017. Fear and Loathing in LAS VEGAS (1971).

Fear and Loathing in LAS VEGAS by Hunter S. Thompson (1971).

        

Drugs create MADNESS.

and

MADNESS creates one of the most extraordinary journalism you’ll ever find in your life.

This incredible book is insanely entertaining.

         

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layers. – Hunter S. Thompson.  What do you get if you mix every possible drug that is known to humans (marihuana, cocaine, LSD, speed, etc.. plus strong liquid as a spice ) with a really brilliant mind?

HUNTER S. THOMPSON!!!

He has been high ever since he finds his first drug in early 20’s.

He only sleeps when he runs out of drugs. Which means once every two, three days?       

 In this book, he seems like totally forget about sleeping. I don’t know how his internal system works, but the fact that he survives till late 60’s ( 67yrs, exactly. Suicide)  with all the abuse he put on his body is a miracle to me.

This is purely my guess, but I think he probably records all his dialogue or whatever comes out of his mouth to tape recorder so that later when he is less-high, he can just transcribe his recording into journalism.

His Hallucination and Paranoia are so unique and insane you either get blown away by them or laugh like crazy like I often do. There is one scene in hotel where he gets attacked by his dead grand mother crawling under his feet with knife in her hand trying to stab him. He kicks her away or thinks he did. Hilarious, just incredibly hilarious.

One more true episode.

When one Hollywood actor accepted a job portraying Thompson for his new film, the studio set up the meeting for both in the one of those fancy out door café. But Thompson never showed up. When finally two hours later he came to the restaurant, he didn’t just walk in. Instead he ran into the place with two stun guns wildly swinging, defending himself against some kind of man eating flying monsters only visible to himself, of course.

The name of the actor is Johnny Depp and the film is “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) ” by Terry “Brazil” Gilliam, another master of high.

Dr. Gonzo.  Thompson’s lawyer. Simply, the best name I’ve ever read on any kinds of books. 

He is apparently a legitimate lawyer with a license and is probably doing well with his business judging by all his vacation and connections and high end drugs. This just tells you how crooked US Justice system is. Druggie lawyer is doing better than most hard working workers.

Being lawyer just doesn’t make any sense cause he is higher than Thompson ALL THE TIM!!!

He often starts his sentence with “ as your lawyer, I advised you to do this, that…blah blah…”. Absolutely insane and hilarious. He is funnier than any of the stand up comedian I’ve ever seen and he doesn’t know it. Drugs. It’s all because of drugs.

In the film, he is portrayed more like a milder version of Thompson, but in here, he is crazier and meaner than Thompson.

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lace. – LAS VEGAS. Where else in the world you can get high 24 hours a day for non-stop week and you won’t be stand out as weirdo? Not to  mention, treated like normal humans by people around you?

VEGAS is a perfect place for their unstoppable MADNESS. 

But after what they have done to the place, I am not sure they could ever go back to VEGAS without getting shot by police or gangs.

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lot. –Some sports publisher with money to burn (remember, this is 70’s), decides to hire Thompson and Dr. Gonzo to cover the MINT 400, the richest off-road race for motorcycles in LAS VEGAS.

So, Thompson and Dr. Gonzo do what normal junkies would do if they suddenly find large sum of cash in their pockets: They max out their credit card to buy a convertible with proper power and fill its huge trunk with every possible, extremely dangerous drug they can find in the street and drive to LAS VEGAS, HIGH!!

In VEGAS, they completely trash the hotel room, order ship load of stuffs they have absolutely no use for the room service, piss off almost everyone they meet and fleet the town within a few days. During those few days, Thompson completely forgets to take a sleep

Because they are always high, their conversation jumps around from topic to topic without coherence, their mood is shifting every minute, making it impossible to take your eyes off of this book.

Even better, Thompson is always suffering from drug-induced paranoia in which he thinks everyone is out there to get him, including alien and mutated bugs, not to mention FBI, CIA, and all the law enforcement departments in L.A., New York and VEGAS.

