The Rum Diary: Final Book Reflection

Born in Louisville, Kentucky on July 18, 1937, Hunter S. Thompson is best known for authoring Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and is credited with creating "Gonzo journalism," a highly personal style of reporting where a writer becomes so involved in the story that they become central figures in their piece. His hard-driving lifestyle, which included the steady use of illicit drugs and firearms, made Thompson a counterculture icon perpetually popular with college students. After several bouts of poor health, Thompson died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in 2005.

Begun in 1959 by a twenty-two-year-old Hunter S. Thompson, The Rum Diaryis a brilliantly tangled love story of jealousy, treachery, and violent alcoholic lust in the Caribbean boomtown that was San Juan, Puerto Rico, in the late 1950s. The narrator, freelance journalist Paul Kemp, irresistibly drawn to a sexy, mysterious woman, is soon thrust into a world where corruption and get-rich-quick schemes rule and anything (including murder) is permissible. Exuberant and mad, youthful and energetic, this dazzling comedic romp provides a fictional excursion as riveting and outrageous as Thompson’s Fear and Loathing books.

Throughout the novel, the narrative follows Kemp and two of his coworkers, Yeamon and Sala, at the Daily News, as they run into a few mishaps here and there, including a bike being dismantled by Puerto Ricans and Kemp's friends winding up in jail. The novel mostly follows Kemp going from story to story in San Juan, mingling with women on occasion, and exploring the early days of hedonism while trying to maintain his job at the crumbling paper. The novel isn't the most lively of Thompson's, but it illustrates the kind of lifestyle Kemp leads, with a kind of moral sensibility but a passive view through most of what happens.

The Rum Diary is in many ways a glimpse--as good as we can get--to a young Hunter Thompson, and his days living in San Juan, starting out as a journalist. The story is something of a fictional account, sure, but he really did base Yeamon and Sala off of his two real-life friends of the time, and he really did work at a paper there. I'm not sure how much of the novel's events can be considered true, but the novel never quite reaches the caliber of craziness that Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas displayed. The novel feels much more realistic and sober, albeit drunkenly mellow.

Movie: The Rum Diary

The movie “The Rum Diary” is based on a novel written by Hunter S. Thompson in the early 1960s. After he had discovered booze, but before he had stumbled across drugs, the author got an unknown start in journalism. He moved to San Juan, Puerto Rico, seeking a job on the San Juan Star, where he was turned down.

In the movie, the main character, Paul Kemp, applies for a reporting job at the Star in Puerto Rico and lands it. It doesn't appear to be the kind of paper that attracted the ambitious in those days, but he needed it. During the entire movie, Kemp is in constant search of his voice in the world and we can see how his perspective living in Puerto Rico changes due to some external journey experiences. For example, in the interview with the editor, Lotterman says “This is America” and Kemp responds, “This is Puerto Rico”. This shows us that Kemp really did new his place and were he stands. The location theme is based mainly in San Juan; which in those days appear to have been an active little metropolis. The location, I might say, was very well presented in the movie and brings out the real feeling of what Puerto Rico was back then. For example, the chicken fights and the different neighborhoods.                                                                                                              
Opening Scene