- Paperback: 224 pages
- Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC; New edition edition (28 May 1999)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0747542945
- ISBN-13: 978-0747542940
- Product Dimensions: 17.2 x 11 x 1.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 46,430 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The Rum Diary: Film tie-in edition
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
"Disgusting as he usually was," Hunter Thompson writes in this, his 1959 novel, "on rare occasions he showed flashes of a stagnant intelligence. But his brain was so rotted with drink and dissolute living that whenever he put it to work it behaved like an old engine that had gone haywire from being dipped in lard." Surprise! Thompson isn't writing about himself, but one of the other, older, aimlessly carousing newspapermen in Puerto Rico, a guy called Moberg whose chief achievement is the ability to find his car after a night's drinking because it stinks so much. (I can smell it for blocks, he boasts.) The autobiographical hero, Paul Kemp, is 30, trapped in a dead-end job (Thompson wound up writing for a bowling magazine) and feeling as if his big-time writer dreams, soaked in F. Scott- Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway, are evaporating as rapidly as the rum in his fist.
In fact, Thompson was only 22 when he wrote The Rum Diary, but his fear of winding up like Moberg was well founded. What saved him was the fantastic conflagration of the 1960s, a fiery wind on which the reptilian wings of his prose style could catch and soar to the cackling heights of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Puerto Rico in 1959 doesn't have bad craziness enough to offer Thompson--just a routine drunken reporter stomping by local cops and a riot over Kemp's friend's temptress girlfriend, a scantily imagined Smith College alumna who likes to strip nude on beaches and in nightclubs to taunt men.
Thompson's prose style only intermittently takes tentative flight-- compare the stomping scenes in this book with his breakthrough, Hell's Angels --but it's interesting to see him so nakedly reveal his sensitive innards, before the celebrated clownish carapace grew in. It's also interesting to see how he improved this full version of the novel from the more raw (and racist) excerpts found in the 1990 collection Songs of the Doomed --Tim Appelo, Amazon.com --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
'Remarkable - a genuine, 100% proof discovery of great literary importance' Mail on Sunday 'Hilarious, utterly real and tragic ... A lithe, well-crafted gem of a novel which leaves the reader disturbed and grinning in a way that makes people sitting nearby change seats' Scotland on Sunday 'Crackling, twisted, searing, paced to a deft prose rhythm ... a shot of Gonzo with a rum chaser' San Francisco Chronicle 'Wild, witty, angry, cynical and sarcastic ... A funny book that will make your life seem boring by comparison' Scene
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Hunter makes you feel in this short novel that you are the protagonist, and that it is you who is experiencing the craziness of Carribbean nights and parties, the rum, the fear, the uncertainty, the laissez-faire article writing, the beautiful girl. It is an adventure, and one worth having. If you are looking for escapism, this is it. If you are looking for quality writing, this is it. If you're looking for a good story, this is it.
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
For your next beach holiday, forget your suntan lotion + order this. There is enough sun, sand + Caribbean rum in this novel to keep you going through the winter.
You may have heard of Thompson's "FEAR & LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS" which was made into a film with Johnny Depp + Benicio Del Toro in 1998. This, Thompson's first novel, bares some similarities, although the drug intake is a little tamer + the general feel of the book is a little more laidback.
It chronicles the drunken antics of budding journalist Paul Kemp during the late 50s in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Kemp is a thinly disguised Thompson, (the novel being very close to autobiographical), who starts work for the San Juan Daily News, a paper which is constantly on the brink of bankruptcy due to its corrupt, degenerate + drug addled staff.
It is because of the town's gradual intake of American greedmongers + social misfits that there is a growing sense of unrest among the locals who have begun to want the paper + its staff off the island.
To add to this cocktail are the sultriest, most maddening charms to appear on a written page, in the shape of hard-partying but tragic blonde Chenault, the girlfriend of one of Kemp's colleagues. The summer heat + mounting tension become more enveloping + intense with every turn of the page, masterfully turning Kemp's copious consumption of rum into a thoroughly riveting read..
