Fear and loathing in Las Vegas
Notes and Reactions
Thoughts/premise:
It is my intention to read much on drug literature and present what I have read here. When I write such posts on a specific title, they are ultimately for me to refer to if/when I might do a phd so in this way they are also a summary of some of my research. I’m hoping you might also find them interesting. Perhaps you will be inspired to read the book or delve deeper into the topic. That settled, let’s get stuck into Fear and loathing in Las Vegas.
Plot: what is it about?
Raoul Duke, a journalist, travels from Los Angeles to Las Vegas with Dr Gonzo, his attorney, in a convertible nicknamed the Great Red Shark. Raoul plans to report on the Mint 400 motorcycle race and seek out the American Dream, all while on an alarming mix of mind-bending drugs.
When little comes from the mission except an astronomical hotel bill and a trashed suite, ‘fear and loathing’ sets in and Raoul considers fleeing the scene without paying the bills – his attorney having done so already.
At the final hour, Raoul is redirected (he doesn’t pay the bills) by his attorney to hang out in a new crash pad at the Flamingo hotel and report on a National District Attorney’s drug conference. Here, the pair reunite only to repeat more of their outrageous behaviour.
Throughout the story, Raoul marvels at the disillusionment of the American dream. He observes how far removed the police are from understanding drug culture and he wistfully reminisces of a hopeful, and freer time amongst people living in mid-sixties San Francisco: an inspired collective whose hopes were somewhat crushed with President Nixon’s coming to power.
Style
This story moves at neck-breaking pace. It is slick, satirical, but heavily masculine. Thompson is said to have developed his style by copying out the work of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway (Copychief, n.d.). The book is also based on Thompson’s own experiences – the line between reality and fiction are blurred. Hunter coined the term ‘Gonzo journalism’ to describe this style/approach and Raoul Duke is often said to be Thompson’s alter ego. Some also say Thompson was initially indirect because he was worried about his reputation and livelihood (Sargent, 2020) – he was a National affairs correspondent writing for Rolling Stone magazine (Schubert, 2009), and despite his infamous debauched legacy he was a professional journalist (Denevi as cited in Keane, 2018). As a result of this ‘Gonzo journalism’ -also a ‘mix of social critique and self-satire’ - expect the ravings of a mashed-up narrator peppered with moments of lucidity which, at the very least, allow the reader a fighting chance to keep up with the absurd unfolding events.
Much of the time one is asking oneself however–
Why are they doing this?
And
How are they a) not in prison and b) not dead yet?
This reader was curious to see where it would all lead but equally relieved to be reading from the quiet comfort of their own sofa.
There were moments during reading where I was anxious about watching the film because I wasn’t sure I’d enjoy the imagery: all the deprivation, chaos, and filth. Fortunately, the film was manageable, and the director, Terry Gilliam, was selective, not drawing on every image; I did not fancy seeing a young man, having overdosed, pull out his eyes (Thompson, 2022, p.101). Though this was not central to the plot (it was simply a newspaper story the protagonist was reading) but I was a little apprehensive, nonetheless. I still haven’t forgotten a particular scene of similar nature from Twenty-Eight Weeks Later that is forever imprinted on my brain where Robert Carlyle does what he does best - loses it (I’ll say no more for plot spoilers).
Hype
A mythology has arisen, surrounding Raoul/Thompson’s real attorney: Dr Gonzo. In real life the friend, Oscar Zeta Acosta, apparently ran off to Mexico in 1974 never to be seen or heard from again. He is presumed dead. In 2005 Thompson also shot himself (like his hero Hemingway). His ashes were later fired from a cannon at his funeral funded by Jonny Depp. You can watch a video about this here:
As some would say -sometimes real life is stranger than fiction. The previously mentioned lines not only blurred (and wiggled and swirled) but the violence of the real world spilled over and totally flattened them.
But before all this, and just after writing the novel, Thompson went on to receive critical acclaim. Today the book is lauded as a cult classic, and the film only added to its street cred. Starring Jonny Depp and Benicio Del Toro, it has been praised for remaining true to the story and for its semi-accurate depictions of what it’s like to be on drugs. Thompson also had a brief cameo, so look out for it if you decide to watch it.
Drug depictions and other points
Don’t try this at home…in fact just don’t behave like this!
