The Rules Of Attraction: after reading.

Now that I've finished reading The Rules Of Attraction by Bret Easton Ellis I'd like to discuss the characters a bit more.

Sean seems to have never really acknowledged his secret relationship with Paul in the chapters that he narrates, which leaves me wondering if he just doesn't want to admit it ever happened, or if it's a figment of Paul's imagination. It's rather depressing that Sean was so in love with Lauren and thought she was the one writing love notes to him, even though in reality it wasn't and she never loved him, hardly ever liked him. I wish we got a bit more information on the spontaneous proposal to Lauren when she finds out she's pregnant. It's selfish of her to say that she's sure it's his, when the father could be any of four or so guys. And it's surprising that she accepted his proposal and seemed happy enough about it but still just as happy when they decide she should get an abortion.
I also think its really interesting how different characters see each other differently. The characters who are in love with someone describe that person as magnificent, beautiful, like they can do no wrong. But other characters will describe the same person as pretty but nothing special. It really makes you realize how much of our world is what we perceive it to be, and perfection is really different for everyone.
As for Lauren, I wish we could have gotten more emotion out of her. She goes through a lot in the book: missing her ex boyfriend who she was very much in love with, several boyfriends, switching majors several times, getting pregnant, getting proposed to, trying to make the relationship with her fiance work, getting an abortion, and finding out the only boy she ever really loved doesn't even remember the sound of her voice or think her at all a significant part of his life.
I wonder if the girl getting an abortion earlier in the book was foreshadowing or if it was just to show that she's not a special case, it happens fairly frequently.
I wonder who the girl who was actually writing the love notes to Sean was and if they could possibly have worked out.
And last but not least, Paul. He goes through just as much as Lauren, if not more. It's a rather awkward love triangle when Paul comes home to find Sean has left him for Paul's ex Lauren. I think one of the most touching moments in the book is Paul and Lauren's meeting in the end. It gives a sense of reality, that life must go on even when people have experienced and lost so much.
The title definitely fits the book well. The rules of attraction aren't a specific set of dos and don'ts, more the fine lines between falling in love and falling out of it, the little things that make people attractive to certain people but not to others, and just how fragile all of it really is.