I just finished reading this book. If you are unfamiliar with Hunter S. Thompson, he’s the author of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. I read that book several years ago when I was living in Italy and didn’t have TV. It’s insane. Absolutely and completely insane. And I loved it. So when I stumbled upon this book at Newbury Comics one day I thought it sounded cool so I picked it up. From the back cover:
Begun in 1959 by a then-twenty-two-year-old Hunter S. Thompson, The Rum Diary is a brilliant, tangled love story of jealousy, treachery and violent alcoholic lust in the Caribbean boomtown that was San Juan, Puerto Rico, in the late 1950s. Exuberant and mad, youthful and energetic. The Rum Diary is an outrageous, drunken romp in the spirit of Thompson’s bestselling Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Hell’s Angels.
It was exactly that. And as you can assume from the title, there is lots of rum drinking. There were many moments I wanted to be reading this book in a hammock on the beach with a Rum Runner in hand. It’s definitely not a feel good book so if that’s your literary style, don’t even bother.
I also didn’t realize when I picked this book up that it was going to be a movie soon starring Johnny Depp. I watched the trailer (look it up on youtube, I’m too lazy to do it for you) and I think I’ll splurge and go see it since I’ve read the book. I think a nice book/movie comparison will be interesting. I’ll just have to remember to pack a few nips of rum in my bag to enjoy in the theater.
What should I read next? I’m not into romance novels or books that are going to make me cry. Suggestions?
