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Indian Express
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
5 novels with a psychopath or sociopath as narrator
What do a Wall Street banker, a butterfly collector, a teenage thug, a delusional dropout, and a self-styled poet of perversion have in common? Each is the narrator of their own story, and each warps that story to fit their desires. The books featured here dive into the minds of men who distort reality, sometimes to justify violence, sometimes to escape the void within. From Bret Easton Ellis's American Psycho to Nabokov's infamous Lolita, these novels are unsettling not just because of what happens, but because of how it's told. Through unreliable narrators, we are invited into worlds of moral decay, manipulation, obsession, and horror. These are philosophical provocations that ask how far can narrative seduce us before we see the truth. Merger and acquisitions or murder and executions? It does not matter what one hears as both are the business of one Patrick Bateman, investment banker by day and murderer by night. Bateman, the narrator, is young and affluent. He goes to nightclubs, snorts narcotics, is particular about his appearance and keeps track of the fashions of the day. However, as Bateman's veneer of control begins to crack, the distinction between real and imagined blurs. He details his morning skincare routine with the same precision as his torture sessions, raising questions about what is real and what is imaginary. Is he a serial killer or just fantasising to fill the spiritual void? Bret Easton Ellis's American Psycho is satirical plunge into the hollow soul of 1980s Wall Street culture. It is a picture of a man consumed, literally and metaphorically, by consumerism. First published in 1991, American Psycho, shocked readers with its graphic violence and was banned or censored in multiple countries. However, it also sparked intense academic debate. Most people have passions that keep them going, for some it is gathering collectables. It might be stamps, pebbles, rare books or plants. John Fowles' in his debut novel, The Collector, twists the concept and takes it to its extreme. First published in 1963, The Collector is the story of Frederick Clegg, a socially awkward butterfly collector who adds something new to his collection – a veritable social butterfly, a living, breathing woman. After winning the lottery, Frederick uses his newfound wealth to kidnap Miranda, an art student he has admired from afar, and lock her in the cellar of his secluded countryside home. He hopes that eventually his captive will fall in love with him. The book is divided into two parts, the first narrated through Clegg's eerily calm perspective and the second through Miranda's desperate diary entries. Narrated from the cellar, one can feel claustrophobia closing in. Zooming out, it is allegory of a world with constant struggles between power, class and control. Critics have called it everything from a twisted love story to a modern Gothic masterpiece. Horrifyingly, some serial killers have listed the book as an influence. In A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess, presents a dystopian future where teenage gangs roam the streets. It is told entirely from the point of view of 15-year-old Alex, who leads a gang of 'droogs' through a nightmare of 'ultra-violence.' One cannot help but observe that he is smart, sadistic, and obsessed with Beethoven. Strangely, he is both self-aware and of a philosophical bend of mind. He speaks in Nadsat, a teenage slang mashup of English and Russian. Through this strange language and his charisma, Alex invites us into his nightly adventures of 'ultra-violence,' classical music, and drug-laced milk. This continues until he's betrayed, arrested, and subjected to a government experiment that forces him to become 'good.' First published in 1962, it raises the question that if a person's ability to choose evil is taken away, can they still be considered human? The novel's original UK version includes a controversial final chapter where Alex begins to seek redemption, and even imagine a future family. But for decades, American readers got a bleaker version, ending just as Alex reverts to his violent ways. Even Stanley Kubrick's 1971 film adaptation left that final chapter out. Set in the gritty chaos of early '90s New York, The Stalker introduces us to Robert Doughten Savile, known as 'Doughty' to those unfortunate enough to know him. Doughty's a privileged dropout from Darien, Connecticut, coasting on ego and delusions of grandeur while sinking ever deeper into the city's underbelly. He cons his way into the lives and homes of women who mistake his empty confidence for charm. He gaslights, manipulates, and lies with ease. While pretending to be a high-flying real estate mogul, Doughty is actually spending his days smoking in Tompkins Square Park and hustling in train station bathrooms. What he lacks in self-awareness or skill, he makes up for in calculated predation. Bomer through her dark humour peels back the layers of privilege, misogyny, and narcissism. If you're a fan of unreliable narrators, The Stalker is a must-read. In Lolita, Nabokov hands the pen to a predator. Like any storyteller worth his salt, Humbert Humbert is free to drive the narrative as he wishes. He paints himself as a tragic romantic, a man cursed by an 'overwhelming love' for nymphets. He is never a predator, always a poet. He quotes Poe, rhapsodises about beauty, and drops literary allusions, luring us into his warped perspective, until it is too late and the reader complicit in his crime. He calls Dolores 'Lolita,' cloaking her in a fantasy and silence. He blames her for his obsession. Even his name, a pretentious doubling, hints towards his tendency to self-mythologise. He is an unreliable narrator, spinning child abuse as a grand passion while casually admitting to drugging Dolores, gaslighting her, and isolating her from the world. Here's the genius, one catches oneself listening and pitying him. Nabokov forces us to confront how monstrosity wears a charming mask. It also forces one to consider how art aestheticises evil.
