Fear and Loathing is overrated

am i the only one who thinks so? it seems like this book is mentioned in every thread. how did this become THE book to read? is it just because the characters are constantly high out of their minds? it's a very lazy, unbelievable piece of writing which lacks any themes or substance. but thats just my opinion.

 

blasphemous.

 

That's my opinion too. Of course, I personally am just not impressed by massive drug use and so reading about it does nothing for me.

 

Why don't you like heavy drug use?

 

I just really don't see the point. I mean, I'm not against if for other people. I personally just don't get it. But the only drug I have ever done is weed and I had a horrible experience every time I smoked it such as blindness and just complete freaking out. So I guess that drugs are just not for me and I'm not that interested in them. That's all.

 

i think the book became so popular strictly because of the massive drug consumption, because people were like..."whoa, they're doing drugs in a book? cool!" but, in reality, the book is just pointless. if you want to read about drug consumption, try irvine welsh. at least he has a story that goes with it.

 

The reason that it was so popular was because it was a new style of writing at the time, gonzo journalizm. It became really big with the stoner crowd in the 70's cause it's easy to read and it's full of drugs. Even though I'm not as much into drugs as I used to be, I found it to be a very entertaining book.

 

As a whole, I think HST is very overrated.

 

Fear and Loathing isn't just about drug use. It's about a lot of things. Most people don't understand HST's style and the concept of gonzo journalism. That's ok though. I could see how you would think that if you didn't grasp the underlying concepts. Ever read anything else by HST?

 

I've read Hells Angels and I can't say that I found anything deep or introspective about that book. I just find his books are entertaining to read. They don't have big fancy words, or deep hard to grasp meanings. For the most part you just take it at face value and enjoy it for the sake of itself..... If that makes sense....

 

i think that he had a lot to say about those damn babyboomers though...

 

i think it's brilliant, but i think the Rum Diary is better

i think everyone's right about it being about gonzo journalism, it was a new style and technique of writing that he popularized and basically created...granted, all it entailed was getting ripped and usually missing whatever event you were supposed to cover, but it makes for an interesting read.

my favorite part in fear and loathing is this:

"And that, I think, was the handle---that sense of inevitable victory over the forces of Old and Evil. Not in any mean or military sense; we didn't need that. Our energy would simply prevail. There was no point in fighting---on our side or theirs. We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave. So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark---the place where the wave finally broke and rolled back."

i think that's really beautiful

 

i agree for the most part with what you FAL supporters are saying. it is a somewhat entertaining read. simple, full of drugs, fun. however, i didnt "grasp any underlying meanings" because, in my opinion, there are none. he attempted to do so, like in his search for the "american dream", but he didn't go anywhere with it. FAL is a cool read, but it is overrated.

 

Fear and Loathing IS overrated to those who just aren't interested in heavy drug use or gonzo journalism. You're perfectly right.

and yes, Mazzy, that is one of my favorite quotes. I really think he has something there. Sometimes I hear or read that and I just cry because it really.. hits me deep down... I don't know why- it's just a powerful statement i think.

 

that quote really makes you cry? this is what i'm talking about...

 

I don't like Hunter S. Thompson's books much either.

 

His style is entertaining. In a very cheap, but still good way.

 

yeah, that quote makes me cry. but most of the time it is because I really don't like the world and time I live in and wish I could have experienced the REAL love and REAL fight for peace and feel like we were winning. I feel as if I am fighting a losing battle. I wish I could have experienced a time when what you did meant something because there were so many people on the same page, so many people helping you out. I wish I could feel the freedom that they did and fight along side them. I wish I could have been part of a movement and a new crazy brave generation, willing to expand their minds and stand up for what they beleived in without being so afraid, instead of the one i'm in where the majority are sitting at home on their computers or playing video games or stuff like that. No one is concerned for their fellow man anymore.

wow I really started rambling there! Sorry!!

 

what exactly was thompson fighting for? he wrote that book while lying around in a hotel room, high off his ass.

 

my favorite quote was towards the end. i dont have book with me now, and i havent read it for awhile, so i cant quote it exactly. it was about the acid heads in general and leary'ites in specific, saying they suffered from the misconception that there is "someone, or something tending the light at the end of the tunnel". i thought it was one of the few profound things said in an otherwise entertaining but shallow book