It is a savage journey, indeed, and those who choose to read this as the chronicle of a couple of insufferable irresponsible boors are entirely missing the point. Like the cops at the drug conference infiltrated by Raoul Duke/Hunter Thompson and Dr. Gonzo as they're wired on all manner of chemistry, such readers remain woefully and amusing clueless about what's right in front of them. In Hunter's world, there's a Dantesque hell that permeates everything -- even when others can't see it. It lies under the surface, and it can be X-rayed with the right eyes. It's a grotesque, hypocritical and sadly amusing thing to see, once unveiled. The drugs merely enhance and elongate the grotesqueries.

Las Vegas is the all-American faith-based city; faith-based because in a certain sense it exists only in our gaudy minds. It is hewn out of nothing and sits where no city ought. Everything about it is artificial, and even the water has to come from somewhere else. We make it so. Faith. It changes and has no past. It is a conglomeration of other places and our confused a-historical aspirations. It has the pyramids and the Eiffel Tower and the Empire State Building built to scale. It is a place ripe for mockery, and Hunter dishes it. It's the perfect place to ponder and question the American Dream, and to have mad fun while doing it.

This book is hilarious, one of the funniest I've ever read, and it remains, for me, an all-time favorite. It's the best novel ever written by anyone from my hometown: Louisville, Kentucky USA. The printing of a Modern Library edition cemented its status.

There's a reason Thompson begins the book with the Samuel Johnson quote: "He who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man."

(kr@ky 2016)
------
In the very fine film version of this book -- directed by Terry Gilliam and starring Johnny Depp -- the drug song "One Toke Over the Line" is featured. To get some idea of the square America Hunter was mocking at the time, let's look at this real-life corollary to the drug conference in the book; a performance of "One Toke Over the Line" performed by some All-American wonders on the Lawrence Welk Show in 1971, entirely clueless as to the meaning of the song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8tdm...

This needed to happen. On the Road needed to happen. Burroughs, Kesey, Ginsberg, etc needed to happen. But is it good literature? For its time, yes. For all time? The jury's out. Certainly Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is good comedy, but its supposed nuggets of wisdom felt to me like nonsense. It's not bad when it's intelligible. There are flashes of stoner philosophy and beat poeticism. Good for their day, necessary even, but dated and, like a new car driven off the lot, depreciating.

This is the first thing of his I've read, so I don't know Hunter S. Thompson from a hole in the wall and will seek out his other books, as well as Sports Illustrated and Rolling Stone articles, before I cast any kind of final judgement.

We knew a kid like Hunter Thompson. You know. He wasn't that cool, and he tried to compensate by being especially crazy. That was the kid who did like twice as many drugs as any of the rest of us, and it was annoying because inevitably we'd have to bail his ass out at some point - like, we'd be happily buzzing along, and then it'd be "Well, someone's gonna have to go dig Rick out from under the bed," or he's pissed his pants, or whatever.

Rick was a poser. I got that feeling even more from Thompson's Hell's Angels - it's not just about the drugs, it's also a kind of high-testosterone, gun-toting, motorcycle-riding aesthetic that he seems desperately to want to fit into, and he just doesn't. He's tolerated at best; and, memorably near the end of Hell's Angels, folks do seem to get sick of him after a while.

I've heard Fear & Loathing described as Thompson's elegy for the 60s, and I don't know what the fuck they're talking about, this doesn't seem anywhere near that well thought out. It seems to me like a braggy, over-the-top stream-of-consciousness diary. It is way better than Hell's Angels, though. It's actually really fun to read.

And, yeah, I guess as far as literary drug freakouts go, this is the apogee. I mean, it's really a drug freakout. Moment to moment, from exhilaration to paranoia to exhaustion and, incredibly, back around again like six times, it's one of the great literary binges of all time.

Top Five Literary Binges
Money, Martin Amis
On the Road, Jack Kerouac
Kubla Khan, Coleridge
The Bacchae, Euripides
Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas

(No, you know what, I'm not going to put Alice in Wonderland on that list. I don't feel like it.)

So, look, yeah, it's good. It's "gonzo," which is a word that doesn't mean anything other than this book.* I liked reading it more than I liked digging Rick out from under the bed.




* and some gross porn. And the dude from the Muppets.

Overall I did not enjoy this book. This was my very first Hunter S. Thompson experience and so my impression of him as a writter may be skewed. This was a first-person account centered around journalism, drug use, and seemingly irrelevant decisions that turn into recklessness behavior. There was no point to this book and had almost no value for me.

