The Rum Diary

One of the first solely literature novels I had read in a while, I thoroughly enjoyed Hunter S. Thompson's The Rum Diary. The author tells the story of a group of American journalists living hedonistically in Puerto Rico. Reminiscent of Hemingway or Graham Greene without most of the political or historical interest, it is a journalist's novel. Telling the tale of hard-drinking journalists living it up without knowing where to go, what really to look for what to do. Arguably, the end tries to criticize this kind of lifestyle to some extent - interestingly enough, or sexist enough, it is a woman who pays the ultimate price for it who is incapable of living this life without paying a price. Yet, at the end of the day the novel simply provides a glimpse into this life, nothing more, nothing less.