Hunter S. ThompsonRessenyes

Kind of laughing at myself for labeling this "travel."

Whoops, I thought. Welcome to the night train.

I was hoping for the night train. For more bits of HST's non-sequiters that are a bit of stream-of-consciousness, gonzo truth.

This wasn't it. _Screwjack_, a publication of a 90s, private printing only collection of 3 of HST's shorts (2 pieces out of 3 are straight fiction, I think I've read, but not sure). "Mescalito" was messy-- fun, but messy. Better done in _Fear and Loathing_. (although it's still impressive any time I read any writing committed while a human being was that utterly ripped.)

"Death of a Poet" was promising, but felt like it was bailed out on very abruptly. Like perhaps it could have gone on, and even ended the same abrupt way, but instead, the author just cut to the chase, put a period, and forgot to start a next sentence.

I wanted to like "Screwjack". Stylistically, it's one of the voices I expect when I want to read Thompson. But it seemed pretty pointless to me. I read it twice: yep, still pointless. But it does contain this passage which was absolutely worth the double reading

I am guilty, Lord, but I am also a lover-- and I am one of your best people, as you know; and yea tho I have walked in many strange shadows and acted crazy from time to time and even drooled on many High Priests, I have not been an embarrassment to you....

Passages like this are why I keep coming back to Thompson, no matter how twisted, violent, immoral, amoral, nauseating, and depressing it can be. Like no other writer I know, he can find the beauty in a shitheap of desperation.

I started reading this book on a day trip into NYC. I finished it last night on the sofa. Of the two, I'd say NYC is the place to read this: beside annoying yammerers on Metro-North; in a coffee shop with a server who just couldn't be bothered; sitting in the park while also (inadvertently) observing people's bizarre behavior.

I like this one better than Fear & Loathing.

Paul Kemp, the thinly cloaked some-facet-of-HST-protagonist leaves NYC for San Juan to work as a journalist for a newspaper owned by a former communist (not popular in Puerto Rica at the time).And if you've read any HST, you know that the set-up is only incidental to what really happens in the book.

I think the reason I like this better than [b:Fear and Loathing|7745|Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream|Hunter S. Thompson|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165639648s/7745.jpg|1309111] (or what was that other thing I read by HST? Can't remember...) is Paul Kemp's insights- which, thankfully, are not delievered as "insights". They are his thoughts- among all the others, including the xenophobic and the racist- that are pretty identifiable to me right now.
What's not to love about an imaginary interview that goes like this (excerpted):

"Well, you see, I ...ah...well, I get a strange feeling. I...ah... I sit around here and look at this place and I just want to get out, you know? I want to flee."
"Mr. Kemp, you seem like a reasonable man– just what is it about St. Louis tha makes you want to flee ? I'm not prying, you understand, I'm just a reporter and I'm from Tallahassee, myself, but they sent me out here to–'
"Certainly, I wish I could...ah...you know, I'd like to be able to tell you that...ah...maybe I could say that I feel a rubber sack coming down on me...purely symbolic, you know...the venal ignorance of the fathers being visited on the sons...can you make something of that?"
"Well, ha-ha, I sort of know what you mean, Mr.Kemp. Back in Tallahassee it was a cotton sack, but I guess it was about the same size and–"
"Yeah, it's the $%&damn sack– so I'm taking off and I guess I'll...ah..."

Now I realize an overly long quote does not a review make, nor is it even representative of the writing style of this short novel (which I am told was written to make into a movie). But it does tap into one of the things I like about it. Paul Kemp is trying to, in some way, be an honest man making an honest living, and the best place he can do this is amongst (as I think he labels his compatriots somewhere in the book) the scum of the earth.

He's also trying to have a Life and keep The Sack from coming down over him and keep from getting The Fear.

I am romanced by a world which probably never existed, but which must be based on something real. Typewriters as a valued thing, reporters without cell phones, long drives made for assignments only to find out the thing you had gone after is gone- the intel was too late. A guy making a good living by turning his house into a burger-and-beer (and that's all) joint, hiring in a sad piano player from Miami.

THat;s my book "review". I'd say, read it. For one thing, it's short. And for another, if it doesn't work out for you, you can just say that it gave you The Fear, so you had to leave.

interesting enough, and i like what the author ended up doing for writing. funny to see this contrasted now with our clear view of the angels as a drug smuggling group. some of the stuff (particularly on sexual assault) has definitely not aged as well

While I enjoy Thompson's writing style, I didn't find the story itself very interesting. It was mainly an alternating series of drinking binges, scenes of mayhem, and fits of ennui. The story moved reasonably quickly, but I am glad to be finished with it.

