Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

The Rum Diary: The Long Lost Novel
The Rum Diary: The Long Lost Novel
The Rum Diary: The Long Lost Novel
Audiobook (abridged)3 hours

The Rum Diary: The Long Lost Novel

Written by Hunter S. Thompson

Narrated by Campbell Scott

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

()

About this audiobook

Made into a major motion picture starring Johnny Depp, The Rum Diary—a national bestseller and New York Times Notable Book—is Hunter S. Thompson’s brilliant love story of jealousy, treachery, and violent lust in the Caribbean.

Begun in 1959 by a twenty-two-year-old Hunter S. Thompson, The Rum Diary is 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.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateNov 1, 1998
ISBN9780743548496
The Rum Diary: The Long Lost Novel
Author

Hunter S. Thompson

Hunter S. Thompson (1937-2005) nació en Kentucky. Empezó como periodista deportivo, se consagró como una de las grandes estrellas de la célebre revista Rolling Stone e inventó el llamado «periodismo gonzo», en el que el autor se convierte en protagonista y catalizador de la acción. En Anagrama se han publicado sus obras más célebres y desmadradas, Miedo y asco en Las Vegas y Los Ángeles del Infierno. Una extraña y terrible saga, así como los reportajes reunidos en La gran caza del tiburón. Empezó su única novela, El diario del ron, en 1959, pero no fue publicada hasta 1998.

More audiobooks from Hunter S. Thompson

Related to The Rum Diary

Related audiobooks

Classics For You

View More

Related articles

Reviews for The Rum Diary

Rating: 4.052631578947368 out of 5 stars
4/5

38 ratings25 reviews

What did you think?

Tap to rate

Review must be at least 10 words

  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    late 50's puerto rico depicted by an american journalist/drunk. the story is decadent in a no-future kind of way. a sort of first world angst adopting the feeling of the tropics, the insanity of the tropics, the decadence of the tropics. there is a lot of drinking, the characters are a bit cartoonish, the narrative is great. although the subject might sound not that interesting the narrative carries you through the story. fun read.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    'Here I was, living in a luxury hotel, ,racing around a half-Latin city in a toy car that looked like a cockroach and sounded like a jet fighter, sneaking down alleys and humping on the beach, scavenging for food in shark-infested waters, hounded by mobs yelling in a foreign tongue - and the whole thing was taking place in quaint old Spanish Puerto Rico...'

    I would guess that in the time that lapsed in this story, a couple tons of rum was consumed. I suppose that explains the title. But serious, these people had to be staggering around drunk all the time. It's amazing they actually got anything done. Oh wait. That's right. They didn't. But considering this story is set in the late 1950's I suppose that would explain their behavior as well.

    "We're all going to the same damn places, doing the same damn things people have been doing for fifty years, and we keep waiting for something to happen. You know - I'm a rebel, I took off - now where's my reward?"
    "You fool," I said." There is no reward and there never was."


    Gritty and raw with a tinge of desperation. Paul Kemp in addition to everyone else he's become acquainted with since his arrival on the island of Puerto Rico have only ended up there in hopes of escaping to something better. After quickly realizing that Puerto Rico (at the time) is far from their original vision of paradise, the spiteful and bitter attitudes begin making an appearance. It doesn't take Kemp long to become just as bitter after the realization that a person can work so hard to have a better life, have more money, and to accomplish your dreams and never actually get anything done except wasting time and getting older.

    "We keep getting drunk and these terrible things keep happening and each one is worse than the last... Hell, it's no fun anymore - our luck's all running out at the same time."

