Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (Film and Book)
Over the past few days I first read a book by one of the most celebrated journalists of all time, and then watched the movie based on that book.
“Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas”(Film Torrent, Book Torrent)
This is quite possibly the best piece of journalism ever written, in my opinion at least. Almost everyone acknowledges that it can’t be entirely true, but it is still very compelling and interesting. It is the story of a Journalist named Raoul Duke, who is actually Thompson, and his attorney, Dr. Gonzo. They basically decide to trip on almost every drug known to man, as well as drink and smoke pot, in a weekend in vegas where Duke is supossed to be writing stories about a motorcyle race and a police officers sumit on dangerous drugs. This story is one of the best executed forays into surrealism that anyone has ever recorded. It is just the right amout removed from the real world, it’s very crazy, but not so crazy that it’s boring or confusing. I won’t ruin any of the aspects of the actual story, but the main theme of the book and the movie to a somewhat lesser extent, has nothing to do with the actual story. The book is subtitled, A Savage Journey into the Heart of the American Dream, and on that note it definitely delivers. Most of the book is about the vegas story, but some of it is memories or just plain rambling. The entire time the characters say that they are looking for the American Dream. But by this time in history it is clear, both through this novel and his other writing in context, that Hunter Thompson was pretty sure the American Dream was either dead, or dieing. The most powerful part of the book, which I’m not sure is also true of the movie, is the chapter about San Fransisco in the 1960s, and the way the world was moving. Hunter is so sentimental for 1960s San Fransisco that it makes even people from my generation stop for a moment to mourn the loss of what our fathers generation had or might have had.
In short the movie is a crazy thrill ride, and the book is an intellectual sleeping giant that will change the way you think of the world in one way or another. It usally takes me about 3 months to read books, I read this one in 3 days. I would strongly urge anyone who hasn’t seen or read this story to do both. I watched the movie years ago, then read the book, then watched the movie again, and I was very satisfied. So I would say if you have to watch the movie first, you will still enjoy it. But I would have to recommend reading first, then watching, so you can pick up all the little things that slip by so fast in the movie.
Book(10 out of 10)
Movie(9 and 1/2 out of 10)
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