Rating: 
Summary: An accurate acerbic view of the Carribean
Review: Up till this book, my only impressions of Puerto Rico were formed by the Puerto Rican residents surrounding my grandmother's apartment at 96th & Amsterdam in NYC. They were colorful and very respectful of the aged. They loved America.I think of them now as I watch the numerous Cuban-Americans caterwauling on CNN about the EVIL U.S. government snatching Elian. My grandma's Puerto Rican friends talked about the old Cuba as a hotbed of prostition and gangsters. According to them, Batista was a venal and sinister old man who catered to his cronies and keep the masses under his thumb via his secret police. Anyway, this "novel" painted a picture of the Carribean that I heard before. Just not in Dr. Thompson's unique prose. It is insightful without the excesses of his later works. I truly felt the humidity, booze and stink!
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Summary: The promise of greatness to come
Review: The style in which Hunter Thompson writes on this early novel is magnificent and easy to read, but he sacrifices nothing in terms of storytelling and character development. This novel is not dense like Kafka, nor easy like the Bearnstein Bears, but it is engrossing and undeniable fun. I actually felt like I was following everyone over Puerto Rico and experiencing all the turmoil they were experiencing. The narrative flair is present and so is the hedonism, but the post 60s paranoia is absent. This book is an exceptional starting point and should not be missed.
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Summary: A Neverending Classic - The Rum Diary
Review: The Doctor of Journalism finds the American Dream in the most unlikely of all places in Hunter S. Thompson's, The Rum Diary. Not only does Thompson portray the American Dream in an alcholic frenzied environment, but finds it in Puerto Rico. Although this is not a typical Dr.Gonzo prose, The Rum Diary confronts conformity and shares a few drinks with him. A simple tale of middle-aged journalist, trying to find out the meaning of his existence, while at the same time, traveling thru exotic lands. This is honestly one of the best books that i have ever read. After getting through the first couple of chapters, i found that i couldnt put it down. If anything, this novel has the same type of storyline as in Hemingway's, 'The Sun Also Rises.' Anyone who rates this book under five stars, doesn not know what they are talking about.
Rating:
Summary: Haven't even read it yet!
Review: A head-on load of pretentious clap-trap reading these reviews. I haven't read the good Doctor on this one yet, but ordered it instantly after reading "Jack Kerouak's" review below. A fine and salient piece of journalism by Jack, despite his being both a dharma bum and dead before I was born. We could do with more of him.
Rating:
Summary: It's Either Half Empty or Half Full
Review: When I first picked up this novel, I struggled through the first 30-40 pages, asking myself if the only reason I was continuing was because my brother gave it to me as a Christmas gift. Slowly, very slowly the lose ends of this novel began to come together, and I began to realize what I, personally, could get out of The Rum Diary. Between the lines of this novel I began to see the old words of F. Scott Fitzgerald; suddenly Nick Carraway was moving from the West to the more corrupt East. The Rum Diary offers a similar scenerio, but it doesn't stop there. Get rid of the glamorous Long Island of The Great Gatsby and throw all of the characters into Joseph Conrad's The Heart of Darkness, which happens to be mentioned in The Rum Diary. When you understand that The Rum Diary is a combination of these elements, you will revel in the simple fact that what goes on in this novel is not meant to be completely understood. Thompson does a fine job keeping the reader from caring about his characters until you move past 100-120 pages. Off the top of my head I can't even remember our main character's name, but other characters like Sala, Sweep, Yeamon and Chenault stand out. Everyone has their own agenda for being in Puerto Rico. These inner ambitions become altered as the heat and monotony of the day become the clothing of each character. They only seem alive when they live in this setting like they are meant to -- naked. This book will most likely appeal to a part of you that you were not aware of, but it will take the whole book to find this. Don't simply add this to your bookshelf after reading 20-30 pages. Hang in there because The Rum Diary will prove its value.
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Summary: The Reality Review
Review: I could sit here and jerk Thompson off like everyone else, but I won't. I'll just give you the lowdown on the book. The characters were not as strong as his other books, but it was his first novel. It flows great and is easy to read. The humor of HST is there, and I think that he put a little bit of his own personalality in a few different characters which I found interesting. The book is set in San Juan. I think the description of the island was the strongest aspect of the book. After reading it, I really feel like I've been there, and that I would even know my way around once I got there. Let me put it this way, when I think of the Carribean, I think of this book. HST is one of the greatest writers of all time. When he lets his fingers fly in the keyboard he doesn't hold back any punches. PEACE
Rating: 
Summary: Where's the rest of it?
