На мой взгляд, это настоящая пропаганда наркотиков. Ведь автор описывает все названия всех видов дури, их действие, и даже дозы. Он преподносит факт употребления наркоты главными героями, как нечто прикольное, веселое и крутое. Вся их жизнь – это сплошной праздник, все у них легко получается, все достается даром, нигде и ни в чем они не встречают сопротивления. Это иллюзия и пропаганда. Он не показывает, во что превратились эти крутые ребята после нескольких месяцев употребления наркотиков. Это и есть пропаганда – когда показываются какие-то якобы крутые стороны, высвечиваются ощущения праздника и прикола, и полностью опускаются описания того, чем же такая жизнь заканчивается, откуда берутся деньги на это и как они кончаются. Я не вижу никаких литературных достоинств, никаких идей. Да, автор приводит ужасающие факты преступлений на фоне употребления наркотиков, но они как бы сами по себе, а действие само по себе.

This book is about 2 things I can't stand reading about: idealizing the 1960s, and heavy recreational drug use as a transcendent life pursuit.

But Thompson's voice is so manic, so funny and angry and sad and irreverent, that I couldn't help but love it. The whole thing is just this rapid fire performance where he just shysts his way into and out of any drug-fueled trouble he can find or invent himself.

The thing is, we need a voice like that in our culture: someone who can be crazed and fraudulent and militantly unrepentant and get away with it. Thompson's value lies precisely in the rarity of the style and perspective he gives us. He reads like no other human being who writes.

Fear and Loathing captures the experience of visiting Vegas expertly. It's flashy and in-your-face and fun. Hunter S Thompson has a way with words and characters that immediately draw you into his absurd, drug-filled chronicle. Coherency isn't really his strong point, though. So like Vegas, it severely lacks substance. The chapters ramble along like episodes in a sitcom. All the tangents and digressions and paranoid hallucinations are page-turners for sure, but they don't really connect or go anywhere...

The fact that this is semi-autobiographical really makes it worth reading, though. It's kind of a shame that how the story was compiled and published and the origin of it all isn't worked in somehow. That's what really gives Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas its unique place in literature.

This is one of the few, if only times I will ever say this...go see the movie instead.

There was nothing wrong with this book mind you, had I never seen the movie before I would've considered it a totally original experience. But between the amazing portrail by Johnny Depp (and Del Toro), and the brilliant directing work by Gilliam, and the fact that the movie is an amazingly accurate adaptation of the source material, I can't really see a reason to read the book, when you can immerse yourself in the full experience of the movie.

Much of the book is in the movie practically word for word, and beyond that, this savage journey is exactly the type of story that is only aided by an immersive visual experience, since so much of it depends on the perception of the narrator.

Though I will say, reading the book forced me for the first time to contemplate the "meaning" behind the book. Does Duke find the American Dream? Is the book even remotely about the American dream? I think so, in Thompson's own perverse way, the book IS an exploration of the American Dream, or lack there of. I think part of his whole point is that no one really knows what they're looking for. That even the movements aimed at freeing ourselves and making change, ultimately failed. That it's all just a horrible fucked up mess. Thompson points out the hypocrisy and the ugliness of society, but chooses to embrace it and ride it for all its worth, rather than try to fix it. Why? He starts out the book with "he who makes a beast of himself, gets rid of the pain of being a man." Here Thompson has given us his conclusion before we even begin reading about the search.

Can you pay my drugs?
Can you pay my telephone drugs?
Do you pay my automo' drugs?
If you did then maybe we could drugs
I don't think you drugs
So, you and me are drugs

Head into the psychedelic sunset of the sixties with this parabasis of HST - no other writer could find so much beauty in so much ugliness...what a trip. Always fasinates me: when the 'zeitraum' ends - what is left when 'we' awaken to that last slumber in hope. To my German friends: zeitraum - night wahr?

Well, yesterday I finished reading this one for the third time. What can I say, funny as hell, insightful as hell and his penultimate book. Love this one. Absolutely LOVE it.

1971, Gonzo-Journalist und Drogenenthusiast Hunter S. Thompson, alias Raoul Duke befindet sich mit seinem „Anwalt“ und Partner-in-Crime Dr. Gonzo auf dem Weg nach Las Vegas, um dort für ein Sportmagazin vom Mint 400 zu berichten, einem vierteljährlich stattfindenden Motorradrennen in der Wüste Nevadas. 300 $ Gage wurden bereits im Voraus in ein Sammelsurium verschiedenster illegaler Substanzen, sowie einen für diesen Zweck völlig überzogenen Wagen investiert. Unmittelbar vor Ankunft im Hotel schwelgt unser Vorzeigeprotagonist in den Tiefen eines ausgewachsenen Meskalinrausches - inklusive halluzinogener Fledermäuse, die ihn attackieren. Sein Kumpane sieht indes nicht besser aus, muss mit seinen eigenen Dämonen kämpfen und trotzdem schafft es das dynamische Duo unbehelligt von der verhassten Staatsgewalt in die Stadt der Sünden. Dort angekommen stellt Duke fest, dass er vom Rennen bis auf ein paar Staubwolken und schlechtgelaunten Managern keine relevanten Infos für seinen Artikel erhalten wird - als kleiner Zeitvertreib werden deshalb sämtliche, im Gepäck befindlichen Substanzen bis zum sprichwörtlichen Exitus ausgereizt und ein abgedrehter, brutaler Drogentrip nimmt seinen Lauf...bis eines Morgens die Rechnung auf dem Tisch landet und die nackte Panik aus allen Poren strömt.