Why better? Because Thompson is absolutely sure that he is a fugitive from the law (Paranoia), he is in war zone, constantly looking for enemies and fighting off all sorts of creatures only he can see all the time. All the time!! Everywhere he goes!! Pure Entertainment!!

It gets better with every chapter. After running away from VEGAS ( Dr. Gonzo actually flies away from VEGAS by himself before it gets messy ), Dr. Gonzo finds another job for Thompson, sending him right back to VEGAS to cover the four day seminar of, get this, "Drugs and Dangerous Narcotics"  by The National Conference of District Attorney and Prosecutor.

Thompson, who is 24hrs-paranoia of being fugitives, is now surrounded by cops all around him!! For four days! This drives him crazy and that of course drives him to take more drugs and drink excessively and makes a great story much more insane. I love this book.

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erdict. – This book is so incredibly hilarious, you wouldn’t believe what you are actually reading. 

For example, during his first visit to VEGAS for the Mint, he has NOT sleep for four days just because he has enough drugs to keep him awake. Absolutely MAD.

What is truly amazing about Thompson is that even if he is high and wasted all the time, he can still pull out great piece of writing.

This book is TRUE-PAGE-TURNER.

Just because you can never guess what is coming next.

Thanks to everything he takes.

Please, do yourself a favor and buy this book.

This book is one of my treasures and you will love this or at least, 

you will have something to talk about for the rest of your life.

016. Shadow of Light (2007).

Shadow of Light by James E. Cherry (2007).

        

A black cop in Deep South.

A town runs by white which is in the brink of chaos.

And the only cop probably can stop the riot has more problems than he can hardly handle and about to break down.

A really dark and gritty detective novel.

         

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layers. – Walter (Walt) Robinson.  A main man ( 38 yrs).  A very tough cop. He always has been a model of consistency and strength.

 He is very good at his job, but bad at everything else. He is fooling around behind his wife all the time and taxing the drug dealers on the street emptying their pockets regularly.

But what happens to his grandmother shakes everything down.

Now he is fighting to contain  his aggression and emotion. 

On top of that, his “departing” wife just let him know that he becomes a father.

That is the final trigger to flip him over and now he is a very unstable, dangerous man.

Joseph ( Joe ) Hardegree.  Walt’s partner. A good cop and a very good/decent man. He is a father of two babies and also very religious man. He cares about Walt, a lot as a friend.

It is through the dialogue between Walt and Joe, the author expresses his view of the world (Racism, Religion, Sex, Death, etc….) which is quite interesting and often bang-on the subject.

His definition of Racism and Religion may offend someone, well, pretty much anyone who has one, but, man, you won’t find more convincing argument about those topics than the one Walt spits out to his very patient partner ( Joe ), during their conversation. What a guy.

Eric Merriweather. a.k.a. Cebo.  Walt’s nephew. 18 yrs. When he was young and nobody want him, Walt and Big Mama take him in and raise him.

However, he becomes the leader of Gangster Apostles, the most powerful drug lord in the street. A brilliant kid who runs the street like a president of big cooperation.

He sends the fax to the police warning if no justice is done in 48 hours, one cop will be shot per a day. Naturally, the fax is leaked to the public and the whole city is in panic.

Dissie Marshall (Big mama ).  Walt’s grand mother. She is robbed and raped and shot. The beginning of the hell for Walt.

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lace. – Forrest, Tennessee. According to Walt, the city has its own rhythm and attitude and he understands them like his own mind. He is familiar with its air, its body language, and expression and that makes him inseparable from his city and at the same time a very good cop.

I have never been in Tennessee, but I got an impression that no matter whatever happens on the surface of the city, underneath it, it has little or never changed since Civil Right Movement. Then again, maybe I am wrong.

P

lot. –In order to provoke emotional chaos, James E. Cherry picks up probably one of the most unthinkable storyline: The assault and rape of a grand mother.