    The Rum Diary is simply that, a diary. There isn't even that much of a plot, really. It's almost like a pilot episode, a small glimpse of what's to come but unfortunately there isn't any full episode to look forward to. Despite that, I find myself extremely fascinated and I now have an incredibly strong desire to read anything I can get my hands on of Hunter S. Thompson's. The Rum Diary is his second novel which he wrote at the age of 22 is semi-autobiographical because Hunter himself flew down to Puerto Rico as a journalist to write for a newspaper. Despite writing The Rum Diary in the early 1960's, it was never actually published until 1998 because no one was interested and he was constantly rejected. Fortunately, he revisited the idea of publishing it several decades later and he finally succeeding in releasing it to the world.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Fiction by the master of gonzo. Thompson paints a vivid picture of Puerto Rico in the late 50s/early 60s that I can relate to the Dominican Republic. Although the DR was in political turmoil at the time the story takes place.I associate the book more with 'Las Vegas' than in the 'campaign trail'. It's hard to tell apart what could actually have happened to him from what he made-up.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A ripping little rum-drenched story you will whizz through leaving you feeling cutely hungover. You can see his later writing style being born & nutured.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    It's an entertaining book, and it's well written enough, but in the end I don't think I'll take anything away from it. The content feels somewhere between Hemingway (who I like) and Bukowski (who I don't.)
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Very good book, reminiscent of "The Sun Also Rises". The only fault of 'The Rum Diary' is that it's too Hemingwayan, which is normal considering Thompson's age at the time of writing (22! At that age most of us are still in college, or barely out). I agree with the reviewers who regret Thompson didn't write other such novels.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A bit less drunken and a lot more misogynistic than I thought it would be, but still an amazingly enjoyable and feverish read.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Quite a culture shock reading this book and very difficult to review and tag it as it doesn't really fit into any particular category. Not as funny as the later seminal "Fear and Loathing" but you do get some occasional low-life laughs along the way as a newspaper writer has various experiences during his time on a Puerto Rico newspaper. A book that makes you want to take a shower after reading it and then drink a glass of rum.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Written before Dr. Gonzo became totally Gonzoized. Nicely developed characters. Great story in and around old San Juan.Good read.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    More accessible and less removed than Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. The Rum Diary is a portrait of the Gonzo as a young man. before the mescalin and the desert, but you can see the emptiness, the desperation, the fire in the world that would explode ten years later.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The life of Hunter S. Thompson largely plays out "on the wild side". Still, while classified as belonging to 1960s counter-culture, his work is not affiliated to the Beat Generation. Thompson's life is quite remarkable, and from its earliest days showed a fascination with the underground, not just literary, but gearing towards the criminal and rough underbelly of society. Still, Thompson was apparently able to channel his energy into a literary production, which has unique features, sparking a genre of itself, and producing very readable works of fiction. Perhaps most well-known for Hell's Angels, Thompson lived and rode with the Hells Angels for a year, as a kind of "participating observation" before publishing his book on the notorious motor club. Disappointingly, Hell's Angels reads more like a journalistic compilation of newspaper clippings than a semi-autobiographical work, possibly to avoid conflict with the Angel's chapter he had been part of. Hell's Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs was Thompson's first book to be published, but it was preceded by two novels, Prince Jellyfish, as yet unpublished, and The rum diary, which was begun in 1958, and finished around 1960, but remained unpublished until 1998.The novel is a fairly joyful story on a sunny island, of a young journalist who discovers how to make a living off writing for a small, local newspaper. The story is set in Puerto Rico, and American colony, which, in the 1950s appears as a relatively lawless, freehaven for adventurous expats. The rum diary is a racy novel, and a very quick read. It tells the story of Paul Kemp, a young journalist, who arrives on the island, lands himself a job as a journalist and starts hanging out with the other editors. Not much happens, but Kemp is quickly able to make some money and earn some respectability, renting a better place, and buying a car. However, hanging out with the clique of editors, and their boozing habits does land them into trouble over a small thing that spins incredibly out of control. Towards the end of the novel, Kemp' relatively simple existence on the island end up in an imbroglio of violence, adultery and alcoholism, from which he can barely escape, getting off the island.The rum diary is an interesting novel about the struggling early years of a writer, in a somewhat seedy expat environment. The novel has little pretense, and is not much connected with any literary movement of the time. It can be read as a light entertainment.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A must-read for anyone who's sees the boring underbelly of the glamorous expat lifestyle. Having discovered not so long ago that living overseas is no guarantee of a stimulating life, I related to a lot of things in this book -- the seductive ease of believing that you've "done enough" just in moving abroad, living in a foreign country and spending all your time with expats, the initially heady but ultimately dull pleasure of a high income and all the alcohol you can afford to drink, working in a place that seems to attract an equal number of dull and creepy people...I could go on and on. Most importantly, it articulated the thing I've realized only in the last few months: taking on the "adventure" of living in another place is no better guarantee of fulfilling life than full-time office jobs and white picket fences. If you're not thinking carefully about what you want from life and actively seeking it, if you're not constantly working to improve yourself rather than changing your surroundings, you're doomed to a lifetime of dissatisfaction.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This work transcends all the negative comments and criticisms of his other works.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is the Thompson that few people know. He's basically trying out his wings here, writing what could be a lost novel by Hemingway. In a lot of ways, comparable to the band Rush's early career, when they were basically a Led Zeppelin sound-alike.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I enjoyed the book, but it wasn't as fantastic or polished as his later works.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Now a major motion picture starring Johnny Depp. Well, "major" may be a bit overreaching, since it stayed in the theaters maybe two weeks.

