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Gabrielle (Reading Rampage)'s Reviews > The Rules of Attraction
The Rules of Attraction
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by
Gabrielle (Reading Rampage)'s review
bookshelves: american, contemporary, morbid-curiosity, reviewed
Jul 23, 2015
bookshelves: american, contemporary, morbid-curiosity, reviewed
This book made me so glad to be 30…
The blurb says that this book is about the “death of romance”… But I feel this is a little bit more complicated than that. Sure “The Rules of Attraction” follows four unspeakably awful undergrads as they get tangled up in the most fucked up love-triangle I’ve ever read. As they agonize childishly over their various experiences, disappointments and mistakes, it’s hard to feel for them: none of them have any moral compass, maturity, honesty or self-awareness. They project huge, unrealistic expectations on each other, but never vocalize them, then hold bitter grudges against each other for failing tests they didn’t know they were going through…
Is this hilarious or sad? I guess that depends on how cynical you are! Ellis knows how to write, so this snapshot of college life and it’s horribly gritty and immoral details is an interesting read, but it is also repulsive. But that’s just his style: if you have never read him before, you should know that vacuous, depraved and apathetic characters are his thing. The lenses of dark humour with which he looks at the college experience can be very funny: but it is only funny because it’s pathetic, and I am not sure I feel inclined to laugh at that.
That being said, the multiple POVs of the same events is fascinating and entertaining. I'm always mesmerized by the way people interpret the exact same moment in such a wildly different ways, and these kids being unable to communicate adequately, well... you can imagine how that goes!
Several readers and critics have pointed out the realism of what Ellis describes in this book, assuming that everyone to ever set foot on a college campus fell into a bottomless pit of weed, drunk blackouts and awkward sex. Maybe I am a huge nerd, but I went to college to get a degree… If the “Rules of Attraction” is as realistic as they say, I’m very glad I was not in that crowd.
Marginally better than “Less Than Zero”, not as good as “American Psycho”. I think my Ellis-reading experiment is over.
The blurb says that this book is about the “death of romance”… But I feel this is a little bit more complicated than that. Sure “The Rules of Attraction” follows four unspeakably awful undergrads as they get tangled up in the most fucked up love-triangle I’ve ever read. As they agonize childishly over their various experiences, disappointments and mistakes, it’s hard to feel for them: none of them have any moral compass, maturity, honesty or self-awareness. They project huge, unrealistic expectations on each other, but never vocalize them, then hold bitter grudges against each other for failing tests they didn’t know they were going through…
Is this hilarious or sad? I guess that depends on how cynical you are! Ellis knows how to write, so this snapshot of college life and it’s horribly gritty and immoral details is an interesting read, but it is also repulsive. But that’s just his style: if you have never read him before, you should know that vacuous, depraved and apathetic characters are his thing. The lenses of dark humour with which he looks at the college experience can be very funny: but it is only funny because it’s pathetic, and I am not sure I feel inclined to laugh at that.
That being said, the multiple POVs of the same events is fascinating and entertaining. I'm always mesmerized by the way people interpret the exact same moment in such a wildly different ways, and these kids being unable to communicate adequately, well... you can imagine how that goes!
Several readers and critics have pointed out the realism of what Ellis describes in this book, assuming that everyone to ever set foot on a college campus fell into a bottomless pit of weed, drunk blackouts and awkward sex. Maybe I am a huge nerd, but I went to college to get a degree… If the “Rules of Attraction” is as realistic as they say, I’m very glad I was not in that crowd.
Marginally better than “Less Than Zero”, not as good as “American Psycho”. I think my Ellis-reading experiment is over.
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Reading Progress
Finished Reading
July 23, 2015
– Shelved
August 25, 2015
– Shelved as:
american
November 2, 2016
– Shelved as:
contemporary
November 2, 2016
– Shelved as:
morbid-curiosity
November 2, 2016
– Shelved as:
reviewed
Comments Showing 1-5 of 5 (5 new)
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message 1:
by
Jo
(new)
Aug 17, 2021 04:35AM
Oooh, so now I've read this review (which is wonderful, by the way) I think I'll stick this to the bottom of my pile. And as for the college campus thing, I agree. Not every individual that attends college is there to get laid, smoke crack and binge drink themselves into an oblivion. Oddly enough, some of us wanted to learn. I fucking love being a nerd. :)
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message 2:
by
Gabrielle (Reading Rampage)
(last edited Aug 17, 2021 04:46AM)
(new)
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rated it 3 stars
Seth wrote: "Gabrielle, This is one of my all-time favorites & gets my vote for the best satirical novel of the 1980s. The scene where Sea..."I'm glad you enjoyed it, but it's just really not for me, sadly.
message 3:
by
Gabrielle (Reading Rampage)
(last edited Aug 17, 2021 05:03AM)
(new)
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rated it 3 stars
~Jo~ wrote: "Oooh, so now I've read this review (which is wonderful, by the way) I think I'll stick this to the bottom of my pile. And as for the college campus thing, I agree. Not every individual that attends..."Thanks, Jo! I love being a nerd too! Those college stories that involve so much partying and booze and drugs and reckless sex always puzzle me a bit because I don't actually know anyone who had that experience... I wonder if it's wishful thinking on writers' parts, or if you had to be in a special clique that I clearly did not have access to. And that's more than fine by me ;-)
Gabrielle wrote: "~Jo~ wrote: "Oooh, so now I've read this review (which is wonderful, by the way) I think I'll stick this to the bottom of my pile. And as for the college campus thing, I agree. Not every individual..."Well, having no access to those shenanigans evidently didn't do me any harm! :)
~Jo~ wrote: "Well, having no access to those shenanigans evidently didn't do me any harm! :)"Same! I enjoy my intact brain cells!