I felt the story lacked a true plot and was abscent of meaning. The only redeeming quality was the writing. Hunter S. Thompson is great: his writing style has voice behind. The writing is clear and concise. The dialogue made sense, the interactions with the characters were believable, but the lack of a driving plot did me in. The drug and alcohol use/abuse only tied into the story for the purposes of observing recreational drug use. So after a while this book became boring; for me, there was nothing to gain.

I plan to read some more of his works to give the man a fair shake but I probably won't read this again. I don't think there would be any hidden messages or earth-shattering revelations to be found a second go-around.

I would recommend 'Trainspotting' and 'A Clockwork Orange'. Those I thoroughly enjoyed and had more dimension because of the unique writing, dialogue, and plot. Thanks!

I read this book as a teenager, and must say it had a profound comedic influence. I tried re-reading it recently and found it completely unpalatable. This led me to the inevitable realization that I perhaps am not aging as well as this insane little book. Oh well. Everyone should have a Hunter S. Thompson phase in late adolescence, and they should forever after try their hardest to avoid him.

I read this long ago, at university in the early 1970s, along with "Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail"

Both are gonzo masterpieces. Las Vegas, a masterpiece of self-abuse and loathing of who we have become (already in 1970), and Campaign, a masterpiece of why we have become who we are.

Hunter S Thompson was never easy, never at ease, never not dreaming of a better world, too far out of reach.

When I first read Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, as a teenager in the late 1970s, I perceived it as a manifesto for hedonism and excess. I also loved it back then.

Reading it again, as a mature adult in 2017, it seems more obviously a lament for the promise of the 1960s counterculture. Coming in for particular criticism is “the American Dream”, at least the version that promises material success through hard graft.

Unlike Timothy Leary’s enlightenment agenda, the cocktail of drugs consumed throughout Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is to blot out reality and is, probably, a howl of rage at the failure of the counterculture. Indeed it’s all there in the opening quote….

"He who makes a beast of himself, gets rid of the pain of being a man” - Dr. Johnson

Although Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is highly critical of mainstream American culture (Vegas style), consumerism, law enforcement and straight society, the harshest criticisms seem to be reserved for the central characters Raoul Duke (representing Hunter S. Thompson) and his companions.

It all feels quite dated now but it's still a fascinating snapshot of a key moment in American social history.

Once I'd finished the book I watched the Terry Gilliam film adaptation. It simply does not work. Hunter S. Thompson and Terry Gilliam seems like a marriage made in heaven and yet, whilst visually pleasing, it ultimately boils down to endless scenes of drug fuelled stupidity.

3/5

A long drug- and alcohol-frenzied week in Las Vegas. This is written by Hunter Thompson, long-time editor of Rolling Stone, so we know he knows firsthand about what he writes about. I imagine this is one of the best portrayals of what is like to go through life in a drug-frenzy, but the story is laced with humor. It's not great writing, or even good writing, but it holds your attention in the way a magazine column does. But even wild antics can get tedious night after night in a drug-filled haze. I know it is a work of irony and commentary on materialism but still the writing struck me as sophomoric.

Hunter S. Thompson is my personal hero. He is an incredible writer. He lived his life with no fear and was willing to try anything or any drug. But despite the assumption that this book is all about drugs (ok, well most of it is about drugs) if you can look past that you will find a book that is so insiteful on human behavior. What most people fear and dream and wish and strive for. I think it is all summed up by my favorite quote from him:

"He who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man"

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream by Hunter S. Thompson is profane, violent, disturbing, irreverent, and yet immaculately compelling.

The reader is as entranced as a driver witnessing a bizarre car wreck, horrified but unable to turn away.

It reminds me alternatively of Why Are We in Vietnam?, A Confederacy of Dunces and in a strange way that is indescribable, A Clockwork Orange. It is about the American dream in a similar way that Mailer’s book is about Vietnam, you may get specifically to it at the end and then, looking back, realize that the subject had been lurking in the shadows all along.

What makes this a much better book than Mailer’s swill is Thompson’s sequences of lucidity amidst murky sections of drug descriptions and ramblings. Thompson is a fun writer, I’ve always liked gonzo journalism humor, the similes and metaphors are golden; they are as good as Captain Kangaroo hopped up on mescaline and vodka soaked rice cakes.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Hunter S. Thompson

The story follows its protagonist, Raoul Duke, and his attorney, Dr. Gonzo, as they descend on Las Vegas to chase the American Dream through a drug-induced haze, all the while ruminating on the failure of the 1960's counter cultural movement.

