Psycho by Robert Bloch: a review

There are some books that I’ve always meant to read. It’s the same with some films, too. When I watched the adaptation of this book a few years ago, it was ticked off the imaginary ‘to watch’ list. However, watching Hitchcock’s classic might have removed an item from one list, but served to add to another. Sometime after, I found a battered-up copy of the book in the sale box at Waterstones. The cover was torn up, but there was no damage to any of the pages inside, and it was less than a pound. So, I’d be mad not to pick it up. I actually started reading it pretty quickly after picking it up, but I left it at home when I went off to uni, and it was left unfinished on my shelf for months. I recently sorted through my bookshelf, and the urge to pick it back up rose up once again.

            Psycho by Robert Bloch is predominantly the story of Norman Bates, and the horrors that occur within his motel. However, there is so much more to this tale. There’s thievery, family drama, struggles with identity. There’s far more than first meets the eye.

            After only a couple of chapters, I soon remembered why I was so hooked into this book the first time around. The characters are made so intricate, but the exposition never feels forced. The perspective changes throughout the book, and Bloch’s characterisation makes it easy to slip between each character.

Even though I know the plot is pretty well known, I will be avoiding spoilers because, the thing is, if you have absolutely no idea about any of the major plot points of Psycho, you really will get a completely different experience out of reading this book. I’ll be keeping it vague where I do mention plot points that would be spoilers, were I to talk about them in detail. For example, if you know the film more than the book, then you know about The Shower Scene. I don’t think I need to say more than that for you to know what I mean. That scene is so much earlier than you think. It’s not the climax, it’s what kicks off everything else. If that’s the only thing you know about the story, that could be really surprising. I remember when I first watched the film, I was shocked by it, and somehow, I forgot by the time I read the book.

One of my favourite things about this book is how the plots intermingle. It’s as much a story about theft and fraud, as it is about Norman Bates’ twisted crimes. Bloch brings every little thread together expertly. I think much of it is his use of dramatic irony; it really increases the tension because there’s that feeling of wanting to scream out to the characters, and tell them what they’re missing.

All the little hints about Norman and his mother are so brilliant. It’s a lot of double meanings that are so easily looked past. If I hadn’t a clue about the revelation, I wouldn’t have noticed them, and I certainly feel like this is a book that changes multiple reads. There’s always going to be something that you never spotted before. I also think that this is still part of Bloch’s use of dramatic irony. This book wills you to read it again. Go on. I dare you to find something new. Every detail adds to the horror.

Now, I do have one major complaint with this book, and I can only hope that it’s to do with the edition I’ve got. If anyone else can enlighten me, I’d be much obliged. There are a ridiculous number of typos and errors in this book. Sam gets called “Same” at one point, Lila gets called “Lisa”, and twice in as many sentences, “kidnapped” is spelt “kidnaped”. There are more examples throughout the book, other than just these. I imagine this is an edited piece of work. One or two mistakes, I could maybe look over; they could have been missed by an editor, but this is unbelievable.

I am really glad that I finally got around to reading this book. There’s a reason that this is such a classic, and I’d be a fool not to recommend it. I hope that the errors are just a part of the edition I own, and not in every edition because this book is so much better than that. However, if you can look past these errors, I fully recommend that you try to get your hands on a copy.