Rum Diary (Hardcover)

It turns out this is really not the case... the author seems to describe with great accuracy the experiences of a man who looks back on his early years as a journalists and regrets having wasted his life. There is a sensation of loss and defeat throughout the whole book that at least I would believe, requires a great deal of experiences in life to be able to grasp and translate into words. Thompson deals with these descriptions very skillfully, making the reader fear the same fate as the main character.

As far as the story goes, Paul Kemp, a young journalist in his early 30s takes an assignment for a new job in the San Juan Daily News, an English language newspaper in Puerto Rico - this place where "men sweat 24 hours a day". The life is easy in San Juan, but the more time he spends there, the more a fear of being stuck there forever takes over him. He feels he's missing out on something by not going to a more happening Latin American city such as Mexico or Buenos Aires. There's also a constant menace that the newspaper will fold and all the employees will lose their jobs from one day to another. Despite his young age, Kemp looks back at his life and concludes he should have taken more out of it instead of acting like he was invincible; this feeling has long left him and he resorts to heavy drinking and making various considerations about his future without necessarily acting to change his condition. Many of his colleagues are in the same situation; although most of them realize they are losing their time in this city, something seems to hold them and prevent them to leave, even if they lose their jobs. Perhaps it is the heat and humidity that oppresses these men and prevent them from acting or making the right decisions about their respective futures, much like in Camus' The Stranger.

This lack of opportunities for their future lead the protagonists into a self-destructive and reckless series of events. They talk about leaving, but the constant rum drinking blurs their plans and leads them to once again postpone their plans. Time is running out for Paul Kemp, but he still acts like he has his whole life before him.

A very inspiring novel, The Rum Diary is a great contrast to the usually optimistic novels involving young people in search of the American dream, who are ready to take on any challenges to succeed. Paul Kemp has been defeated; actually, he has retired from his fighting to succeed. By signing such a great book at the very beginning of his career, Hunter S. Thompson has laid the ground for his more daring later works. A good novel, but try it for yourself. Pick up a copy! Another book I need to recommend -- very much on my mind since I purchased a "used" copy off Amazon is "The Losers' Club: Complete Restored Edition," a funny, highly entertaining little novel I can't stop thinking about.

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Paul Kemp is a thirty-ish with no much hope for his futures. He leaves his New York and moves to Puerto Rico, to work in the only local newspaper published in English. Far from a wealthy reality he dawns in a mad world of drinking, love, jealousy and other insane things, mostly with the help of his journalist friends, until he goes as down as possible and realizes it is time he grew up. Or not.

Written in fine prose with the speed of someone who devours a barrel of rum, "The Rum Diary" is Thompson at his best. His first novel has more stamina, imagination, passion and truth that many experienced writers will never acquire. Writing as someone who knows the cause, the author is able to create believable characters and situations. Anyone who has spend a week in a newspaper knows that there are all kind of people self-proclaiming journalists, not to mention yelling editors going insane all the time, and demanding heads off every day.

We can find in the book --and in real life-- every sort of weirdos that are trying to find a better existence somewhere else far from home. These outsiders that inhabit Thompson's novel are the real thing, which paints a vivid portrait of people thorn between the passion of being a journalist and the fear of never acquiring any real thing in life. Deep inside this is the moral dilema that comsumes Kemp. While on one hand he has the freedon he always wanted, on the other there is fear of the newspaper being folder and losing his job with nothing in that strange country. While this doesn't happen, he can consume himself with many shots of rum at Al's.

With such a realistic portray, Thompson throws his readers to the heart of this late coming-of-age tale, set in an exotic land in difficult times. Political and economical issues are in the background of the tale taking it to another level, making the book not only fun to read, but also important. The constant riots between local people and foreign journalist only prove that Puerto Rico was an incendiary place, in many levels.

However, "The Rum Diary" is not a novel with wide appeal, most people won't identify themselves with the events and the characters and will be put off. But those who can stick with Thompson's masterful narrative will have fun all the time.

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