The novel lacks a clear narrative and frequently delves into the surreal, never quite distinguishing between what is real and what is only imagined by the characters.

The basic synopsis revolves around journalist Raoul Duke (Hunter S. Thompson) and his attorney, Dr. Gonzo (Oscar Zeta Acosta), as they arrive in Las Vegas in 1971 to report on the Mint 400 motorcycle race for an unnamed magazine.

However, this job is repeatedly obstructed by their constant use of a variety of recreational drugs, including LSD, ether, cocaine, alcohol, mescaline, and cannabis.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream is a 1971 novel by Hunter S. Thompson, illustrated by Ralph Steadman.

عنوانها: ترس و نفرت در لاس وگاس: سفری وحشیانه به قلب رویایی آمریکائی؛ نویسنده: هانتر‌ اس. تامپیسون؛ ترس و تنفر در لاس‌ وگاس؛ تاریخ نخستین خوانش: روز سوم ماه سپتامبر سال 2018 میلادی

عنوان: ترس و نفرت در لاس وگاس: سفری وحشیانه به قلب رویایی آمریکائی؛ نویسنده: هانتر‌ اس. تامپیسون؛ مترجمها: احسان پارسائیان، پدرام مقیم‌اسلام؛ تهران: چشمه، ‏‫1387؛ در 203ص؛ شابک 9789643624767؛ ‬موضوع: داستانهای نویسندگان امریکایی - سده 20م

عنوان: ترس و تنفر در لاس‌ وگاس؛ نویسنده: هانتر اس. تامسون؛ مترجم: حسام زاهدی؛ آبادان: پرسش‏‫، 1396؛ در 224ص؛ ‬شابک 9786002650535؛

موضوع اصلی این کتاب روزنامه نگاران هستند؛ «تامپسون» با این اثر نوع ویژه ای از روزنامه نگاری به نام «گانزو ژورنالیسم» را، به نام خود ثبت کرده است؛ در این شیوه روزنامه‌ نگاری، خود روزنامه‌ نگار در بطن داستان و گزارش قرار دارد؛ از این جهت رمان «ترس و نفرت در لاس و گاس» دارای اهمیت است؛ روزنامه‌ نگاری «گانزو» یکی از سبک‌های روایی در روزنامه‌ نگاری است که در آن گزارشگر نقش راوی را در بازگویی و نوشتن گزارش بر دوش می‌گیرد؛ در این نوع گزارش، گزارشگر به دل رویداد می‌رود، و ماجرا یا داستان را بازگو می‌کند؛ در این نوع گزارش، گزارشگر از به کار بردن صفت، و گاهی تخیل، ترسی ندارد، و کوشش می‌کند، هیجان را به خوانشگر انتقال دهد

تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 26/03/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی

“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 multi-colored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers... and also a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of Budweiser, a pint of raw ether and two dozen amyls.
Not that we needed all that for the trip, but once you get locked into a serious drug collection, the tendency is to push it as far as you can.”

...because no exciting story has ever begun with a "warm glass of milk before bedtime at 8:00 pm".



Terry Gilliam's adaptation movie is one of my all-time favorites, so, I couldn't miss the original piece by Hunter S. Thompson. Both the movie and the book have their impact on pop culture, mainly for its unorthodox and controversial content.

Raoul Duke (Hunter S. Thompson) and his attorney, Dr Gonzo (Oscar Zeta Acosta) go to Las Vegas in 1971 to cover the Mint 400 motorcycle race and the Narcotics convention for an unnamed magazine. Full of drugs, a rebel, and a daring spirit, both Duke and Dr. Gonzo do everything except cover the race and the convention...
Restrained by the use of a mixture of recreational drugs, our fellow protagonists have the time of their lives by committing the craziest and most unexpected acts, such as wrecking cars, cheating people, and crashing Hotel rooms. The hallucinations of animals in the desert and a distorted reality complete this road trip fantasy.

I am always up to new experiences, and reading this kind of testimony amuses me by cracking tons of laughs throughout the process.
The Dr of Journalism (as Duke calls himself) unusually narrates all their experiences. The writing is coarse, simple, and raw, but, that's what highlights this Vegas trip so well!
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is a witness portion of the American subculture 1960s. It's a witness of Journalism that engagingly meets fiction.

One thing is for sure, Duke and Gonzo are daring, careless, and unorthodox, but their adventure is the inner desire of so many regular folks out there!

“Too weird to live, too rare to die!”