Hunter S. Thompson - Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas
Hunter. S. Thompson is surely an ideal to which every student should aspire. Drug crazed mayhem followed wherever he went and every position of authority given him was abused in a way that all students should applaud. Fear and loathing reads like a talking book for blind drug fiends.
It relates the bizarre adventures that befall when a magazine gives Hunter the job of covering a desert race in Las Vegas. He decides instead that his true mission is to search for the American dream. Assisted by his mad Samoan attorney, he uses his grant to acquire a convertible, a stereo and a massive quantity of narcotics. From then on the story seems like a prolonged dodgy trip. Hunter and his attorney stagger from one lunatic episode to another.
The staggering thing about this tale is that it is true. Hunter. S. Thompson actually performed the amazing feats described and, more amazingly still, got away with them. It says something truly heartening about the human race that dispersed among the multitude of normal, respectable people, there exist totally amoral figures, prepared to forego the comforts of everyday life in favour of a wild and unpredictable adventure of a life.
Interspersed throughout the hallucinatory fun and games are some profound comments about the nature of society, the state of America and the shortcomings of the drug culture, mainly from the narrator, voiced by Harry Dean Stanton. He is just one of a top rate cast whose laconic delivery, together with the sound effects and music, captures the essence of the book as close as one could hope for.
To summarise, this is a fine C.D. and would be a welcome addition to any collection. As well as being consistently incredibly funny, it provides an excellent example to those students who see their lives as an endless quest for the perfect C.V.
Naturally I am not suggesting that all of you miserable bastards should devote your lives to taking mind altering drugs and causing havoc. I’m just suggesting that some of you do. (9)
Jaco
