Hunter s Thompson

Anyone else here into HST or gonzo journalism in general? Im not talking johney Depp or Bill Murray in the movies but HST as a person and author. I see him as the main influence on my literary life. I love his books, especialy Generation of Swine and Kingdom of fear. Any thoughts? comments? questions?

 

Would you really wish to live his life, which ended in suicide, leaving someone else to clean up the mess?


Think straight.

 

Hey, cut the guy some slack. I'm sure he would have cleaned up after himself if he could have.

 

He wrote 2 good books and some funny journaliam.

He was not a Hemingway or Faulkner-- well, who is?

He died an old fool.

 

He wrote more than two good books, but that's personal preference for you.
Hemingway & Faulkner weren't all they were cracked up to be.
We ALL die old fools. Suicide is ALWAYS an option. You're going to fault the man for not wanting to go meakly into old age? He thrived on speed, action, adventure...back and hip surgeries left him more or less confined to his home. I think I'd bite the steel if I were faced with that shit.

 

He wrote the Hell's Angels book; he also wrote "Fear and Loathing On The Campaign Trail". I'll give you "Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas". Sorry-- he wrote 3 good books.


The rest were pale imitations.

Suicides never rest in peace. I've known several, and most have extremely unpleasantly visited me in lucid dreams. You do not want this to happen to you, nor to the lost soul suicides.

And, you all wonder why I drink? Dreams come not, nor crying souls, when I'm passed out.

 

first of all intrepid just said he influences his LITERARY life, not that he wanted to grow up to BE him, thompson knew how to write and get attention and he kne how to make it interesting. honestly he had to be doing something right for so many people to read his works ; books and articles... hell they made two movies about him.. there was nothing wrong with how he wrote in fact to pull that off youd have to be a genius and i'm not saying geniuses arent nuts, he was an interesting character and an exaggerated one at that. i love reading his stuff and i would read more from authrs with similar style, so keep it up intrepid just make your own decisions about life

 

and thudly your last comment could make one judge you as an old fool although i agree suicide is a stupid decision.. and i'm not saying you are one, but look how easily one can be judged and who are you to do it

 

unless intrepid went back and edited after thudly's post, this is a perfect example of my most frustrating confusion with people on forums. why do some people read someone's post and completely overlook what they actually said? how does it happen? what's going through their minds?

...anyway, i'd like to clerify, for those who didn't know, that HST made it clear that he wanted to die on his own accord. he didn't want to die helpless in a bed, he wanted to decide when it was going to happen and he decided that he would do it before he got all old and dependant on other people. i don't think that's something to look down on him about. but i agree, he coulda made it a bit less disturbing to people who found him and had to clean it up.

 

did it actually go like that?

people have made up so many stories and faked details...

there was a description of his death that went kinda like that (having her on the phone) on wikipedia but it got edited because there wasn't any site or evidance, anywhere.

 

wow awesome.

then thanks.

 

Hi -
I've read his political books where he covered the presidential primaries venting his spleen on Nixon, McGovern, Hubert Humphrey etc.
They were sharp and vitriolic in parts.
As a non American I maybe shouldn't comment on his views on the domestic political scene.
But whether he was mad, bad, AND dangerous to know the old bastard sure could write

 

He killed himself because of all the pain he was going through being a cancer patient. He did go out with a bang though.

 

Hunter S. Thompson pioneered a mildly interesting twist on writing, but had none of the sublety of Hemingway.

 

I have all of his reporting in old Rolling Stone Magazines (probably worth a pretty penny). His early work was wonderful, but towards the end he was merely rehashing and replaying his schtick. He should have quit when he was in his prime, but then most authors never know when to shoot the typewriter or computer and just lay around drunk and enjoy life.