On top of that, she also is a woman with strength, integrity, kindness and grace. Bottom line is : she is everyone’s dream grand mother and now she is in coma. 

Inevitably, Walt is mentally and physically in hell.

Here is the basic story line.

1.      Three white teenage kids ( one crazy, one very intense and one just plain dumb ) rape and shot a grandma in the quite neighborhood.

2.      She happens to be a grandma of Walt and also is well respected and adored by everyone.

3.      Walt’s nephew Cebo sends the fax to police declaring war. REVENGE!!

4.      Walt and Joe also catch another case ( unrelated ), with no suspect in sight.

5.      Walt’s wife, 4 weeks pregnant, just left him.

6.      Again, Walt is in hell.

The plot, however exciting it is and it is quite exciting by the way, is just an excuse to carry on the book, I think.

What I mean is that James E. Cherry has so many things to say about Sex, Religion,  Black Culture, Racism, etc.., he needs an entire book to lay down his own view.

But I am sure, he also knows that in order for people to actually read about his view of the world, he has to come up with an interesting story/character to hold the attention of readers. And he DID just that with this book. 

You can read this book either as a detective novel or a statement of his world view. Or both.

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erdict. – Title “Shadow of light” comes from Walt’s realization that his whole life has been lived in the shadow of light, never facing the truth, always avoiding emotional involvement. 

His view of the world is very harsh and critical but at the same time fair and realistic.

For a mere 180 page book, this book is jammed with a lot of stuffs you don’t find it everyday life. That is until all the criminals are apprehended ( the last one is literary crushed to the ground by Walt). 

After that, it becomes little stranger. With the last 30 pages, Walt goes through huge transformation from a violent thug to a humble God-fearing human being.

I am a bit disappointed about the way he ends the book, though. You see, the author throws a lot of philosophy about life and death, sex, racism and even fatherhood at the readers. And somehow, all of them make strong impression on me. I had a feeling he knows what he is talking about. But instead of leaving everything to readers to contemplate about  life in general, he concludes his book saying – Only with his God ( Jesus, I assume ), humans can be saved............ Hum.

Well, that’s a quite a strong statement for a detective novel and frankly, a bit too-much for me. I always try to avoid books with too much religious back ground because they tend to be too heavy for my understanding.

However, this is still a very good mystery and if you want to read something different (and I mean it), this book should give you plenty to think about.

015. The Affair (2011).

The Affair by Lee Child (2011).

        

The Latest from Jack Reacher series (10^th, exactly).

After all those years, 

still 

ABSOLUTELY THE BEST THRLLER OUT THERE, PERIOD.

NO COMPARISON. NO PEER.

          

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layers. – Jack Reacher.  Ex-Mp (military cop). After retiring from Army, Reacher decides to explore the country he serves for 13 years yet never visits. Since then, he walks, hitch hiking and bus-riding the entire country. 

He just draws an imaginary line on the map in his head and just follows the line visiting whatever cities in between.

He has no address, no ID excepts an expired passport, no luggage except a portable toothbrush. When he needs to change the clothes, he just discards whatever he is wearing and buys a new one. Because of these, even if his troubles bring him all around the state, even Europe, he is virtually invisible from any kinds of system and radar.

He is born and raised in Marine Corps bases all around the world with his brother Joe who used to work for Treasury but was killed during the counterfeit investigation (“Killing Floor (1997)”). Reacher of course takes care of the guilty party by literary burns them down to complete ashes.

Reacher is the top Mp during his service in Army. He could be a high ranking officer (he wins numerous medals for his works), but he has no ambition and his definition of right and wrong quite often conflicts with the one military follows and that slows down his promotion (he was demoted couple of times).

He has a body of Terminator (6’5”, 250 pounds of pure muscle-fighting machine ), a brain of Sherlock Holmes (never stop calculating or observing) and a mind of Brawler (a killer instinct). When he faces his enemies which normally are hideously bad peoples, he doesn’t just get rid of them. He meticulously (Holmes), completely destroys them (Terminator). And pisses on their graves (a brawler).