Time Out
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time Out
‘You have to be a bit mad to try this': inside London's most daring new cinema
If you walk down Clerkenwell Road, a red building will catch your eye. It's a bazaar of the bizarre, a shrine to the shocking. Welcome to The Nickel, London's newest – and cultiest – cinema. A DIY affair, it's owned and operated by Dominic Hicks, a movie aficionado who has travelled the globe's repertory cinema scene, from New York to LA, Barcelona to Japan. The Nickel Cinema began life in October 2023 as a pop-up in pubs like Camberwell's The Bear, before expanding to The Cinema Museum, Jamboree in King's Cross and All Is Joy in Dean Street. The events regularly sold out as The Nickel's popularity grew. 'The plan was always to build an actual space, so these pop-ups gave me a means to get more experience, which I definitely needed since I was pretty green in the realms of programming and projection,' says Hicks. Hicks initially balanced his filmmaking day job with running The Nickel, before dropping everything to focus on the project. 'You have to be a bit mad to try to pull off something like this, but I would have died trying.' He launched a fundraiser with a target of £10,000, ending up on nearly £15,000 and added confidence that Londoners bought into his vision for a cult cinema. 'It created pressure that if I had failed to deliver, I probably would have had to leave the country!'Happily, with some help from The Scala 's Jane Giles and other cinema veterans, and a crash course in cinema programming – Hicks watched more than 420 films in 12 months to prepare – he hasn't had to flee the land: The Nickel Cinema is now officially open. Week one was a sell out. Inside the cinema, lobby walls are adorned with vinyl records, VHS tapes and film reels. The reels are a recent addition, with roughly 60 prints in The Nickel's growing collection including A Clockwork Orange, Kiss Me Deadly and King Kong, alongside films that have never been released on other formats, like '70s neo-noir curio The Nickel Ride. This includes the first reel Hicks ever bought, 1976's Charles Bronson western From Noon Till Three. 'We're showing at least one film print a week,' promises Hicks. Projecting film is no easy task – a screening of The Conversation at The Cinema Museum saw the film burn up during the projection. 'The people there probably thought we were doing some kind of Secret Cinema experience!' This is what local cinemas used to feel like before multiplexes The cinema's seats are saved from the now-closed Odeon Covent Garden, adding to the sense that the Nickel is an act of defiance in the depressing era of landlords shuttering iconic cinemas all over London, including Curzon Mayfair and even the Prince Charles Cinema. 'We get told that cinema is finished, but it's just not true,' says Nicks. 'London has an extremely active cinephile culture. It feels like we're seeing a reversal back to what local cinemas used to feel like before multiplexes.' There are big ambitions for The Nickel Cinema's first year. Hicks wants regular attendees to programme their own events, and hopes to have famous film fans like Alice Lowe or Stewart Lee introducing their favourite body horrors or Italian crime flicks. When construction on the downstairs bar is complete, there'll be workshops for aspiring filmmakers on everything from acting and directing to cinematography. Movie marathons are also on the cards. An 'All Day Mystery Horror' marathon is planned for Halloween. You'll rock up knowing the film will be something you won't forget The dream is to create a communal hub for film fans, bringing interaction and connection back to the cinema space. 'There are bars you go to because they play music you've never heard of, but you know you'll like,' says Hicks. 'We need something like that for cinema – where you don't even bother to look, you just rock up knowing it'll be something you haven't seen but you won't forget.' The Nickel is stepping perfectly into part of the big gap left by the legendary The Scala cinema. It could just be that beacon of all things cult, exploitation and underground for a new generation.
