I read this book with the constant eerie feeling that I was reading someone else’s diary. I wanted to stop but couldn’t! And trust me, this was proper scary stuff.

How simple it is to stop caring or not to be afraid to lose if you think there’s actually nothing left to lose. How easy it is to think you can replace affection with a credit card. How so much easier it is to let yourself go when you’re young enough to think you’re going to live forever.

There’s a reason why this book became a bestseller and a classic, and there’s also a reason why a lot of readers would put it aside and claim that “Nah, this is not literature” or “Wtf, nothing really happens in this story”. Fair enough. We all are allowed to have our opinions and it’s good to have one of your own, but believe me, all aspects of human life are here between these pages. You’ll just have to want to see it. You can’t look away.

"Δεν θέλω να νοιάζομαι . Αν νοιαστω για τα πράγματα απλά θα χειροτερέψουν,θα έχω κι άλλα για να ανησυχώ . Πονάω λιγότερο όταν δεν νοιάζομαι."
Ο κλει είναι ένας 18χρονος που έχει μόλις γυρίσει στο Λος Άντζελες από το ακριβό του κολέγιο στο πατρικό του πλούσιο σπίτι στη Μαλχολαντ, με τις ξανθές αδερφές του και τη μαμά με το μαλλί με ντεκαπαζ.ο μπαμπάς ζει αλλου και έχει δικές του επιχειρήσεις ,πολλά λεφτά ,λίφτινγκ προσώπου και μεταμόσχευση μαλλιών ... Sex drugs drama ensues
Ο αναγνώστης μπαίνει σε μια δίνη ονομάτων τύπου Κιμ ,Μπλερ , Τζούλιαν ,wannabe cool τυπακια,αλλά καταδικασμένα δυστυχα πλουσιόπαιδα , λεπτομερείς περιγραφές χρήσης ναρκωτικών σε πάρτι ,κασέτες (κασέτες!!είμαστε στα 80s ,μη το ξεχνάμε) με χιτακια αυτής της φοβερής περιόδου που δίνουν το ρυθμό ,πρόσωπα και ονόματα που αλλάζουν με ταχύτητα φωτός και δεν έχουν κανένα νόημα όπως και οι ζωές τους ...
Είναι σχεδόν συγκλονιστικό το ποσό λίγα πράγματα μαθαίνουμε για τον Κλει. Μιλάει ,μιλάει για τους άλλους ,αλλά ο ίδιος παραμένει ένα μυστήριο μοναξιάς και θλίψης και το μόνο που ίσως τον "φωτίζει" λιγο σαν χαρακτήρα είναι η φράση "εξαφανίσου εδώ" που βλέπει σε μια πινακίδα στο δρόμο ..γιατί τελικά αυτό περιγράφει και τον ίδιο αλλά και την εποχή στην οποία ζει . Ο Κλει έρχεται πίσω στον τόπο που μεγάλωσε με πιο αθώες αναμνήσεις ελπίζοντας να νιώσει κάτι ,να νοσταλγήσει ,να αισθανθεί ,αλλά αντ'αυτου ανακαλύπτει έναν κόσμο άγριο στον οποίο καλείται να προσαρμοστεί. Τελικά η απογοήτευση του να μη μπορεί πια να αισθανθεί ή να βρει νόημα σε οτιδήποτε (φτάνοντας σε ακροτητες για να το πετύχει),είναι τέτοια που το μόνο που θέλει είναι να μην υπάρχει. Σε πάρα πολύ μεγάλο βαθμό ,ο Κλει μου θύμισε το αγαπημένο μου λογοτεχνικό αγόρι ,τον Holden από το catcher in the rye ,έναν ακόμη μοναχικό ,πληγωμένο νέο που δεν ταιριάζει σε αυτά που προστάζει η νέα εποχή ,γι'αυτό και τον αγάπησα και εκείνον .
Το βιβλίο είναι ένα μικρό διαμάντι το οποίο διάβασα μανιωδώς σε λίγες ώρες και είμαι σίγουρη ότι θα το ξανακάνω στο μέλλον.

I won't lie, it's a hard book to enjoy. Definitely one of those you have to be in the proper mindset to relate to. Luckily I was, but for the most part I found it hard to empathise, hard to care.
Then I realised Clay was finding it hard to do the exact same thing and I kind of came to an understanding with it all.
Don't read it if you're feeling burnt out, or do. Experience varies.
Disappear here.

