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A review by emmarj
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson
4.0
I want to disagree with all of the people that say you should just watch the movie instead. The movie DOES follow the book almost verbatim, that's true, but I believe that some of the deeper meaning of Fear and Loathing is lost on the big screen. Too distracted by the drug-addled antics of Johnny Depp and Benicio Del Toro a movie isn't long enough to ponder what Thompson is "really trying to tell us." And I do believe with all my powers of deduction that Thompson was writing more than a story about mescaline and LSD.
It's true that the off-the-wall drug-induced antics of Raoul Duke and his attorney kept me laughing out loud throughout the entirety, but this book has many, many gems of insight into the mood of the era and the status of American culture strewn throughout, if you only take the time to pick them out and examine them.
I found many of Duke's encounters especially poignant juxtaposed to today's modern war on drugs, speaking specifically of the anti-drug convention Duke and Gonzo attended. Many references are made to Vietnam as well that paint a fearsome picture in shades of sarcasm and cynicism of how Americans at large felt about their own soldiers.
Anyway, this is an extremely short read so watch the movie if you want to watch the movie, but don't discount the book -- it's just not the same, verbatim or not.
It's true that the off-the-wall drug-induced antics of Raoul Duke and his attorney kept me laughing out loud throughout the entirety, but this book has many, many gems of insight into the mood of the era and the status of American culture strewn throughout, if you only take the time to pick them out and examine them.
I found many of Duke's encounters especially poignant juxtaposed to today's modern war on drugs, speaking specifically of the anti-drug convention Duke and Gonzo attended. Many references are made to Vietnam as well that paint a fearsome picture in shades of sarcasm and cynicism of how Americans at large felt about their own soldiers.
Anyway, this is an extremely short read so watch the movie if you want to watch the movie, but don't discount the book -- it's just not the same, verbatim or not.