I will likely need to reread, but the well-written—sometimes even post-modernist (which, in moderation, works terribly well but in excess is exhausting)—deep first of a snapshot of an American period with all its depravity and lost opportunity will leave your intellect reeling.

I didn't enjoy this book. I've never found drug stories funny or entertaining in themselves. When someone is relating how incredibly drunk their friend was and describing the stupid things they did, and everyone else is falling about with laughter, I just find myself bored and wondering what I'm missing. So you took drugs and then behaved in a way consistent with the effects of those drugs? I'm sorry, but I can't see what is interesting about that.

In fact, I can't help but think of all the people who were around you while you were using drugs, or who have to clean up after you - the people who have to walk past your "hilarious" spew on their way to work, the workers who have to put up with your selfish behaviour and so on. Which is not to say that I'm anti-drugs. I use drugs recreationally and so do my friends and family - I just think it's as important to be respectful of others while using drugs as while doing any other activity. The two main characters in this book are not respectful of others while using drugs.

So, fundamentally, this book is about a couple of men being selfish, disrespectful and even actively harmful while - and this is the part I found disappointing - absolutely nothing deeper happens. Apart from scattering the phrase "American Dream" throughout the book - almost at random as far as I could tell - this book didn't even attempt to tell a deeper story. There's a bit of shallow stuff about the sixties being over, and maybe that was profound and insightful at the time this book was published, but it didn't show me anything new and it didn't seem to relate to the events in the book. It's possible to write a good book about horrible people being horrible, but it has to be better written and deeper than I found this book to be.

One of the best books I've ever read and I can't believe it's taken me 35 years to read this book, from beginning to end. It's one of those rare books that gives me confidence to do more of my own writing and makes me believe that I don't necessarily need to stick to a particular style or format of writing to be considered good at it.

One of the best books I've ever read and I can't believe it's taken me 35 years to read this book, from beginning to end. It's one of those rare books that gives me confidence to do more of my own writing and makes me believe that I don't necessarily need to stick to a particular style or format of writing to be considered good at it.

I liked it, the movie adaptation is almost too faithful to parts of it (I saw the movie first awhile ago) so parts of it were almost too familiar. All-in-all I think I'll give reading anymore of Hunter S. Thompson's stuff a break for a while. Parts of this book were funny, poignant/apt, and interesting but it also has its share of tedious bits and I think alot of the political commentary/satire was lost on me. From what I've read of his work, these points are often scattershot throughout his work making them feel a little uneven to me. Frankly, I enjoyed Hell's Angels better but if someone would want to read this book I definitely wouldn't steer them away from it.

I feel guilty for only giving this three stars as I have very fond memories of the movie and I know this is a classic, but I just finished the book and all I can say is "meh." Sometimes funny, sometimes insightful, but not often enough. I'm glad I finally read it though, and will be re-watching the movie to compare. I also plan on reading more of Thompson's work as I can see a glimmer of something bigger going on that isn't quite fully realized in this work.

El delirante viaje psicotrópico de Hunter S. Thompson y su periodismo Gonzo al núcleo de esa locura de ciudad llamada Las Vegas, deriva una experiencia literaria tan seductora como repulsiva. Misteriosamente autobiográfica, Miedo y asco en Las Vegas describe las aventuras del periodista Raoul Duke al lado del abogado Dr. Gonzo, dos seres extraños y embrutecidos de cualquier cantidad de drogas, que acuden a cubrir una carrera de motocross y al mismo tiempo, una convención policial sobre narcóticos. Dentro de la América profunda, el estilo Gonzo que centra al reportero al centro de la acción, se convierte en una odisea surrealista que va hilando situaciones cada vez más alocadas y divertidas, mientras Thompson obliga a sus personajes a buscar el sueño americano hasta por debajo de las rocas, al tiempo que degustan una maleta repleta de estupefacientes duros. La novela, apunta su mira de francotirador a la ciudad del pecado como símbolo del consumismo y el exceso norteamericano, en un contexto que se retuerce entre la Guerra de Vietnam, el ocaso de la era hippie y la emergente generación beat. Con un trepidante ritmo, el autor utiliza incisivos párrafos para describir una travesía que incluye cuartos de hotel destruidos, alucinaciones, bizarros personajes y fugaces traslados en carretera, provocando en el lector la desconcertante sensación que experimentan Duke y el Dr. Gonzo: estar tan drogado que resulta imposible reaccionar. En 1998, el director Terry Gilliam adaptó la obra en una vertiginosa película que se presentó en el Festival de Cannes, protagonizada por Johnny Depp y Benicio del Toro; libro y filme, se han convertido con el paso del tiempo en piezas de culto, con seguidores que se maravillan ante un discurso plagado de anarquía, descontrol y excentricidad. Se trata de la obra más disparatada de Hunter S. Thompson, aquel escritor originario de Louisville, Kentucky, que en 2005 decidió quitarse la vida de un balazo en la cabeza. Miedo y asco en Las Vegas resulta una herencia insolente, que sigue pregonando aquella idea de William Faulkner: "la buena ficción es más realista que cualquier tipo de periodismo, y los mejores periodistas lo saben".