Reacher generally dresses up like a bum and he knows how scary 6’5” 250 pounds muscular giant could be to others, so he normally just keeps quite, never speaks up unless necessary and always polite to others and smiles a lot when he tries to hitch hike to the next location.

He also has an internal clock which tells him exact time of the day so he doesn’t need a watch.

P

lace. – Every Reacher book contains at least one structures either building or factory  or underground bunker which is built with outrageous design or extraordinary scale.

Together with bunch of hideous villains (yes, Lee Child knows his BAD GUYS), they are here to showcase Reacher’s amazing ability to adapt and conquer his surroundings.

In this book, it is vast land of Mississippi, and a gigantic locomotive which literally shakes ground with its power once every midnight.

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lot. –Since Reacher is the narrator for the most of the series, and he is man with little  word, the pace is fast, steady and brisk.

Here’s the outline of the storyline for this book.

1.      A girl is killed in a small town in Mississippi. Since it happens near the Maine base, Garber, Reacher’s boss who runs MPs, sends two MPS for investigation. One for the inside Army base to investigate soldiers, the other for the outside to deal with civilians. And Reacher takes undercover-job to look into the murder from civilian side.

2.      It gets really complicated once Reacher finds out the prime suspect is not just a powerful captain but also extremely well connected with Army and politics.

3.      Soon, strings of conflicting evidences are piling up, militia with surplus-army guns are flooding into the area, local tugs are trying to muscle in, and one of the BEST ENTERTAINMENT begins!!

Lee Child knows how to build up the tension.

Better than anyone out there.

And there is reason for that. Because he creates outrageously larger than life character JACK REACHER, he needs fantastically difficult challenge/adversary to go with it. And in order for the story to work properly, it needs a huge build-up and out of this world kind of climax. And Lee Child has been delivering both ever since his firsts book called Killing Floor (1997).

V

erdict. – The story of Reacher is basically a spaghetti-western in 21^st century. 

  Just like Eastwood or Bronson or Django, he visits the random town with the troubles and solves them by mostly blowing them away spectacularly and leaves the place without trace, moving on to the next stop.

If you are traveling or vacationing or really tired and want to read something to put your mind away from everything, this Reacher series is possibly the best solution for that.

Simply put, The Best Entertainment money can buy.

One more thing. I just read a horrendous rumor on the net saying that out of all the actors, Tom Cruise is signed to play the Reacher in upcoming movie. I am not against the short guys but, he is what? 5’6”? That’s about a HEAD shorter than Reacher!! Do these guys ever read the book?

I hope to all mighty God this is NOT happening. Like Harry Bosch, some books are best left alone. If only Hollywood producers understand that….

014. The World At Night (1996).

The World At Night by Alan Furst (1996).

        

A very skillful reconstruction of PARIS on the brink of WWII

And

A very French love story.

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layers. – Jean Casson.  A playboy film producer.  Never makes artsy films, just popular French entertaining films such as “No Way Out”, “Last Train to Athens”, “The Devil’s Bridge” and “Night Run”.

Never admits it in front of his friends, but he is quite a patriot. That and one bad friend turns him into an accidental double agent.

Citrine.  Casson’s ex-girl friend and current love of his life. An actress and a dancer.

Louis Fischfang. The best script writer in Paris. Because he is a Jew, he has to escape from Gestapo at the end.

Erno Simic. Hungarian. He runs a small distribution company called Agna film. He is the one who tricks Casson to steal money for him from British spy agency and that forces Casson to become a double agent.

Marie-Claire. Ex-wife.

Bruno. Marie-Claire’s boy friend who flourish under Nazi occupation. In other word, excellent business man.

Langlade. Casson’s lawyer and an old friend. Do lots of pro bono works for him. He runs a light bulb manufacturing factory for day-job.