I've never read Ellis before, and since he published this when he was just 21, I'm not sure if or how to really come to grips with it. The style is obviously super flat, though whether this is because Ellis simply wasn't able to write otherwise at such a young age or if he was just smart enough to realize he's probably too young to try, I can't say. But I found Clay's cool, detached narration to be, if nothing else, fairly engaging. Not revelatory, not brilliant, but interesting enough to keep me reading.

This book is, knowingly or not, basically like throwing acid in the face of Reagan's America. Trust fund brats in the San Fernando Valley with too much money, too much cocaine, too much apathetic sex. They go to cool parties and eat at 3 star restaurants the way other people have to wake up to work the early shift and cut coupons.

The self-rightous midwesterner in me thinks they just need some "structure." The bitter nihilist in me wants to either cheer them on or shoot them in the face. The slacker millenial in me shrugs and suspects that this is probably how it's always been for louche rich kids. Kind of like Public Enemy or early Prince, the transgressive punch this once had is kind of diluted with time, I can imagine a modern middle aged housewife reading this in 2013 and being disgusted, but I can't imagine her being totally caught off guard and utterly horrified like she might have been in the mid 80's. The simple fact is that the rarified world of nihilistic anxiety that Clay occupies is much more widespread in our day and age (come on, who doesn't have HBO, a DVD player and ample access to booze and drugs in 2013?) than it was in 1985, even if the wealth that powers it remains as exclusive as it ever did.

Maybe that means that Bret Easton Ellis, at only 21 years old, basically got it right the first time around and has only become more right about the way we live in the decades since. Maybe this book where people move zombie like from one empty pleasure on to another to another just can't be shocking because what's really shocking, or unrelatable in this book aside from a few moments of casual sexual slavery (and even those, sadly, aren't a huge imaginative stretch)? Whether you "like" Less than Zero or not, it's kind of impossible to deny that it's view of our reality is more widespread and more comprehensible now than it was almost 30 years ago. Highly recommended.

When you read the back cover of this book and learn that the main character returns to his hometown for a month during a school break, that he’s rich, bored, wants to get high, and bounces from one sexual encounter to another, you might immediately think this is just another shallow, cheap novel about privileged teenagers who don’t know what to do with their lives. And to some extent, that assumption wouldn’t be wrong.

The characters in Bret Easton Ellis’s debut novel Less Than Zero are, in fact, wealthy teens who do drugs and couldn’t care less who they end up in bed with. But Less Than Zero is far from a superficial or pointless book.

When the novel was published and became an instant success—catapulting young Bret into literary stardom—many people were unsettled by its content, fearing he might actually be writing about them. That alone speaks volumes about its authenticity. Even though the book was released more than 30 years ago, its message and characters are still incredibly relevant today—only now, those characters also wear the shackles of social media and false idols they strive to emulate.

Clay, the seemingly apathetic protagonist who appears not to care about anything, is actually a deeply emotional person, somewhat damaged by his family and environment. He tries not to care—because, as he admits himself, it’s easier that way. Throughout the novel, that lingering feeling of being “less than zero” hovers around him. Though he attempts to numb it with drugs and sex, he is more than the sum of his indulgences—he’s simply chosen to be this version of himself in a world that doesn’t seem to offer any alternatives.

The four weeks he spends in Los Angeles during his break become a quiet reckoning of sorts. He remembers his dying grandmother—perhaps the only person whose loss genuinely affected him—reflects on his parents’ divorce, his ex-girlfriend (whom he still cares for, even if he won’t admit it), and a close friend in serious trouble. Whether this journey can be called “growing up” is up for debate. It all depends on your perspective.

Equally fascinating is Easton’s style—one he would continue to use in later works. Stripped-down, bare, and flat in tone, yet despite this (or perhaps because of it), his sentences, his characters’ thoughts, and their actions strike directly at the core. Had this novel been written any other way, it likely wouldn’t have had the same impact.

This is one of those novels—you either find yourself in it or you don’t. You either love it or you hate it.

Oho, How our, how our parents they suffered for nothing
I live the dream, live the dream, live the dream
Like the 80's never happened
People are afraid, are afraid
To merge on the freeway
Disappear here.

