The Rum Diary

Not recommended if you want a story with a purpose.

I like Thompson's writing, however, this one didn't have much of a story.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Sorry - Didn't care for it

I was a little bored right from the beginning. Paul moves to San Juan, drinks a lot of rum, eats a lot of hamburgers and works at a crappy newspaper. ok...... now what? I kept reading hoping something big would happen, but it never did. I guess HST's writing made me long for a drink and a beach, but I don't get the hype.. And it's going to be a movie? Really?

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

A story about a long drunk and searching for a place where the grass is greener.

I enjoyed the book I did identify with how the characters felt after a hard night of drinking as I once lived like that before I grew up. The characters try to live their lives like they are constantly on vacation and constantly looking for something to bring them happiness. They all left their homes looking for the easy ride or a place where the grass is greener. One problem that I did have was that I really couldn't find a character to root for. They were all self-centered and kind of despicable.

I enjoy reading books that are set in exotic places because I like reading about life there. I like to travel too. For me the book was entertaining enough and moved fast enough to keep my interest but it wasn't excellent. In a way I thought I was reading a story written by some one who had gone on a long drunk. It was a little depressing at times. Overall though it was worth reading.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

LOVE IT!!!!!

When I read any of his books I hear Hunters voice..
RIP.. I LOVE YOU

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

"novel" work by HST

While differing from his usual, non-fiction, gonzo-journalism, Rum Diary consists of the same trademark hypnotic HST prose. You can see a lot of what a young Thompson must have been like through this book. While it is a novel, the main character clearly echoes a twenty-something, hopeful HST, already becoming jaded by the society he's trapped in (regardless of what country he's in or continent he's on). A quick, enjoyable read.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

The Heart of Hunter

One of MY favorite seductively savage.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

The American Dream in San Juan

Good books dont just appear out of thin air. They are created and cared for like children. Even if that book's beginning started in the middle of some wild sexual rum driven backseat action. Life comes at you from all angles and to capture those few important instances that matter in pure essence coherently on paper is a skill few can maintain like our good freind Hunter. If there is any suggestion to be made to you fine people who enjoyed fear and loathing it is this. Don't start reading this book expecting Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. You will not be satisfied. Just imagine a whole new scenario with limitless possabilities, but still maintaining that which made our freind Hunter famous. That pursuit for the American dream, and Gonzo along for the ride.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

pretty good

The back cover of the book tells us that Thompson wrote this when he was twenty and it was sitting in some crate in his house for years before it was brought out to be published. For some reason I doubt it, because the narrator is in his late twenties or early thirties and really knowledgable of the journalism racket. Anyway- the book is pretty decent, but not as good as Fear and Loathing. No drugs here- just lots and lots... and lots! of booze, especially rum... and blue waters and tropical sands. The writing is short and straightforward, not as much sarcasm as F&L, only when he writes about the native Puerto Ricans, who he describes as savages who run around the streets and burn and loot. Haven't read anything like that since 'heart of darkness'- but Thompson does it on purpose of course, tongue in cheek. Would recommend this book to the Thompson fan, otherwise just pick up F&L

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

a paradise in hell

In this novel, a young Thompson really portrays how care- free, yet terribly complex and brutal a young man's life can be at times. H.S.T. sucked me in from the moment i opened the book to the moment i turned the last page. This novel really paints a beautiful picture of how paradise can easily take a turn for the worst and leave one in the bowels of hell. If you are looking for a good read and piece of mind, please consider reading this beautifully written novel.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Pointless...

Descriptive but no plot or story...just ramblimgs...

Drink up!

In a distinct change from the normally charged “gonzo journalism” approach, Hunter Thompson takes on a novel. This semi-autobiographical book, delves into the warm tropical heat of Puerto Rico. Struggling journalist Paul Kemp seeks to find a home and a voice with the backdrop and mystique of Puerto Rico.
What seems as the perfect job, turns to be a series of adventures of the mystery laden underworld of the profitable real estate sector. All the while this crew struggles to keep the renegade group of writers seeking to maintain a failing newspaper afloat.
In Hunter’s view this was his attempt to write the great American novel, but it is a fascinating peek into his writings before he became known for his own style of “gonzo” journalism. The only failing of this book is that it will leave you with a craving thirst for a bit of good ‘ole rum. Drink up!

Leopardheart

Hey.

0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Waiting for a plot

A guy comes to PR to write for a newspaper, meets some people, drinks a lot of rum, goes to carnival one night, loses his job, the end. Not sure how they made a movie? Maybe just see it instead.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

A Good Book That Was Well Written- 3 1/2 Stars!

