What's your vote for the most violent text only book ever ?

I'd place a vote for American Psycho (by Bret Easton Ellis)

Myself I don't especially go for "violent" books, so I'm sure that there are countless books in comparison to which AP would appear tame. Each to their own I suppose.

Also, what do you mean by violent? Do you mean shear body-counts, in the sense of an epic war story? or do you perhaps mean graphic and gut-wrenching, in the sense of a physological thriller? or just plain disturbing? (in the way that the likes of "Choo Woo" by Lloyd Jones is highly disturbing)

Hemulen

Jack Ketchum's Off Season is very graphic. It turned my stomach into knots.

The Bible

No competition: Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy.

I'll second American Pyscho. I read it in college (and did two papers on it) and thought it was disgusting.

IMO, the movie was done more tastefully. To each his own, though.

I'll second Off Season.
Also The Girl Next Door, by Jack Ketchum. One of the most disturbing books I have ever read.

I'm adding a vote for American Psycho, some of that stuff was unimaginable, makes me wonder about Ellis' mental health

Yeval, hands down, by C. W. Schultz. Nothing comes closer to that. It's the most VIOLENT thing in literature because it makes fun of sensationalism, which makes you laugh, then raises questions about how we as a society look at violence in entertainment which is in-your-face and disturbing. Terrific book. Certainly memorible.

One of the most violent books that I have read is Helter Skelter. The Illiad is pretty violent too, talks about spears through heads and swords going through teeth, that kind of thing.

QFT...EVERY death is described in complete gory detail...every one of hundreds

I'll third that.

I don't think I'll ever forget the scene with the starved rat and tube.

SHUDDER.

American Psycho. It's nothing like the movie. That book is pure torture porn.

I'm not qualified to say it's the most violent "ever," but American Psycho is easily the most violent that I've read. I assume this thread is meant to exclude works of non-fiction, because there's no shortage of acts of cruelty recorded in the annals of history.

Oh, and yes, that starved rat passage was...memorable.

Another vote for American Psycho

And if it were to include non-fiction my vote goes to The Rape of Nanking. That book still haunts me.

I started that several years ago. I felt creepy for even reading it, as though I was seeking entertainment from the atrocities. I'm past that now, but I'd be lying if I said I wanted to return to it.

I have read American Psycho, The Girl Next to Door and another Jack Ketchum titled Right to Life. All three were very disturbing. A friend of mine has Blood Meridan and has told it's most violent book he has ever read. I'll probably borrow it from sometime soon.

Of what I've personally read, this is it for me.

Yes. Thank you. I agree with you. Either that or American Psycho, I have a hard time deciding. I'd say Yeval is more violent than AP, but AP has rape. So, I guess they're equally the most disturbing two books I've ever read, but Yeval is way more violent but AP is broader with its darkness. Both excellent books though!

My Top Five Most Violent Books of All-Time: (in order)
1 (tied). American Pyscho by Bret Easton Ellis
1 (tied). Yeval by C. W. Schultz
3. Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum
4. Marabou Stork Nightmares by Irvine Welsh
5. The Pack by C. W. Schultz
6. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
7. Off Season by Jack Ketchum
8. House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
9. Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk
10. Blood Meridian (or The Evening Redness in the West) by Cormac McCarthy

Just curious... which of you is C.W. Schultz? Or is it both of you? Your only posts at DVDTalk were all done within minutes of posting in this thread, as if to hide the fact that you were simply trying to pimp your book(s). I happened to read the first several pages of Yeval on Amazon, and based on that small sample, I'd say it was thoroughly terrible.

Back on topic, I guess I'd probably go with American Psycho, but I haven't read any Cormac McCarthy yet, so that could very well change.

I'm not. How often do you suggest I wait between posts in order to convince you? October 2006 and 134 posts? I guess many people are guilty of what you're accusing me of. I guess you know everything a newbie knows. Well, at least we're in agreement of American Psycho.

Does your opinion of American Psycho change because...



BTW, the scene in

While American Psycho certainly wins in quantity, I found the few scenes of violence in Glamorama to be far more disturbing.

While I found American Psycho pretty damn violent, The Girl Next Door disturbed me more. Maybe because it was the victim's story, so you got to know and care about her, so what happens has a bigger impact, compared to AP, where it told from Bateman's point of view, and you really didn't get to know the victims. Girl Next Door left me in a bit of a depressed mood for a couple days after reading it, and there are some scenes in the book that I will never be able to get out of my mind.