Song for Clay (Disappear Here) by Bloc Party
***

Less Than Zero is an incredible debut novel for a 21 year-old writer. At least, if we consider the introduction, at which point I was thinking it might turn into a favourite. However the story just does not move anywhere and I lost interest midway through, and it began to get distasteful toward the end. Catcher In The Rye for the MTV generation, maybe but I don't really think so, as Holden is trying to be present (as Blair points out, Clay is not). I don't think there is anyone home here, the story just unwinds and doesn't do very much.

Crudely put, Ellis seems to be saying boredom of the privileged leads to crime and a neglect for life. It's not particularly surprising, and I wonder whether it is realistic enough to be a social commentary, and if it was neither, then I think it would not be compelling as a story. I also found it odd how just about everyone was bisexual, addicted to hard drugs, and not very expressive. Does this really happen, or if it is satire, what is it trying to tell us that we don't already know? I haven't read Requiem For A Dream yet, but going by the film, I imagine it does a similar thing to Less Than Zero but with a realism and grittiness that makes it a more engaging and transformative reading experience.

I think the narrative of Bloc Party's Weekend In The City is stronger than this, which is a sign the book does not go far enough. American Psycho at least developed a motive and went further into the darkness. Not boredom, but disgust, which makes more sense. but I can't help siding with DFW in thinking these books are too bleak and nihilist, too long, and have all the signs of a troubled undergraduate writing a story while too young (I think the reference DFW makes about this in Broom of The System almost seems about this book).

At its heart, a tale about over-privileged L.A. rich kids, that lament how too much money leads to boredom and drugs. Boo-fucking-hoo.

Clay comes home from his New Hampshire college for Xmas break and re-connects with his friends that apparently over the summer have all become raging heroin addicts selling their bodies for drugs. I remember those days. Clay is entirely disenchanted with the entire scene but tags along because out of sheer boredom he has nothing better to do with the unlimited resources at his disposal. I hate when that happens.

This is a filling partner to "American Psycho" because I kept wishing for Patrick Bateman to step out of the shadows of Spago and off each and everyone of these whiny-ass teenagers.

Dnf. Non mi interessa

A stunning debut novel by Ellis! There's a four week break between terms at University so Clay returns to his nihilistic, drug, drink and sex addled life in L.A. Written in first person in almost quasi documentary style we get to live in Clay's world for a month. With some horrific scenes and even more horrific responses to these scenes by the main characters, this may not be a book for all. And goddammit, on top of all this controversy, great story telling and imagination, Ellis is a damn fine writer. He also captures dialogue authentically.
.
8 out of 12.

Ο νιχιλιστικός, απαισιόδοξος και κάπως μοιρολατρικός χαρακτήρας του βιβλίου μου δημιούργησε ταυτόχρονα μια διάθεση αποστροφής αλλά και έλξης προς αυτό. Είναι πραγματικά δύσκολο να περιγράψω τα συναισθήματα που είχα διαβάζοντάς το. Αν και είμαι κάθε άλλο παρά νιχιλίστρια, η ανάγνωση του "Λιγότερο από Μηδέν" με πλημμύρισε με τέτοιες σκέψεις και έκανε την διαδικασία της ανάγνωσης αρκετά επίπονη και παθητική. Φαντάζομαι ότι αυτός ήταν και ο σκοπός του συγγραφέα και τον πέτυψε στο έπακρον.
Μπορεί η ιστορία να εξελίσσεται στην Αμερική των 80s και να αποδομεί το "Αμερικάνικο Όνειρο", αλλά εύκολα μπορεί κανείς να δει την πραγματικότητα του βιβλίου και στη σημερινή κοινωνία των δυτικών χωρών. Η παντελής έλλειψη ενδιαφέροντος για τα δεινά του κόσμου γύρω μας τείνει να γίνει συνηθισμένο φαινόμενο, κάτι που πλέον δεν είναι "προνόμιο" μόνο των κακομαθημένων πλουσιόπαιδων του Ellis, αλλά κομμάτι του καθενός μας.

AL DI LÀ DI TUTTI I LIMITI



Mi chiedo quando è stato che noi lettori – o, almeno io, e qualcun altro – abbiamo avuto bisogno che chi scriveva i libri che leggevamo chiamasse le cose col proprio nome. Che poi, spesso, quasi sempre da allora, significa: con le etichette. Che ci dicesse esattamente, scrivendolo, che musica ascoltava, quali band e album, e quali brani lo smuovevano dentro, che vestiti scegliesse, quali scarpe, vini, whiskey, palline da tennis…
E di sentir parlare i personaggi sulle pagine come si parlava per strada, o al bar, o in discoteca.
E se non eravamo noi a parlare in quel modo, lo erano i nostri amici.