Thompson leitet mit salopper, flamboyant-eskalativ anmutender Diktion durch sein luzides Schauspiel, drängt den Leser immer wieder an den Rand des normal fassbaren, bleibt dabei jedoch stets brutal ehrlich. Die faszinierende, einzigartige Präsenz des deformierten Weltbildes unter Drogeneinfluss wird selten so greifbar und zugleich widerwärtig abstoßend präsentiert, wie in diesem Werk. Eine Parallelgesellschaft abstruser Fantasien, abgründiger Vorstellungen und sodomisierter Sozialpraktik prallt auf den harten, bitteren Kern der Realität und erzeugt so ein aggressives Kontrastbild schneidender Erkenntnisse. Der Rest der Gesellschaft fungiert hier eher als Spielball und wird von den beiden Antihelden nur zum Vergnügen missbraucht (vergleichbar mit Muggeln aus den Harry Potter Romanen), wodurch ein bitterböser Märchencharakter entsteht, der sich durch den Roman zieht.

"In einer geschlossenen Gesellschaft, in der jeder schuldig ist, besteht das einzige Verbrechen darin, sich schnappen zu lassen. In einer Welt von Dieben ist die Todsünde die Dummheit."
(S.91)

Trotz der, nennen wir es mal kognitiv schwächenden Umstände des Romans hält Thompson/Duke die Narrative stets fokussiert und bricht selten durch Retrospektiven oder andere Einflüsse aus. Eine Ausnahme hiervon bildet die ständig präsente und sich intensivierende Paranoia des Ich-Erzählers, die große Teile des Textes einnimmt und zu paradoxen, als auch humoristischen Selbstgesprächen führt - samt ausgereiften Fluchtideen. Zudem werden Eindrücke, Bilder und Impressionen auf sozialer Ebene außerordentlich detailreich beschrieben, was diesen ganzen Alptraum erschreckend farbenfroh gestaltet. Insbesonders etabliert der Autor eine nihilistische, an Eskapismus anmutende Pamphlete dessen Charakter an beißendem Zynismus den wahren Kern vom amerikanischen Traum perfekt zu treffen vermag: Nimm dir Alles und gib Nichts zurück!

Ein wundervoller, radikaler, abgedrehter und genialer Drogentrip, eingehüllt in die trügerische Geborgenheit eines Buddy-Movies ergibt wohl die mit Abstand beste Mischung aus Literatur und Journalismus jemals. Ob es die spleenigen Antihelden sind, die freizügige Eskalation mit kognitiven Substanzachterbahnen oder das einmalige Verhältnis von narrativen Elementen, alles passt wunderbar zusammen. Ich kann jedem, der sich von der Grundthematik nicht abschrecken lässt nur dringendst empfehlen sich diesem Werk hinzugeben - der Trip lohnt sich!

I wasn't blown away by anything about this book. Maybe it's because it's been built up as such a classic or maybe it's because it's just bad. I don't think it was bad because I thought it was so out there and wild and crazy. I thought it was bad because it pretended just writing about being wild and crazy makes it immediately worthwhile. Two guys testing their luck by breaking every law made while in Vegas and doing a bunch of drugs. I need more than this. The book really didn't have a plot. About two-thirds of the way through Thompson seemed to realize this and tried to give the book meaning with the "American Dream" concept, but it flatlined. On top of being pointless, it was also choppy.

One good thing about the book: it was short and quick so I was able to end my suffering in a timely manner.

⭐3.7

Plot:
'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas' takes readers on a wild ride through the neon-lit streets of Vegas with journalist Raoul Duke and his frighteningly unpredictable solicitor, Dr. Gonzo. The two set out on a mission to cover a motorcycle race in the desert but quickly find themselves sidetracked by a series of absurd adventures fuelled by a mind-boggling array of substances.

Writing Style:
The prose is sharp, witty, and utterly unapologetic, a surprisingly coherent blend of vividly colourful imagery and biting social commentary. Thompson frequently blurs the lines between reality and hallucination, making for a surreal narrative that’s both light-hearted and disorienting.

Characters:
Raoul Duke, the protagonist serving as Thompson's alter ego, is the chaotic anti-hero you never knew you needed, embodying the reckless spirit of a man chasing the elusive American Dream, armed with a typewriter and a suitcase full of narcotics. Dr. Gonzo, his equally unhinged companion, adds a menacing humour to the duo's misadventures. Together, they stumble through a cast of eccentric characters, all in varying states of bewilderment.

Impact:
This book is more than just a tale of an outlandish escapade; it’s a poignant critique of societal ideals, highlighting the existential dread lurking beneath the surface. The impact is lasting, with Thompson's unique voice echoing through literature and pop culture.

Overall:
'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas' is a strangely entertaining fever dream that defies conventional storytelling. Whether seeking a laugh, a thrill, or a subtly dark commentary on the human condition (or all three), this novel is an unforgettable journey. Buckle up - it’s going to be a bumpy ride!

Quote:
"Maybe it meant something. Maybe not, in the long run, but no explanation, no mix of words or music or memories can touch that sense of knowing that you were there and alive in that corner of time and the world. Whatever it meant."

A sátira mais genialmente cómica que me passou pelas mãos. Não resisto à comicidade de uma trip gone very wrong. Talvez porque sou uma desgraçada abstémia dotada de pouca maturidade.

[Atentando na insanidade feita «metrópole dos excessos» que é Las Vegas, The Donald parece parido por esse ventre de imundície estulta até aos quarks.]

Why? Brunch arm-twisting by friends, but not the one who takes mugshots with the book you loan. Apparently, it MUST be this version with the illustrations that they've kindly offered.