Internet Apocalypse

Oh to be a reporter in the 1950's! Sipping rum in the stifling heat of San Juan after a hard day toiling away over a typewriter in a nicotine stained office. This is exactly how I felt as I accompanied reporter Paul Kemp on his journey through the bowels of Puerto Rico. Today I'm writing about the Rum Diary by Hunter S. Thompson.

When I read this book, I imagined the setting in tones of sepia, old Chevrolets rolling past in the dusty Puerto Rican streets as people in thin linen shirts and round-brimmed hats try to do as little as possible in the heat of the beating sun. Suddenly my tube journey to work was transformed. I could hear the Jazz and taste the cheap iced cuban rum, a refreshing change to the cramped, sweaty underground of sleepy, flu ridden Londoners.

The book tells of said reporter, his adventures and mis-adventures. He joins a small newspaper, already fated to fail due to its colourful workforce of extrovert and sometimes violent hacks that make their living there. This could be enough of a story on its own, but throw in a love interest shared between the reporter and his unstable friend and you have a recipe for both disaster and intrigue.

What impressed me the most was that this book, written from the point of view of someone who was obviously having trouble dealing with becoming middle aged, was penned by Thompson when he was just 22 years old! Although short, this is a must read for anyone, especially those with a lust for adventure or the idyllic dream of a little work and adventure in far flung lands.

Definitely - I will have to write a short article on Down & Out In Paris & London by George Orwell at some point, as both these books have the same effect of truly transporting the reader to a different place and time. It will be hard to beat books like these on my commute from here on in.