    This book is exactly what it says it is" day in and day out of a man who moves to Puerto Rico in the 1950s and lives the hedonistic life. No cares, no ties, no responsibilities. Just booze, sex, a job when he feels like it, and life on the cheap. However, mixing with the locals prove to be a bit of a challenge, but not as much as the other ex-pats in the area.

    It was entertaining, but any longer than 204 pages would have been too much. The fact that he is supposed to have influenced a number of contemporary writers, but I can't really see anything extraordinary about his characters (really, just caricatures of personality traits in the typical man: violent, unstable, drunk, sex-crazed, a little psychotic) or his prose (first person told in straight chronology) or the setting (typical 1950s Puerto Rico). One review I read called it "rambling source material" for a movie. I thought this to be quite perfect.

    I probably won't read more by this author.

    Not recommended.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A far more accessible piece of writing than "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas;" I'm not sure which I prefer - Thompson as he is here, human and frail and in love in a foreign and exotic country, or Thompson when he's so far gone on drugs that it feels like I'm trapped with his characters in some sci-fi alternate reality.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    These journalists don?t seem to do much reporting except to each other about the beach, drinking and women. But they aren?t getting paid so I guess that explains why they aren?t really working. This reads like a day in the life but it is called a diary so I guess it sets out to tell the story that way. Once you realize this then you can just go with it and enjoy the storytelling.This book really doesn?t ever get around to telling you what it?s really about other than as I said a day in the life it?s just kind of a romp through the underbelly of a town and people with corruption and murder and drinking and cheating. Of course this was written by a very young Thompson and was only published as I understand it at the urging of Johnny Depp who I wish had done the narration for this audiobook.I am not sure how I feel about Campbell Scott?s narration of this book there were times it sounded like he needed a drink of water a lot of popping and clicking mouth noises between words. I also don?t understand the track length on this production some tracks were up to 17 minutes long and others were 1-4 minutes there seemed to be no rhyme or reason to the length of the tracks. However there were times I liked his narration then he?d do a different voice and it wasn?t that great again.I received this book from the publisher via the Audiojukebox Solid Gold reviewer program.3 stars-Good Book but some things didn't connect with me
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    awesome story!!! wonderfully
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This was a great read. I've always been partial to books that have the main character going through a downward spiral. Being 31 years myself, I could relate to the inner conflicts the main character was facing. I'm glad I read this now instead of earlier or I wouldn't have been able to relate as much to the struggle. I'm interested to see how the movie portrays the book now.