It’s a legendary book I had never read. Reading now the autobiography of Jann Wenner, founder of Rolling Stone, which referenced Hunter S. Thompson’s writing, I thought it was time to rectify the oversight. So I can say I have read “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas”.

It’s a truly awful read, rescued by talented, effective writing. Worth it.

I named my cat after this book! Love Hunter's shorts stories.

April monthly reading theme for (counter culture/drugs) read #1

Great book, unsurprisingly, from the great Hunter S. Thompson. HTS's Gonzo style of journalism is superb, and beautifully mixes journalistic exposition with evocative and thrilling narrative. It really allows you to get absorbed into the scene that HTS is writing about.

The Hell's Angels have an extremely complex culture and morals. HTS's portrayal of them is extremely interesting, and feels very honest. Very curious to read other sides of it, to see how accurate Thompson was.

My first foray into Hunter S. Thompson. I don't know what I was expecting, but this wasn't it. Not to say that this wasn't a great, enjoyable book, because it really was. An author I hadn't read before with a setting I hadn't really read about, during a time period I hadn't experienced, including a lifestyle I'm not accustomed to all added up to a really, really good book! I look forward to picking up another and continuing my HST experience!

This is a classic of "gonzo journalism", written in the late 1960's. It is purportedly journalism, but the behavior of Thompson and his Samoan "attorney" is so outrageous it is hard to believe that characters that are not fictional could get away with it. Thompson receives an advance to cover a motorcycle race near Las Vegas, and takes his attorney with him, stocking up on drugs on the way. I had always remembered the first line as ending "...when the drugs began to kick in" but the words are "...when the drugs began to take hold". The ride to Las Vegas, the antics in the hotel room and casinos, lubricated at all times by mescalin, cocaine, and LSD, are hilarious, but the observations of Las Vegas culture are trenchant. Ralph Steadman's illustrations are perfect

Felt like a feverish slog trying to get through this book. A couple nuggets of good writing here like the famous San Francisco chapter, but incredibly boring and weird for the most part (to me at least, not having lived in the 60s)

fast and fun.

Dull. Meandering. Misogynistic. I didn’t finish this.

Paul Kemp, fresh in from New York, begins writing for the Daily News in San Juan. Throughout the entire Rum Diary he comes off as a bumbling and stumbling alcoholic cad who never really writes very much. He spends a great deal of time eating hamburgers at Al's, chasing women, playing on the beach, getting into various troubles, and of course, drinking gallons of rum. Paul works off a tangle of conflicting emotions through an alcoholic haze. Rum on the island act as a currency.
Thompson's portrait of Paul Kemp seems three quarters finished. Underneath the swagger and swaying, there lies a decent soul, but you never really understand Paul.
As as aside, I have never been to San Juan so I don't know why this is a thing, but there seems to be a peculiar animosity towards stray dogs on the island.½

It was good, but his writing jarring.

The subject matter is what made it writing, and after hearing so much from this legendary gonzo journalist, I was a bit disappointed.

His story of what he was involved in was very interesting, but seemed downplayed from other sources I have read about this guy. The hell's angels were portrayed as very neutral and misunderstood, a far cry from what we understand about this band of outlaws today.

Things may have changed, so my views may be skewed, but luckily it was a short read. His other stuff is better.

One of the classics... the movie was very true to the book...

Straight 5/5

Wow, I wish could write like this.

Expected : A guy and his attorney goes on a funny journey to and in Las Vegas, tripped on balls.

After read : A guy and his attorney goes on a funny journey to and in Las Vegas, tripped on balls. While the guy explains about the history of Counter-culture and the concept of the American Dream, beautifully.

If this is literature, it's a damn good literature. If this is just a nonsensical ramblings, it's a damn good nonsensical ramblings !

This 100-page book contains more something than any 100-page book ever could, dare I'd say.

I'm sure as hell gonna watch the movie now.

i read this book in high school. often, and over and over. and i thought, "this is what i want to be when i grow up." not the myth, or the "lookit me!" or the intermittent macho. but, oh, the writing. the writing.