding the story. Paul’s narratives focus on his sexual encounters with Sean, while Sean leaves them out entirely in his, leaving the actuality of their occurrence ambiguous. These uncertain passages give weight to the novel and force the readers to perceive the development of the characters.

Bret Easton Ellis does a fantastic job in displaying a segment of society that perhaps many readers are not a part of, if they even knew existed. He creates characters that are selfish, nihilistic, world-weary, experimental, callous, and narcissistic. He does it without batting an eye. They are interesting to watch and study, but I don’t think I’d invite them over for dinner.

                                                

Day 33: Misery Loves Comedy by Ivan Brunetti

This case study of schizophrenia and psychosis collects Ivan Brunetti’s first three issues of the brilliant comic book series Schizo, as well as a agglomeration of miscellaneous musings and writings from over a decade. Brunetti’s self-caricature is intriguing realistic, in all its foibles and flaws: he is paranoid, deluded, graphically scatological, self-loathing, and violently depressed. But behind Brunetti’s fascinating nihilism, is a study of the darkest corners of human nature and an exploration of that selfish, brutish side of ourselves that we shudder to inspect closely.

Day 32: The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly

For a thriller writer, “The Book of Lost Things” presents a major step in a different, though not altogether unpleasant, direction. Connelly explores the story of a boy during World War 2 who experiences an adventure not unlike Carroll’s Alice. Connelly’s take on classic fairy tales and giving them a new perspective was one of the most positive aspects of the narrative. The ending is beautifully, and unexpectedly, bittersweet and touching. Overall, it is a wonderful coming-of-age book with a bend towards the nostalgic past.

Day 31: The Art of War by Sun Tzu

This ancient and informative text is as essential to classical warfare as it is to modern business. Sun Tzu’s great textbook is a series of profound advice. Their greatest asset is how applicable and malleable his rules and advice are given the context and circumstance. It is a truly captivating work and a look into the minds that dominated the craft of war.

Day 30: Y: The Last Man - Book One by Brian K. Vaughn

Several words to describe Vaughn’s work would be: clever, political, wry, variably pessimistic and optimistic, well-written, and fast-paced. The dystopian future where all living things with a Y chromosome die in the same exact instant (except for one man and his monkey) is a truly fascinatingly concept that is explored intelligently. I applaud the writer for handling the political and social fallout realistically. The first arc depicts Yorick’s travels with Agent 355 and Dr. Mann to reach her lab in California and develop a means of cloning males for the human species to survive. Their long journey across America’s chaotic landscape culminates in a climactic confrontation in a small settlement in Ohio between Yorick and his sister, wherein they find one another fearsomely changed by the event that changed the world. 

Day 29: Animal Farm by George Orwell

A political satire that every high school student must have studied in their English class. I must have been one of the few that actually enjoyed this vital work of contemporary culture. George Orwell’s classic work is an allegory and satire of the Russian Revolution, a biased and yet informative paradigm that illustrates how boundless hope and potential can disintegrate into tyranny. The bold struggle of the animals against the oppression of Mr. Jones in his Farm forges the Animal Farm, founded on the notion that All Animals Are Created Equal. But when the pigs re-establish an elite class over the masses, betraying their faithful followers, all realise the dark significance of the tacked-on postscript that Some Animals Are More Equal than Others. If you didn’t study this phenomenal work in high school, it’s never too late to read it now.

Day 28: Die Trying by Lee Child

The second thrilling novel chronicling Lee Child’s epic ass-kicking hitchhiker: Jack Reacher. “Die Trying” finds Reacher, along with a woman whom he helps carry her dry cleaning, kidnapped right off the sidewalk and thrown into the back of a van. As he studies his increasingly dire situation, he tries to understand just who the woman he was kidnapped with is, against the backdrop of terroristic devastation waiting to happen. This was the second Child book I picked up and remains one of my favourites.