Debate on Hunter S. Thompson

I'm gonna have to read it......Because when all of the black guys stole the guys girlfriend, and forced Kemp and Yeamon to leave it totaly left me hangin. He used the right parts of the book to "force" someone to read it.

 

im just jumping in here....which book are you guys talking about?? songs of the doomed?
I didnt finish it....Kingdom of Fear is one of my favorites
I also just picked up this book written by Ralph Steadman called "The Jokes Over"...it Ralph's accounts with Hunter.....frickin hilarious. Not quite done with it, though, but it is a MUST READ for all Hunter fans...

and no, I dont think he was a complete drug writer....he was representing the drug culture. He was way too intelligent for drugs to cloud his mind....in amplified his genius
He has a lot of great political commentary and sports commentary...for those who like sports, read "Hey, Rube"

 

Songs of the Doomed is my first of his books, so I want to read some more before I check out Steadman's one that you mentioned....I would imagine it to be pretty funny. I'll prolly check out Rum Diary next, then Kingdom of Fear. lol or whichever ends up in my posession first.

 

Generation of Swine is also a good book, it reads alot like Songs of the Doomed.

 

Why is it that F&L iz considered such a paean to the counterculture? Iz it just cuzz of the quote on the jacket of the paperback ("...a whole galaxy of uppers, downers, laughers, screamers...") or is that just some justificattion of your own indulgences ("look- HST did it an' HE was great, so why can' t I stuff drugz in evry orifice?). In reality, F&L was a dirge, a lament, especially illustrated in the passage where he reflects upon the "high water mark" as the '60s screeched to its ugly halt. And how did the drugs really serve him on his odyssey? Did he ever seem at peace with himself or the America he set out to explore? It appears to me that he was frantic, frenetic, and on the verge of collapse throughout, at that moment of the bender when everything hangs in the balance- you WANT to keep partying, but know that you shouldn't be, that you are only staving off the inevitable ugly and very near future for a brief snapshot of time...that sooner or later the sun will stream in through the living room bay window aned your buddy's wife will be coming in with the vacuum, as you lift both your legs while she scowls. Thompson was a GREAT writer, probably the greatest TRUE journalist of all time. Were his exploits accurately reported? Hell no. If you were to criticize him for this you are an idiot. Was what he wrote true? You betcha. Read through 'The great shark hunt,' for instance. Try not to gasp, especially when you see the same names come up from 30-40 years ago. Especially whenh you see that nothing ever changes. So no, F&L in LV is not a great drug' book at all. It's simply a great book.

 

--

 

Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas pushed the limits of New Journalism and was a grand spoof on modern American society where the neon surrealism of Vegas mimicked the cerebral surrealism of a working journalist on every known bit of contraband available in 1971.


http://www.bellinghamherald.com/lifestyle/story/269986.html

 

Most people who were familiar with Thompson before the movie came out didn't pay any attention to it. It got lousy reviews, and it didn't have anything new to say -- it was a shot-by-shot xerox of the book. It also isn't remotely what made Thompson famous. He was no bigger a name after the film than before, except maybe among younger people, because he was already very well known. F&LILV is his best-known work, but before the movie he was almost as well known for F&L on the Campaign Trail, the Hell's Angels, etc.

Long before the movie, Thompson was known as a hard drinker & drug user, but people who actually read his work probably knew him more for his impact on both fiction & journalism (remember, F&LILV was a "gonzo" version of what Thompson claimed was a real news story assignment; supposedly no one knows how much was fact & how much was gonzo).

 

i just have to add my two cents here



The Great Shark Hunt is a terrific read
i read Fear and Loathing twenty years
ago and loved it i especially loved
Steadmans drawings

there is an earlier book he wrote about his earlier
life, but the name escapes me at the moment
it had some great pics in it

When he died, it was a waste

but it was truly fucked to phone
his wife, chat and put a bullet
in his head nice one

 

Read the section in the Great Shark Hunt where he retraces Hemmingway's last steps. fucking eerie- and fateful.

 

i have the book on my knee

i just found a photo in that
the last person i loaned it too
was using as a bookmark...errie for me

from memory, there was a look a like
contest, fishing and talk about hemmingway's
demise and if i am wrong, please don't
stomp on me

i will try and find the article/story and get back

 

page 611
part of "the last tango in vegas:fear and loathing
in the far roo"

wild ravings of an autograph hound.....a threat og public madness...
the pantyhose press conference

i haven't read it all, the stuff about boxing and plimptons quote
is very true

 

i got it wrong, although plimptons quote

is interesting
What lured Hemingway to ketchum


hemminway wrote"....something happens to a writer
at a certain age..."
....hard to contain conviction of writing....

HST felt that Hemmingway couldn't come to terms with
the reality of life, he was sick and old and a bit mad
his whole family were pretty emotionally fucked up

maybe this is the downside of too many drugs, seeing too
much in life, depression

still, if a person wants to die, that's ok
but there are better ways than doing it
on the phone
he had been talking about killing himself for a while
he had massive amounts of property
why not take a walk

just my thoughts

 

Overated pulp. The Rum Diary was decent, but it was all downhill after that.

 

Ok. Not a god.

But still. I'm young. If it weren't for his writing and marijuana I wouldn't be who I am. I saw him as an idol. The thing was I got into him because I was obsessed with motorcycles and I decided to read Hells Angels. Had no idea about the saga of Fear and Loathing. That would be the second book I read by him. Just made me fall in love with his writing even more. It gave me the confidence and desire to get into psychedelic drugs.

I don't care what some haters think. You could say he's overrated. Chance is....He probably is. I don't think he's that great. But also like I said he was one of my idols.
I think to people like me he definitely represents some of the drug culture. But I'm not ignorant to his work in sports lit.

I've read a good majority of his works. Haven't really been reading a lot of him lately. I have Rum Diary lined up after a few books (yeah I'm a book nerd).

I'm still passionate as fuck about Dr. Gonzo though. And about his drug stigma. I think he wanted that. He maybe didn't want the alter ego of Duke. He talked about this in a few documentaries. Who is he supposed to be? But if he didn't want the drug stigma his little symbol wouldn't be a hand holding a peyote button!!!

R.I.P. Gonzo

 

I'd also like to add. I'm not a fan of my fello kiddo's who have the desire to sit down and watch the movie but are way too fucking mind lazy to read that short ass book!

 

i don't think HST is a god

i like his humour
The great shark hunt is a good
read because it's a good collection

although sometimes his editor wrote up
his work from his notes because he didn't
meet the deadlines

i think Fear and Loathing" gets alot of attention
because of the movie. i haven't seen it
i bet alot of movies goers went because
johnny Depp is popular

off topic, sorry but i have to say this

keroauc was not a god
by the end of his like
he was a complete prick
kurt vonnegut interviewed him
keroauc was in a violent alcohol
stupor and abused his mentally ill son

Read "A Critical Boigraphy of Jack Kerouc
Memory Babe (his nickname was Babe}
by Gerald Nicosia(a relative)

Willian S Burroughs and Ginsberg
loved it

the book explains how his wives and children
had to cope with the bad times and good
his crappy childhood and his interest in religion
(catholic) after his brother died

he was no god

apologies for hijacking the thread
my excuse is a crappy day