Review: I waited a long time for 'The Rum Diary'. A couple of chapters of this book appeared in 'Songs of the Doomed' , one of the two examples of sustained good writing in that anthology. They whetted my appetite for more of the same, and I kept checking to see when the whole book would be published. Now here's some of it and it's quite a disappointment. It has been bowdlerised, as if readers of HST expected politically correct writing. Here's an example, a passage from the original; "Drink up", said Yeamon. "We'll invite some of your friends and have a real party!" Then he fell back in the chair. "Ah, the good life," he muttered. "Might as well try to share it with a wild boar as with a woman." In the new, sanitised version, the "Might as well..." line has been cut. Thus the irredeemable character of Yeamon is watered down. This excision of the character's casual bigotry is even more obvious when it relates to race. Yeamon's view that the Puerto Ricans are eunuchs, and the hero's shamefaced but incorrigible musings on how all blacks look alike simply don't appear. The absence of this bigotry that amuses and offends leaves a big empty hole in the book. It turns the novel into a simple story, not a particularly bad one, but those familiar with HST know story telling is not his strong point. His observations and characterisations are what make him brilliant, and this is what has been deliberately taken out. Perhaps the editor was such a simpleton as to reason that racist characters make a racist book. This lack is sad from the historical point of view too. In as much as 'The Rum Diary' is a historical artifact, a slice of life from a bygone time, cleaning it up in the service of a modern politically correct agenda turns it into a hollow anachronism. The editing that cut out the bigotry so roughly has left traces of the knife elsewhere too. A swim in the harbour that happened in the original is referred to ex post facto in the new version, even though it has been cut. This slash and burn approach to publishing is a disgrace. While half gutting the book, the publishers have seen fit to make a few additions. There is a completely irrelevant map of San Juan, and each chapter heading has a cheesy silhouette of a palm tree taking up a third of the page. This doesn't adequately compensate for the fine detail in the prose that is no longer there. The other addition is a lot of references on the cover to 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas', and some lame attempts to suggest the two books are similar. They're not. 'Fear and Loathing' is for the most part crass, superficial and boring. 'The Rum Diary', fragmentary as it now stands, is well paced, lyrical and resonant with a young man's frustration and terror of middle age. I still hope that one day I can read all of it.
Rating:
Summary: Brutal
Review: Thompson gives and amazing account of a young drunk. It is the life if you can stomach it. This book is not for the weak willed. I'm not daring you. I'm warning you. The writing in this book maybe a little too real.
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Summary: The life of a gonzo journalist at its finest
Review: Building on the success of his previous and more popular novel, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Thompson once again depicts the life of a gonzo journalist in all its neurotic glory. Building on his own experiences as a journalist, Thompson is able to give a real-life feel to this novel. He puts to paper the stripped-down, stark-naked definition of his profession, and what the reader finds may be quite surprising. The book delves deep into the heart of journalism, exploiting its fallacies, corruption and the midguided mindsets of those who carry a press pass. The plot centers around Paul Kemp's life as a reporter for the San Juan Daily News, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The tale is that of Kemp's lust for alcohol, women, and the latest scoop; and is set among Puerto Rico's 1950's civil unrest and discord. Thompson's strong points in this novel include descriptive language, inherent to his previous writings, and a relaxed, almost drugged-up tone. The weakness of this book is that in order to be completely clued-in to the subject matter, the reader may need to be familiar with the workings of journalism as a profession, and as a way of life. I recommend this book to all lovers of Thompson's previous writing, journalists wanting to get a good laugh at one reporter's struggle to overcome his obsessions, or to all lovers of good humor and unique stories.
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Summary: a portrait of the artist as young dog
Review: Brilliant first novel by the great Doctor of journalism. Funny, immoral, decadent, plenty of alcohol and madness. What else could you expect from HST? Although the main character Paul Kemp is not fully developed and two dimensional, it was a terrific novel. Liked it better than A Sun Also Rises. If you're a fan of HST, then it is your moral duty to read this book!
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