This book was not wildly suspenseful or did not have daring twists and turns. This was the first book I read by Hunter S. Thompson and I was impressed by his cleverness and the honesty in his writing of how petty human nature leads us to be at times. If I could give an extra 1/2 a star I believe that would be a better justified but I was not given that option. A good book to pass the time and well worth the read!

Gripping and intense

I liked it alot it had such a good feel to it. After reading it i couldn't wait for summer and go swimming in the ocean

Excellent Rainy Day Reading

Love HST's island descriptions. Very entertaining HST style!

Great Summer Reading

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It took me back to a simpler time and made me want to take a vacation... somewhere tropical spending the entire time sitting on the beach.

Fear and Loathing...with RUM!

This was the first Thompson novel I read...even before Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Even though the Vegas adventure is my ultimate and all time favorite read, this novel is yet another wonderfully written balls out comedy that portrays a young Hunter Thompson, before he coined "Gonzo Journalism." This novel is very much in the style of Gonzo, with Thompson's thoughts, actions, and overall deamenor being recorded. This is a novel and not necessarilly a true account, but the way Thompson writes, he makes the story seem very real. Now finally after years and years of haults on the production of the book into a film, starring Johhny Depp, we'll be able to see this story in a visualistic way. It seems that years ago, Benicio Del Toro was penned to write/direct this novel and star Depp along with Del Toro, but Benicio got side tracked with the epic "CHE," which is understandable to anybody that any Latin American actors dream would be to play the Cuban Revolutionary. So then director Bruce Robinson of "Withnail and I," was chosen to direct, which in my mind is the perfect choice and to those of you who've seen the film, know what I mean, since it's about two guys getting ridiculously drunk and wasted in the countryside...a very Hunter S. Thompson style feature for the English. Ralph Steadman even helped out with that film, so he does have the credentials for this film. He was even asked to direct "Fear and Loathing" by Depp, but Gilliam got that role of course which turned out to be perfect. After years of production being haulted from Depps busy schedule with the Pirate trilogy and Heath Ledger's death, which Gilliam got Depp to step into the role Ledger was playing before his death. The Rum Diary seemed to be on the shelf, but now the castlist has been released, along with Depp as Paul Kemp (Thompson), Arron Ekhart and Richard Jenkins are the other characters filling the top spots. I'm glad this is getting underway, since Paul Kemp is in his early 20s and even though Depp is one of those ageless types, he's not getting any younger and to start this film would be as soon as possible. So as always, read the novel before the film, it's chalkfull of comedy and Gonzo antics and is perfect for any Thompson fan...

Righteous energy

Captured me from begining to end. This was the first book of HST that I've read. Some reviews on the book have been poor in comparison with his latter works of art. I thought this book was very good and am now very curious, intrigued, and anxious to start another.

Great book!

Only a handful of books have made it to the shelf relegated for ¿third and fourth-time¿ reads. THE RUM DIARY is one such book. Boyle¿s WATER MUSIC is another gem, and the hilarious and bizarre KATZENJAMMER by the reclusive and oddball Jackson McCrae is another. But of the three, RUM DIARY wins, hands down. Here¿s why: Hunter Thompson arrives in San Juan Puerto Rico as a thirty-something journalist on an English-language newspaper rapidly heading for the skids. For fans of Thompson, this is a pre-drug dive into the nascent miasma of gonzo. A must-add to the collection. For anyone who wants to get the feel of a neo-colonial society on the brink of waterfront hotels and land barons, this book hits the spot. From the moment he staggers out of a New York City bar and takes the cab to the airport, Paul Kemp fuels his post-adolescent lusts with cheap rum, disdainful detachment and occasional guilt. Taking cast-off apartments, cast-off assignments, and finally a cast-off beauty, Kemp reels from pillar to post. Moonlighting writing promotional materials for a piggish land developer, Kemp experiences more guilt than as moonlit lover of the abused Chenault. Watching the raging paper owner's paranoid descent into bankruptcy, shady mafia financing and death is but a sidelight. As he goes down, Lotterman's ravings about his 'drunks, bums perverts thieves and wineheads' presages Thompson's classic socially scabrous syllogisms. Moberg the reporter coming in drunk and pissing on the teletype machine might be the only lighthearted moment. This is writing like nothing else and it¿s no wonder the ¿establishment¿ is terrified of this guy! Also must recommend HAM ON RYE by Bukowski¿another great American who tells it like it is.