The Psychopath Test

Heyo!

I've decided to change things up a bit an attempt to do a bit of a book review - it's something I have toyed with for a little while and thought this was probably the best time to try this out! I have been reading loads of books at the moment, some for fun but then some for my modules and academic benefit. I thought about doing a book review on one of the ones I read for fun, but I thought it might help me to get back into the swing of university life if I tried to write one about a book I will be studying. After mulling it over I opted for the least depressing/saddening/heart-breaking one on my module, and I feel it's something a lot of people might be interested in in some capacity.

Jon Ronson's The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry is all about how people categorise different people into the 'normal' ones, and those who are psychopaths. The author himself reminds me a lot of Louis Theroux, he investigates all possible avenues, interviews those suitable for his studies and engages with his audience in the best way possible. He is thoroughly entertaining and very real, often breaking down the fourth wall and talking to us as if we are sat there with him having a coffee. Ronson's carefully conducted study takes us through different kinds of madness, whilst the central narrative revolves around the allusive book with no author, and no seemingly obvious pattern his friend received in their pigeonhole at work. 

Ronson begins this study by trying to solve the mystery of this book, and is taken across the continent to try and find the author, and accidentally takes this journey into the minds of the mad, the mentally unstable, and the mind of the psychopath. The book is not fictional in any way, except for the changing of some names to protect some vulnerable or particular persons of interest, and reads as more of a study than a novel. This book made me laugh a lot, but also educated me in the different kinds of madness, their differences and how we can actually work to spot those who may not be all that 'normal'.

The Psychopath Test is the type of book I wish I could re-read with fresh eyes for the first time, as I feel I could interpret it differently. I love non-linear books with sub-plots, so to have all these different case studies and chapters running along the continual 'main' storyline (I say that with caution as I am unsure which storyline/case was the main one as they were all equally important and well-argued in my opinion!) The very nature of the book fits the content so well, and I cannot recommend this highly enough. And to those on my course, please read this book, it's really light-hearted and will make you sit on the bus and question who might be a psychopath, as Ronson states they walk and live among us every day! This was a truly fascinating and entertaining read, and I have already bought another of Ronson's books, So You've Been Publicly Shamed and cannot wait to get my teeth stuck into it!

B x