Books: The Shards By Bret Easton Ellis

  (Drivebycuriosity) - Bret Easton Ellis belongs to the stars of contemporary American fiction, albeit controversial. His most recent novel "The Shards" justifies his reputation ( amazon).

The book is written in first person, as a fictionalized memoir (this is a spoiler free blog). "Bret", who is now in his fifties, recalls his life as a 17 years old in the year 1981, when he attended an exclusive school in Los Angeles. He was part of a bunch of spoiled über-rich kids who enjoyed their privileged lives in Los Angeles with driving the Jaguars & Porsches of their negligent parents, having sex, using a lot drugs, partying, boozing and watching movies. "Bret", who almost continuously was stoned on Quaalude, a hypnotic sedative, got increasingly bewildered by ongoing reports about a bizarre & grizzly murder & home invasion series in his L.A. neighborhood and developed a growing interest in a dubious newcomer at his school, driven by his "overactive" imagination as ongoing writer, lust and mental issues.  

Being grown up in modest conditions in post-war Germany I don´t really care about spoiled rich kids but I got drawn into "Bret`s" narrative for several reasons. The plot builds up slowly tension by frequent clues about the bad things to come and develops into a thrilling tale about "teenage horniness", paranoia, drug abuse & obsession.

I like the author`slick prose and enjoyed his long complex sentences; his descriptions of the lush Southern Californian homes, gardens, hotels, movie palaces and his analytical depictions how "Bret`s" buddies and their relationships are changing. 

There are intense spooky parts with a hitchcockian atmosphere and creepy & violent episodes that Hieronymus Bosch could have painted on a horror trip. And we learn a lot about "Bret", his mental problems, his obsessions and his various - mostly gay - sexual experiences & longings, which are explicitly and elaborately described.

It is hard to escape this vertigo of "fear mingling with lust", drug abuse, lies, control loss & insanity. After I had finished the book it stayed in my mind for a while and I was wondering what really happened, besides what "Bret" - and the author - tell us. "The Shards" belongs to the most challenging but also fascinating novels I read in a long time.