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Coronation Street actor James Cartwright slams ‘archaic' conversion therapy and praises soap's handling of topic
James Cartwright, who plays Theo Silverton on , has slammed as 'archaic' in a recent interview. Cartwright's Theo is currently involved in a storyline which has seen him leave his wife and two teenage children to pursue a romance with gay character Todd Grimshaw. Later viewers learn that earlier in his life, his family's strong Christian beliefs led to him being subjected to conversion therapy. 'The idea that Corrie even have a crack at that, I think is a really cool thing,' Cartwright recently told Radio Times. 'I'm very proud and privileged and honoured to be on the Street, full stop. 'I didn't know conversion therapy [was] even a thing,' he went on to say. 'I mean, my version of that was a sort of American. So, it's a real thing, and it's very bad. 'And you don't choose your sexuality in any way more than you choose your hair colour, your eye colour and your height, it's ridiculous.' The actor, who joined the soap this year, also spoke to , revealing that he was unaware of how widespread conversion therapy remains to be in the UK. 'I was very surprised by how prevalent it was,' said Cartwright. 'In my mind, it seems [like] such an outdated thing. It feels bizarre – the idea that you can change fundamentally who you love and who you fancy. 'I think it always reminds me of that scene in A Clockwork Orange, you know, when he's got his eyes pinned back and he's being made to watch this movie about violence. It's sort of, conversion therapy feels a bit like that. It just feels archaic.' Last year, the in the UK, stating that it was a 'key immediate priority'. However, since the party got into government it has failed to make good on this promise to date. The post Coronation Street actor James Cartwright slams 'archaic' conversion therapy and praises soap's handling of topic appeared first on Attitude.
Evening Standard
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Evening Standard
For work and play: film director Stanley Kubrick's former home and studio is for sale
Near to Abbots Mead is the Manor Hotel in Barnet Lane which featured in A Clockwork Orange when Alex the Droog is seen jumping from a window to avoid listening to Beethoven. An article on Kubrickian locations by the British Film Institute describes Abbots Mead as "one of the most important buildings in British film history" for being Kubrick's home and studio during an important period of creativity.
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
25 hottest codpiece moments in pop culture history
Originally a way to cover men's poles in 15th and 16th century Europe, men wore codpieces beneath their doublets with no other underwear, before the ingenious sartorial invention became a piece of armor, and then a sign of virility and power for codpiece poster boy Henry VIII. Now it's a fashion statement, a sexy way to spice up an outfit, and a frequent part of leather fetish gear. Whatever your reason for wearing one, you have to admit that it's a great way to cover up while showing off your impressive bulge. Much like jockstraps, what started as a practical piece of clothing has morphed over time into a sexy piece of clothing, only with codpieces, you can wear them right out in the open because they are meant to be seen. So whether your queer and kinky or a celeb sporting one for a movie role, the codpiece is undeniably hot! Tri-Star Picures David Bowie in Labyrinth David Bowie had men and women alike lusting after him when he sported a memorable codpiece while playing the goblin king in the '80s fantasy film Labyrinth. Allstar/Warner Bros. A Clockwork Orange Alex and his Droogs wear all white with large codpieces over the top of their A Clockwork Orange pants. It's such an iconic look that it's instantly recognizable and still used as a frequent Halloween costume today, despite the film coming out in 1971. DaveKristen Stewart attends the UK Premiere of 'The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2' at Odeon Leicester Square on November 14, 2012 in London, England. Long before Kristen Stewart came out of the closet, she started breaking away from her 'good girl' image, and at the UK premiere of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2 she wore a black lace body suit with a sparkly black codpiece that made a memorable red carpet moment. Universal Pictures Sting in Dune If Sting isn't your favorite part of David Lynch's Dune, then you need to rewatch it asap because a glistening Sting in nothing but a skimpy codpiece is literally the only thing we remember about that movie. — (@) Rowan Atkinson sported an…impressive and strange (think an upside-down Gonzo nose) codpiece in the British comedy Blackadder. Revolution Studios John Travolta in Battlefield Earth The film's connection to Scientology and John Travolta's white guy dreadlocks