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Summary: (Mis)adventures of a gonzo journalist
Review: Along with Ken Kesey, Hunter S. Thompson is one of the literary icons of the drug/counter culture of the late sixties and early seventies. His account of a drug-fueled trip through the desert and into Las Vegas is, arguably, the definitive work on the subject.Thompson (aka Raoul Duke) and his attorney leave Los Angeles on an assignment to cover a motocross race in Las Vegas, stocked with a veritable cornucopia of drugs of every shape and color. Once there, they do very little reporting and very much consuming, leading to a series of odd encounters and experiences. As their assignment is running out and they are trying to find a way to get out of their hotel without paying their enormous room service bill, a new assignment arrives: to cover the national conference for district attorneys on narcotics and dangerous drugs. Oh, the irony. The adventures continue from there. One of the things that makes this book enjoyable for so many people is the way that Thompson simply reports on his condition throughout his adventure, without editorializing on the greater issues of the drug culture. While there's little argument on where Thompson stands on the drug issue, he writes of the good and the bad with detached observation, while continuing to keep the reader entertained with accounts of bizarre behavior and drug-addled insanity. Thompson also mentions that the the drug culture espoused by Kesey isn't all it was cracked up to be, though this is brought up largely out of the realization that while he is having a good time, what he's doing isn't very good for himself. This is a fantastic story that everyone will get something out of, whether it's the evils of dope, the insanity of enforcement, or just simple entertainment. This book is, quite simply, a good time and an interesting peek into the drug culture of the early seventies.
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Summary: Screaming jibberish
Review: "Eyes glazed insanely behind tiny gold rim greaser shades." So goes one of my favorite lines in a book recommended to me by a buddy named Douglas Mallach (we call him Doug Mallach for short), an Irish name to be sure and thus the literary sensibility. For anybody who hasn't read Hunter's famous story of excess and depravity in the once desolate and simultaneously luxurious oddity known as Las Vegas, this is a quick read and one perfectly suited for road trips and travel. Though be careful if you're flying by air. Others will hear you laugh out loud.
In spite of its wit and borderline sanity, the author has one eye on history. As my friend Doug pointed out, he's writing at the time when liberalism in this country hit its "high water mark." There's a sensitivity to the forces behind culture that moves this book as much as its characters'
ridiculous predicaments.
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Summary: Fear and Loathing-a classic
Review: "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" by Hunter S. Thompson is a wild novel about the "Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream". Raoul Duke and Dr. Gonzo, the Samoan attorney, rent a Cadillac Convertible, "Great Red Shark" and drive to Las Vegas in order to write a report on the Mint 400, a bike race in the middle of the desert. Stashed in the trunk "We had two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a salt shaker half-full of cocaine and a whole galaxy of multicolored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers...Also a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of Budweiser, a pint of raw ether, and two dozen amyls." The two gallivant in a drunken and high stupor through Las Vegas, and Hunter S. Thompson paints a detailed portrait of their adventures.
This book is almost impossible to dislike, unless you are easily annoyed or offended by frequent drug-fueled rants. Being neither, I enjoyed this book thoroughly. Thompson has an excellent sense of humor and it is amazing how he moves so quickly and keeps you on your feet at the same time. Any reader who is up for a good read should read this book. "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" is simply a classic that everyone should enjoy.
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Summary: The Best American Comedy of the 20th Century?
Review: This hilarious satire is fast paced, very entertaining even after multiple readings, and a hysterically funny yet scathing portrayal of American society and the city of Las Vegas in the early 1970s. Thomson admired the previous generation of American writers such as Hemingway and Fitzgerald and the polished craft of his writing style reflects this. In 200 pages there isn't a single bad sentence, or a miscued punchline. Vast amounts of hard (sober) work (and talent) must have gone into perfecting a deceptively conversational, light style. For "serious" readers, this book can also be read as a coda to the late 1960s social revolution. By the early 1970s, its apparent to Thompson that the dream is dead, a pre-Watergate Richard Nixon is in the White House, and the silent majority are satisfied and complacent. My title for this review is quite deliberate - this is the best American comedy of the 20th Century, and it will be read and enjoyed 100 years hence.
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Summary: More truer now than it was originally!
Review: I personally live just outside of Las Vegas, and just about everything the good doctor wrote about is still true (especially Circus Circus). I can only imagine what he'd think of the quasi-Disneyland attractions that are there now. The drug content was to be expected at that era. The world was still in a white picket fence mode and "creative chemistry" was seen as a tool to escape from it (or at least, take a different view). The stream-of-consciousness writing style is a wonder to behold. You can practically feel your mind bob-sledding through the ether-induced haze, coming to a landing on both feet. As for weither or not it was real, get over it. Just wallow in the genius of the work; how it dissects the "American Dream" and how we were so rudely woken from it. And if you've seen the film, READ THE FREAKIN' BOOK AS WELL! You will discover a favorite quote or two that you'll find yourself using over and over again. I laughed so hard reading it the first time, my face hurt! It's a classic document of the tail end of the "flower power" generation, and the beginning of the narcisism of the 1970's. Classic American literature with sheer outright BALLS that's so dearly lacking in today's pop culture. I am certain that when Dr. Thompson reaches his final reward, he will have a never-ending orgy held in his honor, just for writing this book.