You may have heard of Thompson's "FEAR & LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS" which was made into a film with Johnny Depp + Benicio Del Toro in 1998. This, Thompson's first novel, bares some similarities, although the drug intake is a little tamer + the general feel of the book is a little more laidback.
It chronicles the drunken antics of budding journalist Paul Kemp during the late 50s in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Kemp is a thinly disguised Thompson, (the novel being very close to autobiographical), who starts work for the San Juan Daily News, a paper which is constantly on the brink of bankruptcy due to its corrupt, degenerate + drug addled staff.
It is because of the town's gradual intake of American greedmongers + social misfits that there is a growing sense of unrest among the locals who have begun to want the paper + its staff off the island.
To add to this cocktail are the sultriest, most maddening charms to appear on a written page, in the shape of hard-partying but tragic blonde Chenault, the girlfriend of one of Kemp's colleagues. The summer heat + mounting tension become more enveloping + intense with every turn of the page, masterfully turning Kemp's copious consumption of rum into a thoroughly riveting read..
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This novel was written by Thompson in 1959, when he was only 22 and was probably yet to put the words "fear" and "loathing" into a sentence together. Only recently was the manuscript found and published, and well worth the 40 year wait it is, this is the great Hunter S. showing very definite early signs of his full potential and brilliance. Paul Kemp is how Thompson saw himself in 10 years time; drinking heavily and sweating a lot in some hot foreign paradise. He first arrives in Puerto rico after an alcohol fueled wrestling match on a plane with an old man who obstructs his view of a young blonde he has his eye on, and the first thing his new employer does is to ask him if he is a pervert, telling him that one more pervert at the newspaper would be the last straw. you can almost hear Kemp asking himself what the hell he is doing here amidst his laid back commentary. Along the way he befriends a terminal cynic, a mad bisexual, and a massive violent nut, who enjoys twisting heads...and these are just his fellow journalists. Thompson here lays out exactly how hard it is to survive and make a healthy living in a place like Puerto Rico, and all through a cloud of rum. Sheer Brilliance
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Just passing time
If you've read Fear and Loathing and liked it, re-read it. There is nothing new in this book, it's just a process of turning pages and having no surprises (only good bit was "you... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Ms Sheila A. Fleming
Thompson at the start of his career...
This is a fairly interesting book by HST; his first and only novel. Of secondary importance to the rest of his books though, and has only hints of the explosive, savagely funny... Read more
Published 3 months ago by F Drew
Latin Caribbean rum flavours
I regret not reading The Rum Diaries when it was first released , and it's taken the release of the movie to prompt me , to read the book. Read more
Published 4 months ago by R. Pieters
Torn book
My book was received by my flatmate. When I got it, I realised that it was torn from the bottom left-corner of the backside. She had not checked it when received. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Orkhan Jalilli
Good book.
A very good,intersting book written by a great writer. It was nicely packed and also came in time for christmas.
Published 4 months ago by Patsy
Great book, made me want a glass of rum though
I loved this book. A great and funny read and, despite Mr Depp being in the film I doubt the big screen version will be better. Read more
Published 5 months ago by keatsie
Good read
This is a querky book but great if you are familar with the writings of Hunter S Thompson. A great insight into a journalists life, emotions and feelings as he takes you through a... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Hells Bells
Early Brilliance from the Godfather of Gonzo
If you've heard of Hunter S. Thompson, the plot of The Rum Diary will come as no surprise: a hard-drinking immoral reporter stumbles through a series of wild adventures. Read more
Published 6 months ago by J. M. Harris
A look at morality in paradise
Hunter S. Thompson's Rum Diary is the story of Paul Kemp (himself really) as a young New York reporter who heads for San Juan, Puerto Rico. Read more
Published 6 months ago by J. Morris
Not Bad but Not Gonzo
This book, I must admit I was a little dissappointed with as it does not compare with 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas' or his other gonzo style literature. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Nathan Strange
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