is a true travesty, but we have to admit, his leather codpiece is formidable. Too bad the movie was not. Warner Bros. Batman and Robin There has been LOTS of talk over the years about nipples being added to the classic bat suit, but George Clooney's suit in Batman & Robin will always stick out in our memory for the large silver codpiece showing off how well endowed the Dark Knight is. Lucasfilm Ltd. Darth Vader The evil Star Wars villain is never seen out of his iconic black armor, and while he's often partially covered by his black cloak, his codpiece is still hard to miss! Once you see it, you'll understand how he could have sired Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia. — (@) Horror special effects legend Tom Savini played Sex Machine in From Dusk Till Dawn, where the leather-clad character had a unique codpiece with a built-in revolver that could pop out and fire. Talk about conceal and carry! Warner Bros. Immorten Joe in 'Mad Max Fury Road' Immortan Joe, the mutated tyrannical post-apocalyptic leader in Mad Max: Fury Road, wears a metal codpiece, flanked by two pistols framing his…junk. We'd almost say he beat From Dusk Till Dawn with this one, but the guns never fire during the movie. What a let down. — (@) As pop star Jojo Siwa was shaking off her child star image, she posed in a sparkly codpiece and chest plate shaped like a man's chest on the cover of LadyGunn magazine. It was a bold stance that, predictably, led to a conservative freak-out. — (@) Is Sean Connery wearing a red suede codpiece or banana hammock in Zardoz? It's hard to tell, but what we do know is that the man is packing! Fin Costello/Redferns Ian ANDERSON from JETHRO TULL performing live onstage, codpiece. Jethro Tull's frontman Ian Anderson was always ostentatiously dress on stage, but this codpiece was especially eye catching. PascalSam Smith walks the runway during the Vivienne Westwood Womenswear Fall/Winter 2024-2025 show as part of Paris Fashion Week on March 02, 2024 in Paris, France. Nonbinary pop star Sam Smith wore a plaid, tartan codpiece with no pants and sky-high heels while walking in the Vivienne Westwood fashion show at Paris Fashion Week in 2024. - YouTube James Franco's character in the comedy Your Highness wears skin-tight gray leggings that show off and large codpiece. His extra short tunic that shows off the impressive bulge only adds to the humor of any scene he's in. — (@) Heavy metal band GWAR is known for its elaborate and distinctively grotesque costumes, but the band's late frontman, Oderus Urungus, frequently sported giant codpieces. From creatures with too many teeth to a two-foot-long cuttlefish to Cthulhu, the legendary musician seemed to have a never-ending supply of monstrous codpieces. Pathe Sylvester Stallone in Judge Dredd Sylvester Stallone's entire costume in Judge Dredd is a mid-'90s dream, but his codpiece is what really…stands out. — (@) The four members of Kiss always dress up in costumes and face paint, but frontman Gene Simmons frequently sports large codpieces, including a spiked number and one that resembles a silver lobster tail. - YouTube Codpiece is a villain on Doom Patrol, and like his name suggests, he has a huge codpiece. This DC baddie's codpiece is a weapon, and in case you weren't sure about why someone would want a gun in that location, he once said, 'Not everyone can handle a full load from this big gun.'Circa 1540, Portrait of Henry VIII of England (1491-1547). Henry VIII is probably one of the most recognizable figures to ever wear a codpiece. His cloth codpiece is front and center in nearly every portrait of the former King of England, and it's large size was intended to represents his power and Cooper performing with a live boa constrictor, December 1986. Godfather of shock rock Alice Cooper has donned a codpiece multiple time throughout his career, including while wearing a boa constrictor on stage in 1986 and on the cover of his Alice Cooper Trashes the World VHS tape. Warner Bros. Tom Cruz and his codpiece in Rock of Ages. In the comedy jukebox musical Rock of Ages, Tom Cruz plays a tattooed rock star, who at one point trades out his leather pants for assless chaps and a silver demon codpiece with it's tongue sticking out. Rock of Ages? More like C*ck of Ages because once you see it I'll stick with you radio host and 'shock jock' Howard Stern, in costume as 'Fartman', in the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards press room. Shock jock Howard Stern went to the MTV Music Awards in 1992 dressed up as his 'Fartman' persona, wearing a yellow crop-top superhero suit with a giant gold codpiece. Shudder Throb Zombie Quite possibly the sexiest drag king to ever grace our screens, Throb Zombie wore the spikiest codpiece in existence while on Dragula. See on Instagram Drag Race superstar Violet Chachki broke out the leather fetish gear for the Folsom Street Fair in 2024, where she was smoking hot in a leather studded codpiece.
