The Rum Diary is technically Hunter S. Thompson’s first novel, and technically the first of his books that I have read (I listened to Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas on audiobook). He wrote the first draft at the age of 22 while he was a journalist reporting on bowling alleys in Puerto Rico. It is not a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, but I did find it rather enjoyable. Thompson’s iconic language is intoxicating and I felt a little hung-over after reading it. It is relatively subdued compared to some of the drug-crazed Gonzo journalism Thompson would write later in his career, but I hope there is more of writing of his in this same vein. It was articulate instead of nerve-racking which I think he leaned on when his persona became bigger than life.
If you want to be a writer or are looking for inspiration, this book will empower you to follow your dreams. A topic in the book is aging, and the then 22 Thompson writes, “There was an awful suspicion in my mind that I’d finally gone over the hump, and the worst thing about it was that I didn’t feel tragic at all, but only weary, and sort of comfortably detached.” The protagonist speaking here, Paul Kemp, is thirty. It makes me wonder if the quarter-life-crisis has been around longer than I’d known. Still, it is a rather mature concept for Thompson to be grappling writing about so young. A flaw in the story is Paul Kemp is a rather static character. He does not grow or change over the story. That does not take away from the tale. Not a lot happens, but the little things, the changes in the routines of the characters drinking all night and going to work at the paper at noon, are relishing. Hunter is very witty, sarcastic, can make you feel like a rotten punk bastard. Many of the characters are flat, unmemorable and start with the letter S for some reason (making it confusing to the reader). It gives me hope in some odd way that I can’t explain. Like it is telling me to go out and chase the world.
Synopsis:
The story starts out with Paul Kemp bound for San Juan when he sees a beautiful girl boarding his same plane. He tries to get her attention but ends up looking foolish. When he arrives, he goes to San Juan Daily News where he is planned to work for the next few months. He meets a photographer named Sala who takes him to Al’s where they drink. Sala introduces him to Yeamon who Sala warns is a little volatile. Paul realizes the Yeamon is with the girl that he saw on the plane. Her name is Chenault.
It soon becomes apparent that the paper is not properly run and there are rumors that it might fold. Yeamon was working on an article for the paper that came out to twenty-something pages that is useless to the paper so he is fired. Paul and Sala visit Yeamon and Chenault to see how they are holding up without an income. They witness Yeamon slap Chenault because she is too drunk and he locks her in his hut while the boys go out for drinks. They get arrested for not paying a bar tab and are thrown in jail. Bail is a thousand dollars for Sala and Yeamon each, but only three hundred for Paul. The paper covers the bail even though Yeamon doesn’t work there anymore.
To make up for the bail, Paul takes on a few more writing assignments. He goes to a carnival in St. Thomas with Yeamon and Chenualt. They have a good drunken time the first night but on the second night things get out of control. They go to a party which ends up with Chenualt getting entirely naked while she dances. Paul and Yeamon are thrown out of the party and lose her. They go to the police the next day, worried that she has been raped, but give up and go back to San Juan. She shows up at Paul’s door the following day.
Paul and her start a short-lived affair. Yeamon find out. Then the paper folds. Chenault leaves Kemp to go to New York. Yeamon ends up in a fight with the owner of the paper that gives the owner a heart attack. Since they are out on bail and risk being thrown in jail again, they flee. Paul plans to go to New York to follow Chenualt.
Another reservation is that at the end, everything happens so abruptly and then is over. It is technically the climax, but it could have been expanded upon. All in all, a good beach read.
78/100
Ben Bonkoske 