Wh...wha... what? Huh? Wow. (Book 36)

A friend convinced me that I needed to read Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (Hunter S. Thompson) . I always assumed the book was akin to William S Burrough's Naked Lunch, which I unsuccessfully tried to read in high school (It was so weird and dense that I could barely read 20 pages in to it).

I was surprised to find Fear so engaging. Don’t get me wrong, it was definitely one of the weirdest books I’ve ever read, but I was enthralled with the crazy world. I still don’t understand why anyone would want to purposefully pound their brains with so many drugs that the carpet bleeds, everyone turns into lizards, and you puke in yours shoes. I’ve had panic attacks and I’m pretty certain that I wouldn’t ever want to take anything to induce them. I have too many control issues and can't even begin to know how to let go of reality like that.

However, it was fascinating to look into the mind of an adrenaline junkie. They push all of the the limits and get off on the ultimate high of getting away with it all.. Thompson writing style is engaging and vivid. I felt immediately sucked into that crazy world of 1971 Vegas, which was proven by the multiple nightmares that I had about lizard people and rattlesnakes attacking me. Nightmares aside, I really enjoyed the book.

To follow, I watched the movie adaptation. Hollywood usually likes to kill great books, but this was a fantastic portrayal of the book. The acting was great. I really enjoyed the detail they invested in the scenery. A few times, the spans of the hotel room (dirty, mucked up pools of filth) would make me feel like puking in my shoes. Anyway, being a true bibliophile, I recommend reading the book first

As a side note, this was my 36th book for the year. That is 10 past my goal.