Whatever anyone might try to claim, I am not convinced many would wish to follow in the characters’ footsteps (although there was the movie: The Hangover, also set in Las Vegas which is arguably reminiscent of this). In a review of the film and book, Ethington (n.d.) was quick to point out that: ‘depiction’ does not equate to ‘endorsement’. Oftentimes, it doesn’t even seem like the protagonists are having fun. The title gives that much away in itself. Apparently, such drug abuse was commonplace for Thompson however, who kept to a shocking daily routine of a glass of Chivas Regal and a packet of Dunhills by 3pm, followed by a line of cocaine every hour and washed down with whiskey and then other vices later included weed, acid, champagne, chartreuse, margaritas, tacos and more cocaine (Copychief, n.d.).
For most who encounter the pair in the story, they do not have the ‘pleasure’ of knowing them. The hitchhiker they pick up at the start sets the tone. He would rather face the sweltering desert than stay in the car with these two who are teetering on the brink of insanity, all whilst driving…
And then there is the misogyny - the poor women who have the misfortune to run into these two reprobates. I did a search to see if anyone had commented on the numerous scenes of (mainly) Dr Gonzo harassing women, but the pickings were slim to virtually zero. I asked a friend about this – an expert of the Beatles and the 60s – and he said, surprisingly enough, despite the counterculture movement, misogyny was a common motif in much the literature and art during this period. I would need to read more to verify this myself but something to keep in mind. Now I think about it, my mind drifts to the ‘loathsome’ Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest… Maybe this could end up being a whole area to investigate on its own.
Disillusionment
Another angle is: perhaps all this drug taking (to the edge of obliteration) reflects the loss of hope? The ‘corpse of the American dream’ as Ethington (2018) also puts it. Earlier in the novel, Raoul thinks back to San Francisco, in the mid-sixties, reflecting that it was a:
‘very special time and place to be a part of.’
And that
‘Maybe it meant something’ (Thompson, 2022, pp.67-68).
He captures a sense of hope, freedom, and purpose - a new agenda that was perhaps prevalent among the counterculture as they took on the old establishment with the high-spirited line:
‘Our energy would simply prevail’ (Thompson, 2022, p.68).
But unfortunately, later, disillusionment would follow. This is captured neatly again at the end of the novel as Raoul reflects on how out of touch the police are, wasting money on making LSD films. He confirms:
‘What sells, today, is whatever Fucks You Up – whatever short-circuits your brain and grounds it out for the longest possible time.’ (Thompson, 2022, pp.202)
And then:
‘Conscious expansion rolled out with LBJ (Lyndon B Johnson) …and it is worth noting, historically, that downers came in with Nixon’ (Thompson, 2022, pp.202).
- Downers constituting as drugs such as smack, seconal, and heroin. And Thompson hated Nixon. I imagine many counterculture hippies did?
It is interesting to consider this. First drugs were taken in the spirit of hope, expansion, and possibility, the next to shut down and escape (apparently many hippies also fled to Goa - more on this another time). And now, at the time of writing, as Dr Andy Letcher said, we want to take them (psychedelics) to get well. We are returning to where the work was cut short. The media portrays a world that is teetering on the brink but meanwhile the hope still fights on. We are picking up where things were left off with a renewed enthusiasm - where society was not ready before, are they/we ready now?
Drugs take you to dark places (according to the news in the 1970s)
Raoul constantly picks up the newspaper to read about drug misadventures and death:
‘An overdose of heroin was listed as the official cause of death for pretty Diane Hamby, 19, whose body was found stuffed in a refrigerator last week…’(Thompson, 2022, p.72-73)
and there is the previously mentioned eye-ball gouging story.
Note that this is the news…page after page of it. Raoul’s reality does little to sell an alternative argument but again, it hasn’t stopped him, and he certainly isn’t as bad off as some of these headlines. But his whole story hasn’t played out fully yet.
Drugs take you to dark places (according to Raoul)
On this note and to add to the ‘drugs are bad, mkay’ line, on arriving at the hotel in Las Vegas, Raoul, high on LSD, sees the hotel crowd morph into grotesque lizards:
‘Terrible things were happening all around us. Right next to me a huge reptile was gnawing on a woman’s neck, the carpet was a blood-soaked sponge- ‘(Thompson, 2022, p.24)
Not a great selling point…
Equally, the pair are constantly screaming and swearing at each other and they are in anything but a healthy place despite the large amount of vitamin c (grapefruit) they continually ingest. Vitamin c makes the trips more intense. In the film, Dr Gonzo is constantly throwing up and even comes close to death when splayed out in a bathtub full of dirty water barking orders for Raoul to throw the electric radio in with him as the song White Rabbit by Jefferson Airplane reaches its crescendo (Thompson, 2022, p. 63).
