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RIP Hunter S. Thompson

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Originally posted by: Vic
Originally posted by: dartworth
Although family and police determined it a clear case of suicide, conspiracy theorists inevitably appeared, postulating that Thompson may have been murdered because of information he had concerning the September 11, 2001 attacks
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Oh FFS why??? :|

Hunter went the way he always said he would. Why can't the CT's leave him alone? R.I.P.
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Agreed.
 
Originally posted by: DigDug
This doesn't mean that his writing doesn't mean something to people.
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Out of curiosity, his book is what got you to enjoy life?
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I didn't say that. What I said was that reading Hells Angels, and some of the times that he talks about the exhilaration of riding was what inspired me to buy a cheap ($400) bike. I it was a dream of mine that I finally followed through on.
 
That book is about, and demonstrates, the exhaustion and self-destruction that the 60s lifestyle lead to. It begins with an innocent desire to change the world (or sports journalism), but detours into a drug crazed nightmare. If you think its purpose was to celebrate the counterculture, you misread it.
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Hey, I got a book idea; I repeatedly hit myself with a hammer, thinking its going to expand my horizons and be a spiritual experience, but end up concluding that it hurts and isn't really good for me.

Hunter was very witty, reminiscent of H.L. Mencken's biting pen. I shouldn't have described him as a mediocre author. I have found myself chuckling and giggling along with his stuff, but then Larry the Cable Guy makes me laugh, too.
 
Originally posted by: DigDug
Regarding the book and the "journalistic" assignment:

Because it was nice to be loose and crazy with a good credit card in a time when it was possible to run totally wild in Las Vegas and then get paid for writing a book about it?and it occurs to me that I probably just made it, just under the wire and the deadline.
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- Thompson.

Yes, so insightful, investigative and thought-out.
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It is a novel. Understand? A novel that does something that few writers can accomplish; demonstrate its explicit theme in the structure of the narrative. Towards the middle of the book, Thompson describes the innocence and naivety of the 60s revolution and how it grew ugly and turned into cynicism and monstrosities like Charles Manson. This same dynamic is demonstrated in the novel as Thompson and his attorney drive to las vegas with dreams of changing sports journalism, but then lose site of those goals as they do terrible things under the influence of the drugs that they thought enlightening.

As for quoting Thompson, he was very self-effacing & NEVER analyzed his own work, preferring to play down its theoretical significance. That was just his style. It doesn't mean that FaLiLV wasn't a great work, or that it hasn't been misread by the majority of its readers. Most of Thomson's best work was critical of the counterculture, but he was revered as a hippie icon. I think this depressed him a great deal.

And, really, criticizing gonzo journalism because of its inaccuracy misses the point entirely. It purposefully, and explicitly, mixes fiction with journalism in order to get at underlying themes and truths.
 
I miss Thompson but then when I thnk about his death; it was about as perfect as Hunter's death could be and therefore it brings a strange grin to my face when I think about it. It was insanely gonzo.

Hunter got me into journalism in the first place back in high school... his style and writing were so radical to me and then you slowly begin to understand them.. especially his ESPN stuff.

is this not a suitable place to park?


 
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