Simply irresistible (novel)

Simply irresistible ( The Rules of Attraction ) is the second novel by Bret Easton Ellis ( American Psycho ; Lunar Park ), born in Los Angeles in 1964 . It was released in 1987, two years after Ellis' bestselling debut Unter Null .

The focus is on college student Sean Bateman (the younger brother of Patrick Bateman from Ellis' cult novel American Psycho ) and his two fellow students Lauren Hynde and Paul Denton. The story is told alternately from the perspective of one of the protagonists, so that different situations are shown twice from different perspectives.

content

The setting is the fictional University of Camden in New Hampshire , an expensive private school for the offspring of wealthy families. All students are described as unambitious slackers whose main occupations are drug use and promiscuous sex. About twenty-year-old Lauren becomes the fulcrum of a love triangle: While she is longingly waiting for the return of her friend Victor, who is on a trip to Europe, she consoles herself with the bisexual Paul Denton, who has his eye on Sean Bateman, a cynical and indebted Small dealers. Sean, in turn, is out to put Lauren on his list of conquests. Short-lived relationships that only serve sexual intercourse entangle these three main characters with various secondary characters in multi-layered storylines: The novel begins with Lauren's description of her defloration by a sex partner of Paul, Sean, who was rejected by Lauren, compensates for his frustration with Lauren's roommate Lara; a fellow student whom he “screwed” the previous year commits suicide. Paul tries a serious relationship with Sean, but meets his ex-boyfriend while visiting his mother. When Victor returns from Europe, he can no longer remember Lauren, who is now pregnant. Sean's ambitions to raise a family with her only last a few days, after which Lauren has an abortion. Threatened by the brutal revenge of his betrayed drug supplier and disgusted by his own homosexual tendencies, he leaves town. The last chapter, a description of Sean, ends with a sentence that can be combined with the beginning of the novel. The dance can begin again.

filming

The book was made into a film by Roger Avary in 2002 and published in Germany under the title The rules of the game . The main characters were James van der Beek (as Sean), Ian Somerhalder (as Paul), Shannyn Sossamon (as Lauren) and Jessica Biel (as Lara).