Since the author re-creates entire city with incredible details, there are lots of unique characters who are just so real and lovely. 

I think Alan Furst DOES really love this city he creates.

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lace. – Now, this is important. Why? Because we are talking about PARIS, here. PARIS!!

Not just regular Paris, but the one in 1940 and 1941 during the WWII.

Alan Furst used up a lot of pages to explain what Paris has been looked like on the brink of WWII. He is NOT talking about the politics here, but the lives of the regular people who lived in Paris.

Food, Clothes, Business, and since Casson is a film guy, a lot about film industry.

There is brief mention of the war zone in the beginning, too.

P

lot. – This is the outline of the plot.

1.      Nazi start the war and Casson goes to war as a war-film-maker.

2.      One of his colleagues who claims himself a spy for Alley offers him a very simple spy-job (money transfer).

3.      Casson crosses the border and successfully delivers the money, but the job is a just scheme to steal the money and British agency is after him.

4.      Casson somehow convinces them he is innocent and goes back to the film business.

5.      Nazi agent is after him now for his connection with British spies which doesn’t exist at all. But Nazi refuse to believe it and Casson, in order to survive, becomes a Nazi spy. However, to the hell with Nazi, he actually becomes a double agent. 

6.      Inevitably, everything goes wrong and Casson is running for his life.

Because this is the WWII in Paris, and British agency and Gestapo are all in, I thought this could be a serious spy thriller. I couldn’t be more wrong. 

This is basically A LOVE STORY

disguises as a thriller or war story.

However, you will thoroughly experience what a daily life in Paris was like under Nazi occupation. There are numerous restrictions imposed in everyday lives, but still Paris is Paris.

You see, even Hitler was NOT crazy enough to demolish the culture of Paris. He did understand the importance of France’s history and its influence in Europe.

So, instead of burn it down to ashes like he did to other countries, he conquered Paris and made sure things were running smoothly. However being Hitler and all that, he just couldn’t stay there and enjoy Paris as it was. So instead, he tried really hard to installed doubt and fear in the mind of Parisians so that they could be suspicious with each other and eventually just be collapsed from within.

I don’t know who the hell he thought he was but he and his friends of course failed and lives in Paris went on as it had been for hundreds of years and at the end, he had no choice but killed himself. What a life.

This book is basically a literature about the Paris and people in it during the war year. There are nine chapters in this book and first seven of them are completely dedicated to that subject – Parisians during WWII.

The last two chapters named aptly “the Secret Agent” and “The Escape”, finally satisfied the claim this book pronounces on the cover -THRILLER.

In those two chapters, Casson has to go through all the regular routines in which all the exposed secret agents have to endure:

Exposure – Arrest – Torture – Escape – Then Escape forever to foreign Country.

Like a lot of good novel, this one has several sub-plots overlapping each other. But every small story line is spreading around the two main story lines.

One is about the War in France.

The other is making a film called “Hotel Dorado”.

And then there is one truly big storyline sitting on top of everything.

The Love story between Casson and Citrine.

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erdict. –The author recreates France during the war so real (the feel and smell of the city is captured so convincingly), you can fell the fear and despair from every paragraph.

After finishing the book, you would get plenty of knowledge of how the war had been fought behind the line by civilians.

Really, the thriller part in this book is just an excuse for the author to show off his very impressive RESEARCH on the subject which is European history during WWII. 

Because his research includes pretty much everything obviously, you can vividly picture the city and people in it with amazing clarity.

On the other hand, other than the last two chapters which forces Casson into a double agent, this is NOT an exciting SPY vs. SPY kind of book. 

The love between Cason and Citrine is sweat, sad and very romantic for French kind of way : No immediate happy ending, promises and loose end which evokes reader’s imagination.

Just perfect for this kind of book.

This is NOT for the thrill - seekers but if you like good literature with real characters and you are interested in Paris, specially during the WWII, then this book is for you.