[Book] Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Posted on May 3rd, 2005 by Juicebox Larry in Reviews
While it might be a little late for a fitting tribute I figure my first review should be for Hunter S. Thompson’s “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.” Most are familiar with the movie adaptation staring Johnny Depp and Benicio Del Torro but few have read the book. If any of those many who haven’t read the book are reading this review; go read it!
This book is more than Thompson’s adventures in Las Vegas while on drugs, its Thompson’s adventures in Las Vegas while on a shitload of drugs. What makes this different from your average drug-fest is the way in which Thompson writes. This first-person narrative seems to be written from the brain of a man whose body is on drugs. He examines the actions of his drug affected body and his attorney, Dr. Gonzo, a caricature of the activist lawyer Oscar Zeta Acosta, with a clear mind. He examines everything in a stream-of-conscious narrative adding wit and the occasional tirade. He muses over how they got so bad and how the social climate has changed.
Behind the drug-adventure facade lurks the social commentary ever-present in Thompsons works. He looks at times as they were and then times as they are. He remembers the innocence of the 60s and the emergence of the drug culture. Then, drugs were used to expand their minds and rebel against the establishment and the man that ran it. But at the time he roamed Las Vegas drugs were used to escape all that American society had become. While the book is a semi-memoir, Las Vegas stands out as the neon pimple on American societys ass. The town of gambling and glitz gets under Thompsons skin and overloads his mind. As he and his attorney seek to escapes Vegas for a little while they go on a quest for The American Dream, only to find that it had burnt down four years earlier.
While this book is an easy and enjoyable read it doesnt win the BEST BOOK EVER award. While it is a semi-memoir, it lacks an easily definable plot and climax. Yes, it is Thompson and his attorney schlepping around Las Vegas in a drug induced stupor while Thompson should be covering news stories, but thats about it. No reason for being there. Imagine if you played hooky from work, did a lot of drugs, then wrote a story about it. It would be this. However, few people have the skill to write about it in the way the Thompson does. The lack of plot is made up by the masterful writing.
Read This Book If:
a) you enjoy reading, but not boring shit like Charles Dickens
b) you take/are considering taking drugs
c) you want to read the work of a true genius
Rating: A-
Tags: book reviews, fear and loathing in las vegas, hunter s thompson