It's all quite a sorry affair. But I wonder, if LSD is meant to be a journey into the psyche, - the psyche of the characters and perhaps metaphorically all North American - well… we’re not going to see progressive, uplifting imagery, are we? Disillusionment is festering, the American dream is failing, and a place like Vegas – sin city - would surely only amplify the grim wretchedness that has descended like a dark shadow.
Just a thought anyway…
Music and drugs
Dr Andy Letcher remarked on how drugs find their music. When reading Schubert’s (2009) work last night, what he wrote about: the music that features in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, weighed impressionably on my mind. Schubert (2009, p.62) labels Hunter’s writing as ‘synaesthetic’ (the crossover of senses, for example colours having a taste or feeling sounds) drawing attention to the grotesque illustrations from the novel by Ralph Steadman, which he analyses, but also the use of music within the novel. Here we have more ‘blurred boundaries and swirling lines’, all contributing to the feel of the piece. Throughout there are many references to songs. I fancy I might sit down at some point and draw up a list and fully explore the ‘soundtrack’ to the novel – a bit like you would with a film. Maybe one to dive deeper into later.
Adrenochrome
One penultimate thing to touch upon is adrenochrome.
It features in the story (and film - see above), and a reviewer, Flynn (2023) pointed out that this ‘made-up’ drug also makes an appearance in Anthony Burgess’ film A Clockwork Orange around the same time. In the story, Dr Gonzo recommends Raoul to take it –
‘That stuff makes pure mescaline seem like ginger beer. You’ll go too crazy if you take too much.’ (Thompson, 2022, p.131).
Raoul goes on to explain how it is taken from
‘The adrenaline glands from a living human body’ (p.132)
that was given to Dr Gonzo by
‘one of these Satanism freaks’.
Not surprisingly, in recent times, adrenochrome has become the stuff of QAnon conspiracy theories and feeds into the whole Satanic Panic narrative. You can read more about it here. This is a whole other rabbit hole to venture down, though word of warning, proceed with caution. Whatever can be said about adrenochrome- I think it may be worth clocking. It may appear again later?
Final food for thought -have I initially misjudged Thompson? Probably…
I’ve written a lot here, and it took a while to compile all this. But a lot is written about Thompson so maybe there will be further posts. He has certainly piqued my interest. Timothy Denevi has written a biography on Thompson titled Freak Kingdom: Hunter S Thompson’s Ten-Year Crusade Against American Fascism. There is an interesting interview with Denevi that goes into great depth (Keane, 2018). Keane states that Denevi’s biography makes it
‘impossible to dismiss Thompson as the pop culture caricature he was later made out to be…’
and that the Thompson’s work acted as
‘targeted vigilance against the rise of authoritarianism and the threat of state-sanctioned violence’.
Denevi also explores Oscar Zeta Acosta, further citing a documentary titled The Rise and Fall of Buffalo Brown which centres (perhaps favourably?) around him and offers potentially another voice and perspective beyond the ‘white man’.
I feel I really have just scratched the surface. An interesting part of the interview which I will leave you with were Denevi’s paraphrased words of Acosta to Thompson:
‘I have been working my whole life to make this world better, I have done everything I possibly can, we live in an unjust system that will destroy me through my effort [….] There is no amount of effort I could put out that would allow me to make this better, because it’s rigged from the start.’ (Keane, 2018)
The interview is well worth a read, as perhaps also is this biography and the film. The more I read, the more threads I find…
And so…I think I will be reading for a long, long time…. Thank you for also getting this far and staying with me!
References:
Copychief (n.d.) Hunter S Thompson’s ‘secret’ to jacked-up writing. Available at: https://copychief.com/hunter-s-thompsons-secret-to-jacked-up-writing/ (Accessed 5 April 2024).
Ethington J. (2018) “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” (1998) Review. Available at: https://www.jacobwritesforever.com/blog/2018/8/9/fear-and-loathing-in-las-vegas-1998-review (Accessed 5 April 2024).
Flynn, J. (2023) Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - BOOK REVIEW. Available here. (Accessed: 25 April 2024)
Keane, E. (2018) What everyone gets wrong about Hunter S Thompson. Available at: https://www.salon.com/2018/11/10/what-everyone-gets-wrong-about-hunter-s-thompson/ (Accessed 24 April 2024).
Sargent, C.L. (2009) Hunter S. Thompson - Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas BOOK REVIEW. Available here. (Accessed: 25 April 2024).
Schubert, H. (2009) Drugs and Dissent: A Cognitive Approach to Strategies of Unreliability and Reader Disorientation in Naked Lunch and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Available at: https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/11587154.pdf (Accessed 24 April 2024).
Thompson H.S. (2022) Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream. London: HarperCollins Publishers.