Guest CoreyLazarus416 Report post Posted January 30, 2003 I have just finished Bret Easton Ellis's Glamorama. After finish the first chapter, I thought to myself "this is enough as is, what the hell is going to happen in the rest of the book to make it NEARLY as interesting?" Now, mind you the fact that the first chapter alone starts on Page 11 and ends on Page 212 (yes, a 200-page chapter). And after that, the entire book went into a huge out-of-control spiral... ...and I fucking LOVED it. Much like how in the movie Total Recall we are left unsure of whether or not the events that happened after Quaid's visit to Recall are just mere implanted memories, after the end of the first chapter of Glamorama we are left unsure as to whether the events in the following five chapters actually occurred or are just hallucinations/nightmares thanks to Victor's apparent mental breakdown at the end of the first chapter. All in all, a great read. I highly recommend this book to anybody that enjoys mindfucks or "make you think" novels (apparently Ellis's specialty). Out of a possible *****, I give it ****9/10 (the only perfect ***** book I've ever read was Foley's first autobiography, Have A Nice Day, and that's mainly due to the re-readable factor that I don't find often in most, if any, other books). And a movie of the novel is currently in production (source: IMDB.com page). Will this movie be HALF as good as American Psycho? Let's hope. Well, looks like I'll need to pick up either Ellis's Rules Of Attraction or find myself a copy of American Psycho from Barnes & Noble, because I need 2 books for a 7-page thesis due in May by the same author, and Ellis owns it. Next book on my agenda: Roddy Piper's autobiography Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest IDrinkRatsMilk Report post Posted January 31, 2003 Yep, good book. If the narrative style of Glamorama didn't bother you (and apparently it didn't), I'd recommend American Psycho before Rules of Attraction. But read them both, eventually. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest CoreyLazarus416 Report post Posted January 31, 2003 One things I truly loved in Glamorama is the end of the first chapter lead into everything else. **SPOILERS AHEAD** I mean, is Victor nuts? Is it an alternate reality? Is everything really happening, but everybody is too shallow to notice? And I never got the entire idea behind the film crew. Are they truly there, or is Victor just nuts? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest red_file Report post Posted January 31, 2003 Like in American Psycho, Ellis seems less concerned with answering the question of whether or not his protagonist is insane than with presenting reasons for the ambiguity. The question of "is he or isn't he" always seems secondary to "why doesn't anyone notice?" Consider it Ellis' hobbyhorse; it runs through all of his novels (starting with Less Than Zero, which made a decent enough movie) much like the theme of societal decay through commercialism runs through Palahnuik's novels. I think that movie production serves a few purposes. One, it underscores the conventional thriller aspect of the novel; the fact that Victor is occasionally dealing with the assistant director's questions of why certain actors have disappeared adds levity to the proceedings. Two, it, as you mentioned, provides some ambiguity in the mind of the reader as to whether or not Victor is really letting Jamie film him when all of this is going on and the questions of his sanity that arise from either possiblity (aside from insanity, there's also the possibility presented that Victor is simply an idiot, as the perception of models tends to be). Three, again, the shallowness of everyone present is somehow magnified by the idea that it all somehow fits in with a movie. I'd assume that Ellis had some metafictional goals when adding it, but I didn't find them when I read the book, and I haven't read it for a while. Ellis is an interesting writer, though, like with Palahnuik, I'm still waiting for him to break ground that he hasn't already covered. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest CoreyLazarus416 Report post Posted January 31, 2003 But you have to admit that Ellis is a great author to debate over. The themes of his novels all seem similar, and many characters intertwine between novels (every character in The Rules Of Attraction seem to be at least MENTIONED in Glamorama). But the really great debate-starter is the fact that nobody REALLY knows what the fuck is going on. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest converge241 Report post Posted February 3, 2003 Corey I cant wait till you read all the books and see the "ellis-verse" in full so we can discuss.. btw.. Glamorama is being made into a movie by Roger Avary as well (he did Rules) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest CoreyLazarus416 Report post Posted February 4, 2003 I need to see Rules... then. I was looking for it last Friday at Hollywood, but it ain't out yet. And con, you best believe I'll at least read Psycho and Rules. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