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Summary: He who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of.....
Review: My 1st read by Thompson, Las Vegas in my opinion is his best work, it is the 1st one I read so that is probably why I think it is his best, Thompson is terrifyingly hilarious in this book, from the opening lines to then very last ending, I can't help but love Raoul Duke and Dr. Gonzo and their strange and terrible journey to the heart of the American dream, very fun to read, pure 5/5 stars book.
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Summary: Hemingway, Shakespear, Thompson
Review: Never have I read a book anywhere near as intriguing as Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Hunter S. Thompson takes us through his drug-crazed reporting trip to Las Vegas where he was sent to take account of the year's Mint 400, a world famous off-road race, with his slightly more demented attorney Dr. Gonzo. Whether or not you are an avid drug user in no way affects your ability to enjoy this novel. Thompson wastes no time getting into his story, especially from the novel's famous first line, "We were somewhere over the desert near Barstow when the drugs began to take hold." He manages to keep the reader's attention with his very human and detailed writing style, and doesn't let go. Though the story itself is very demented and deranged, his unique style alone makes the book a good read. He is never confusing and gets his point across smoothly, no matter how far off the subject he may be. Not that he writes about matters as time-tested as Shakespear or Hemingway, but in some obscure way I compare Thompson to these greats just because his intriguing ability to channel his thoughts directly to the reader. I definitely recommend this book to anyone. Either you will love it or you will hate it.
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Summary: "Reality itself is too twisted...."
Review: Well, what can I say that countless others haven't said several million times? This book is an amazing read. It's possible for one to breeze through this book in about four or five hours...it's that good...it's that engrossing. In that respect, it's much like "The Catcher in the Rye"...but far darker and much more savage. Imagine if Holden Caulfield had grown into a doctor of journalism and begun taking almost every type of drug known to civilized man since 1544 A.D. That's Hunter Thompson, alias Raoul Duke. Hunter travels to Las Vegas, along with his friend and attorney, Oscar Zeta Acosta, to cover an off-road motorcycle race for "Sports Illustrated" magazine. He catches the start of the race, but not much else. He certainly doesn't stick around to find out who won. Instead, he and his attorney run amok in downtown Vegas, breaking every rule in the book, and some that the establishment hadn't even contemplated writing yet. And when that assignment's over, and Hunter is scheduled to cover the National District Attorneys' Association's four day seminar on narcotics and dangerous drugs...my God, man...can it possibly get more insane? Yes...yes, it can...and does. This is THE quintessential book of the early '70s counterculture. It is a brilliant depiction of that age, and a chronicle of demented, depraved, and debauched behavior you will never forget. Five enthusiastic stars...I only wish I could give it six. Oh, and I think someone (so I guess it'll be me) should point out to Henry Raddick from London that Hunter Thompson's condemnation of drugs (either in this book, or in life) is nonexistent. This is not a moral tale about two drugged-out losers and how they lost everything. This is a true (if somewhat exaggerated) account of Thompson's misadventures in Las Vegas while there on assignment as a journalist. Raoul Duke is an alias of Thompson's...and Dr. Gonzo, the "300 pound Samoan attorney" is actually Thompson's good friend, a Chicano attorney named Oscar Zeta Acosta. He isn't condemning the use of these drugs...he's simply mentioned that he TOOK them, and what happened as a result.
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Summary: Unescapble Excursion into the American Aorta
Review: The movie is a good work. Hunter S. Thompson is an interesting man, but the novel is an entirely different world, a world where Don Juan and mysticism mesh with the concrete experience of conservatism. The world which the protagonist Rauol Duke lives in is one where people are "pigs and creeps" and drugs are an integral part of the daily experience. Fear and Loathing is not a linear tale of reckless abandon in the City of Sin but a convoluted tale of the thin line that exists between sucess and failure in the aftermath of the Acid Culture. Although Thompson claims that this piece of work is non fiction the sheer absurdity and subjective dialogue makes it hard to accept the validity of that claim. If you are an informant for the DEA, strong Christian, or live in the bible belt this book will only infuse anger in your soul, but if the world of chemical experimentation exposed through the use of masterful english and a corollary to the Great Gatsby expose then you are in for a treat.
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Summary: What the American is really all about.
Review: Hunter S. Thompson has done it again with his sinister story of two men in search of the "American Dream". With a pocket full of money, that's not theirs, and a briefcase full of drugs, is how these two go throughout their crazy and wild escapades in search of the "American Dream". While they drive around Las Vegas consuming their wide array of drugs in the "Great Red Shark", they are faced with odd encounters and experiences that will blow any readers mind away. For all those people that think that the book is better than the movie, than your right with this one. There is never a dull moment with this book and it will have you at the edge of you seat the whole way through. I deeply recommend this book to anyone who has trouble with books because from the start till the finish you will want to read and continue with this wild and twisted journey in search of the "American Dream".
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