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    ok. jetzt erst mal bestandsaufnahme.der autor:hunter s. thompson - verfasser von werken wie ?fear and loathing in las vegas? oder ?hells angels?, ikone der amerikanischen gegenkultur, begr?nder des gonzo-journalismus. hat f?r den rolling stone geschrieben, als er noch jung und cool war (der rolling stone). wurde ende der 30er jahre geboren und hat 2005 seinem leben selbstbestimmt ein ende gesetzt. weirdo, genie und mittlerweile teil des amerikanischen literaturkanons.das buch:the rum diary - gewisserma?en thompsons autobiographisch eingef?rbte aufarbeitung seiner zeit als journalist in puerto rico zu beginn der 60er jahre. im gegensatz dazu nehmen die ereignisse in the rum diary im jahre 1958 ihren anfang. journalist paul kemp reist nach san juan [puerto rico] um dort eine stelle bei der zeitung the daily news anzunehmen. dort angekommen muss er feststellen, dass sich die redaktion der zeitung zu gro?en teilen aus psychopathen und perversen zusammensetzt und sich noch dazu (finanziell und allgemein) in einem desastr?sen zustand befindet. nichtsdestotrotz findet er dort freunde - etwa den fotoreporter sala und den journalisten yeamon. charakteristisch f?r das buch ist der st?ndige und uferlose alkoholkonsum - mit vorliebe (siehe titel) rum; es ist immer hei? in san juan und mangels alternativen betrinkt man sich jeden abend rituell in al?s backyard. im laufe der geschichte eskalieren die ereignisse dann immer mehr, die gesamte bandbreite reicht von einem kurzzeitigen gef?ngnisaufenthalt bis zur planung eines mordanschlags. schlussendlich verl?sst paul kemp san juan - ebenso wie einst thompson selbst. "the rum diary" war jahrzehntelang verschollen und wurde erst 1998 ver?ffentlicht - in meinen augen eine wirkliche bereicherung f?r die literarische welt. auch wenn hier einige elemente, die man gemeinhin mit hunter s. thompson verbindet, noch nicht wirklich pr?sent sind, so zeigt sich bereits sein gro?es schriftstellerisches talent.der mann war immer mehr als ?drogen (die hier im ?brigen noch ?berhaupt keine rolle spielen), gonzo und formvollendetes freaksein?. n?mlich: im gro?en und ganzen ein begnadeter literat und erz?hler. leider wird dies oftmals vergessen, beziehungsweise in anbetracht seiner schillernden pers?nlichkeit in den hintergrund ger?ckt. "it never got weird enough for me."
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Very fun and interesting read.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    The Rum Diary is my favourite of all of Thompson?s writings; it also stands at the top as one of my favourite fiction titles ever. What I find so likable about this book is its realism. It tells the very simple story of Paul Kemp, a completely regular guy who wades his way through the problems of a regular life, as he interacts with other regular people, in a tediously regular town--1950s San Juan, Puerto Rico. Now, of course I use the word ?regular? in the Hunter S. Thompson sense--which is usually a far cry from ?normal.? There are still plenty of interesting aspects to the setting, and to all of the characters in this book.This book is very different from Thompson?s most famous work, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. While I am sure there are some autobiographical elements to the character of Paul Kemp, Thompson has created a very likable fictitious character who struggles his way through a mundane job at a San Juan newspaper, The Daily News.While some may find it a fault, what I love most about this book is the simple straightforward story of its simple straightforward characters. If only Thompson had written more books like this--and to think, this one came close to never being published! That would have been a shame.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    It's a gentler and kinder Hunter S. Thompson in The Rum Diary, his previously unreleased first novel. His trademark hallucinations and other drug-induced bizarreness are missing because this 1950's novel seems to be pre-heavy drug use for the young Mr. Thompson. The novel wildly spins around a heavy-drinking newspaper reporter and the small circle of his fellow thrill-seeking, globe-trotting reporters in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Thompson's world is still very strange, be it using alcohol or drugs.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    my favourite of all thomson's work. If only he did more work like this. What a waste.