Riconoscersi. Parteggiare. Identificarsi…
Mai stato il modo giusto di leggere. Quello per capire cosa si stava leggendo. Ancora meno per valutarlo, esprimere giudizio.
Eppure…
Eppure quel confine a un certo punto s’è oltrepassato.
E prima, a lungo, c’eravamo tenuti dentro il bisogno di raggiungerlo, e andare oltre.
Ma dove è cominciato, chi è stato il primo…?



Mi è difficile rispondere.
Ma mi viene da mettere questo Less Than Zero in buona posizione iniziale.
Tra l’altro, titolo azzeccatissimo.
Ovviamente, ripreso da un brano musicale (di Elvis Costello).
Naturalmente, è seguito film.
Naturalmente, il protagonista del film (Robert Downey jr) è finito – o veniva già – da situazioni e storie simili a quelle del romanzo.
E tutti gli sbrodolamenti italici (italioti?) sul minimalismo, di BEE & Co. E sul minimalismo in genere, quando a me questo suo esordio suona invece alquanto massimalista.



La scrittura sembra minima, un po’ come per molti l’arte contemporanea (del tipo: “quella roba lì sarebbe capace di farla anche mio figlio di sette anni”). Ma ovviamente così non è: oggettiva, fredda, distante, emotivamente indifferente, martellante nel suo tempo presente, racconta un mondo che mette paura come un film distopico post-apocalittico, ma è invece presente reale tangibile. Un mondo di giovani, belli, magri, ricchi, la generazione MTV che beve TAB, la cocacola meno-di-zero. Generazione under che si rispecchia in quella over: gli adulti non sono certo meglio dei loro figli.

Esordio bomba: BEE aveva ventuno anni, scriveva almeno da quando ne aveva diciotto, baciato subito dal successo. Che diventò pazzesco con Le regole dell’attrazione e ancora di più, a dismisura, con America Psycho. per molti la domanda è: s’è perso per eccesso di successo arrivato troppo presto, o per polverine varie descritte come se fossero esperienza diretta e personale?



In seguito, BEE è tornato su quei personaggi con una specie di sequel di questa storia (Imperial Bedrooms).
In seguito, BEE è tornato a spremere le storie che scriveva prima dell’esordio.
In seguito, BEE è diventato Mr Tweet. Qualcosa tipo Bret “Twitter” Easton Ellis. E sono perlopiù tweet acidi.
In seguito, BEE ha detto in un’intervista:
Non avrei mai scritto ‘Meno di zero’ se mio padre non avesse fatto tutti quei soldi. Sono finito nelle scuole private, ho incontrato tutti i ragazzini ricchi di Hollywood. Sì, è tutto venuto fuori dai soldi di mio padre. Poi il college, un posto molto interessante, dove metà erano poveri molto intelligenti con borse di studio, e l’altra metà miliardari. Ho sempre scritto tanto, fin da piccolo: fumetti, diari, racconti. Però la prima cosa vera è stata Meno di zero, ragazzini che fingono di essere adulti ai party a Beverly Hills, diciottenni che vanno al ristorante. Entrare in discoteca anche se minorenni, avere i genitori fuori città, con le grandi case libere…

«I think about Blair alone in bed stroking that stupid black cat and the billboard that says, ''Disappear Here'' and Julian's eyes and wonder if he is for sale and people are afraid to merge and the way the pool at night looks, the lighted water, glowing in the backyard.»

Siempre vuelvo a Less Than Zero porque es una de mis novelas favoritas, pero quería releerlo completo antes de ver la película y leer la secuela. Es una historia que me angustia con cada pasar de página y eso me fascina: Beverly Hills en los años ochenta, falopa y la corrupción de una juventud rica. El estilo narrativo de Bret Easton Ellis es único y sus historias siempre denuncian la deshumanización de los yankees con un tono tan tragicómico y brutal que ningún otro autor podría igualar; la atención a los detalles cotidianos, los tiempos muertos, los personajes que entran y se van. En mi humilde opinión: literatura de alta calidad.