Talk:Psycho (novel)

Amusement park content

I'd suggest this content might make a better match with the page for the movie Psycho (1960 film). These attractions are based on the film and it's popularity, not the book. Dina 22:24, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

The caption "Bates Motel Set" is somewhat misleading, as I seem to recall the entire film set was destroyed. For the Universal Tours, it was reconstructed. Pepso 15:35, 27 April 2007 (UTC)

Story summary?

While I find the division of the novel into sections by POV character very helpful, as far as I'm able to determine, this summary is primarily based on the **movie** and not the novel. (Or at least not in the version of the novel I have from the library.) In the novel, it is a stuffed squirrel that plays the role that in the movie is served by the stuffed birds, and it is in the house, not in the hotel's office/parlor. Further, the line about not harming a fly is definitely not in the book, though it gives the movie its final chill.

The whole story summary section may have to be revised, so that it reflects the novel, and not the movie.

The assignment of POVs to certain chapters is way off -- the first chapter is an argument between Norman and his "mother," with Mary not even appearing until the very end; Sam and Norman are the primary POV characters after the murder, with Arbogast and Lila only getting one chapter apiece; there's never a POV for the psychiatrist -- his information is conveyed second hand in a conversation between Sam and Lila.

I also noted a ton more details that are from the movie instead of the book -- Sam and Lila are not en route to the motel when they stop to talk to the sheriff, but instead seek him out to get him to investigate, and only go to the motel themselves when they're dissatisfied with his answers; Norman does not yell "I'm Norma Bates" before attacking Lila; and Sam and Lila do not go home together at the end of the story.

The summary needs to be rewritten from the ground up.Seantrinityohara (talk) 21:30, 19 February 2009 (UTC)

I agree with the above, 100%. One of the main reasons people read both articles devoted to the same book and film is so that they can see what has been left out of one and included in the other, and what new details have been added. This is often very interesting as it reveals, among other things, how directors, producers, writers and society in general make changes to a piece of art as social moods change. The Psycho review is disappointingly sub par considering how important the film is in both the public and the critical minds. I would certainly like to know how Hitchcock used Bloch's novel, what he left out, and what he added. For example, does the book tell, or hint, that Norman murdered his mother? Wikipedia has a number of very good articles on film adaptations of books which are centred on these themes. Obviously, the novel is going to deal with the film adaptation when it comes to something like Psycho, but there is no need to go over material which is dealt with, or can be dealt with in the article on the film version. Myles325a (talk) 02:33, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

A good example of what might have been dealt with is that in the book (apparently, I haven't read it) Norman is not the svelte man with the low-key charisma, he is a short, dumpy loser. That would be far more in line with the character he portrays, but of course for a film, it would have nowhere near the appeal generated by Anthony Perkins. --Myles325a (talk) 06:59, 22 July 2010 (UTC)

A couple of the statements in this discussion in regards to the novel are just plain wrong. Norman does in fact say I am Norma Bates before attacking Lila (second to last paragraph of chapter 15) and the novel itself does indeed end with the fly scene much like the movie ("She sat there for quite a long time, and then a fly came buzzing through the bars. It lighted on her hand. If she wanted to, she could reach out and swat the fly. But she didn't swat it. She didn't swat it, and she hoped they were watching, because that proved what sort of a person she really was. Why, she wouldn't even harm a fly...." --Holden rex (talk) 20:09, 17 September 2011 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:RobertBlock Psycho.jpg

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Talking heads

shouldn't "Psycho Killer" A song by Talking Heads be moved to the music category instead of the See Also category?

^{Fear The Hams.}-- 13:45, 19 July 2007 (UTC)

Reception?

Was it a bestseller before the film came out? Valetude (talk) 13:25, 9 October 2019 (UTC)

Was the 1998 remake reviled by critics?

The Guardian article linked to as evidence of critical revulsion is actually pretty positive https://www.theguardian.com/film/News_Story/Critic_Review/Guardian/0,,36035,00.html 84.64.198.152 (talk) 00:21, 26 August 2023 (UTC)

It's got a 41% on Rotten Tomatoes. "Reviled" may be too strong a word. DonIago (talk) 02:27, 26 August 2023 (UTC)