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The Shards

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'The Shards' by Bret Easton Ellis is a novel set in 1981 Los Angeles, following the protagonist, Bret, and his circle of friends as they navigate their senior year at an exclusive prep school. The story intertwines themes of adolescence, trauma, past mistakes, and the blurred lines between reality and fantasy. As a series of violent crimes unfold in the background, the narrative delves into the protagonist's unstable mind, obsession, and self-destruction, leading to a tragic tale of suspicion and deadly consequences.

The writing style of 'The Shards' is engaging and expertly crafted, drawing readers into a world of privilege, debauchery, and impending doom. The narrative skillfully combines elements of a murder mystery thriller with a character study, exploring the protagonist's psyche and his interactions with a dangerously handsome newcomer, Robert Mallory. The novel is richly observed, evocative, and occasionally repetitive, offering a compelling blend of horror, dark humor, and bittersweet nostalgia.

Characters:

Characters reflect common teenage stereotypes, but are presented with relatable complexities amidst their flaws.

Writing/Prose:

The writing combines a colloquial style with detailed descriptions, creating an immersive and sometimes tedious experience.

Plot/Storyline:

The story intertwines murder mystery with personal trauma and unreliable narration, exploring the protagonist's obsession with the new boy and the unraveling of friendships.

Setting:

The affluent 1980s Los Angeles setting underpins the story, enriching character interactions with cultural and social context.

Pacing:

Pacing fluctuates, being slow at times with excessive detail, but occasionally building suspense that keeps readers engaged.

Notes:

The Shards features a storyline centered around a group of wealthy high school students in Los Angeles during the early 1980s.
The plot includes a murder mystery involving mutilated bodies and the character Robert Mallory, who may be linked to the killings.
The protagonist, Bret, is portrayed as an unreliable narrator who imagines and exaggerates events, tying his experiences to his aspirations as a writer.
The story reflects themes of obsession, sexuality, and the transition from adolescence to adulthood.
Bret's relationship dynamics with friends, especially with Susan and Thom, are explored, showcasing typical high school dramas.
The narrative was criticized for its slow pacing and repetitive detail, which some found unnecessary.
Ellis makes use of Los Angeles' iconic locations and a vast soundtrack of 1980s pop culture references.
The book mixes elements of horror, psychological thriller, and dark humor, marking a departure from traditional plotting in Ellis's earlier works.
Some readers felt the graphic depictions of violence and sex were excessive and detracted from the storyline.
Upon release, The Shards was noted as a return to form for Ellis, with a blend of nostalgia and critique of youth culture.

Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings

Content warnings for The Shards include graphic violence, sexual assault, animal cruelty, substance abuse, and themes regarding mental health, which could be triggering for sensitive readers.

Has Romance?

There is a medium level of romance present, particularly revolving around complicated relationships and desires among the teenage characters.

From The Publisher:

NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER

A novel of sensational literary and psychological suspense from the best-selling author of Less Than Zero and American Psycho that tracks a group of privileged high school friends in a vibrantly fictionalized 1980s Los Angeles as a serial killer strikes across the city

"A thrilling page turner from Ellis, who revisits the world that made him a literary star with a stylish scary new story that doesn't disappoint." - Town & Country

Bret Easton Ellis's masterful new novel is a story about the end of innocence, and the perilous passage from adolescence into adulthood, set in a vibrantly fictionalized Los Angeles in 1981 as a serial killer begins targeting teenagers throughout the city.

Seventeen-year-old Bret is a senior at the exclusive Buckley prep school when a new student arrives with a mysterious past. Robert Mallory is bright, handsome, charismatic, and shielding a secret from Bret and his friends even as he becomes a part of their tightly knit circle. Bret's obsession with Mallory is equaled only by his increasingly unsettling preoccupation with the Trawler, a serial killer on the loose who seems to be drawing ever closer to Bret and his friends, taunting them-and Bret in particular-with grotesque threats and horrific, sharply local acts of violence. The coincidences are uncanny, but they are also filtered through the imagination of a teenager whose gifts for constructing narrative from the filaments of his own life are about to make him one of the most explosive literary sensations of his generation. Can he trust his friends-or his own mind-to make sense of the danger they appear to be in? Thwarted by the world and by his own innate desires, buffeted by unhealthy fixations, he spirals into paranoia and isolation as the relationship between the Trawler and Robert Mallory hurtles inexorably toward a collision.

Set against the intensely vivid and nostalgic backdrop of pre- Less Than Zero L.A., The Shards is a mesmerizing fusing of fact and fiction, the real and the imagined, that brilliantly explores the emotional fabric of Bret's life at seventeen-sex and jealousy, obsession and murderous rage. Gripping, sly, suspenseful, deeply haunting, and often darkly funny, The Shards is Ellis at his inimitable best.

Ratings (11)

Incredible (3)
Loved It (5)
Liked It (1)
It Was OK (1)
Hated It (1)

Reader Stats (24):

Read It (11)
Want To Read (10)
Did Not Finish (1)
Not Interested (2)

2 comment(s)

Liked It
1 week

3.5 stars rounded down. It was an engaging and well written read altough not enough for any stars. I'm glad tough that I've decided to try to read this author again as I think I enjoy them more now.

 
It Was OK
6 months

Throughout this book all I thought was “Stop it, get help” 😂 this book has a crazy ending but the build up to it was slow and sometimes pointless. The slow parts were the main character Bret doing drugs, falling into a drug induced sleep and fantasizing about various men he can’t have. But I do see how it plays into his mental state. The really pointless points were when the author when go into tangents about movies or music from the 80s. He would go into great detail about these things but I didn’t see the point.

 
 
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