The Rum Diary - Hunter S. Thompson

The Rum Diary

By Hunter S. Thompson

  • Release Date: 2011-09-20
  • Genre: Classics
Score: 4
4
From 455 Ratings
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Description

Made into a major motion picture starring Johnny Depp, The Rum Diary—a national bestseller and New York Times Notable Book—is Hunter S. Thompson’s brilliant love story of jealousy, treachery, and violent lust in the Caribbean.

Begun in 1959 by a twenty-two-year-old Hunter S. Thompson, The Rum Diary is a brilliantly tangled love story of jealousy, treachery, and violent alcoholic lust in the Caribbean boomtown that was San Juan, Puerto Rico, in the late 1950s. The narrator, freelance journalist Paul Kemp, irresistibly drawn to a sexy, mysterious woman, is soon thrust into a world where corruption and get-rich-quick schemes rule, and anything (including murder) is permissible. Exuberant and mad, youthful and energetic, this dazzling comedic romp provides a fictional excursion as riveting and outrageous as Thompson’s Fear and Loathing books.

Reviews

  • Wonderful

    5
    By Kevin Klix
    If you enjoyed the movie, you most surely will enjoy the book. Riveting full of crazed insanity of San Juan and the crooked journalist world that Hunter S. Thompson has created. I have read this book many times, and for good reason; its chalk full of action and adventure. I feel that this is a book worth owning and will be read even many years after its purchase. Buy it! R.I.P Hunter S. Thompson.

  • Greatness

    5
    By Ghhbbggh
    Love this book

  • Worth reading if you like Thompson.

    3
    By Archer 911
    As stated by another reviewer the cover has no relationship with the book. The world that the characters inhabit is a little small. I actually enjoyed Thompson's Kentucky Derby article much more.

  • Hunter S. Thompson's Best work

    5
    By JarbyJarb
    I adore this book. I have read this book multiple times and I love it more every time I finish it. It is rich with imagery and characterization and has such an incredible heart at the center of it. This is required reading for all lovers of literature. Actually if you don't love literature this might convert you.

  • Great novel.

    5
    By metal ownz
    Much more traditional compared to Thompson's later work but worth the read.

  • Hey Depp Fangirls/Fanboys

    5
    By RizInMD
    This is a novel BY HUNTER S. THOMPSON. It has NOTHING to do with Johnny Depp, and your babbling commentary that merely talks about Johnny Depp while ignoring HST is the most pathetic thing I have read on iTunes ever. I would say that HST is rolling in his grave right now, but he was cremated. And FYI iTunes - the fact that you used the Johnny Depp cover here is also pathetic. Change it.

  • Not "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," but a good read

    4
    By Kerouaction
    Long-time HST fan here. I read The Rum Diary several years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. The novel is based on Hunter Thompson's time as a journalist in Puerto Rico and the people he worked with. Like any good Thompson story, the descriptions are vivid, with rich characterizations and a journalist's eye for detail. He wrote The Rum Diary when he was in his early 20s, and one can spot his influences, particularly Hemingway and Fitzgerald (Thompson used to spend hours retyping their stories, trying to get a sense of their pacing and rhythm). While the book is somewhat less "gonzo" than the film's trailer would have you believe, many segments involve Thompson's usual predilections for absurd situations, over-the-top characters, alcohol and assorted "bad craziness." There are glimpses of HST's future style, but overall, The Rum Diary is very much a traditional novel. My biggest quibble is that the story fizzles out towards the end (but to be fair, that's an overall tendency in Thompson's works). The bottom line: if you enjoy well-paced writing with a side order of wicked humor, you'll love it. If you're a Thompson fan, it's a no-brainer.

  • The Rum Diary

    4
    By HLeeInupiatinAnchirage
    After reading the sample for being a Depp fan, can't wait to compare, but as they say about books into movies, don't care, once a Depp fan, always a Depp fan.

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