Book Reviews for the Contemporary Man

5 days late, but I’m still doing it! February’s book reviews, in accordance with My 2008 New Years Resolutions. This month I am dubbing “Old Favourites” though I also could have called it “Books about larger than life men who roam around doing whatever they see fit”. I took in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson, Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Suskind, and Candide by Voltaire, translated by David Wootton. These are all books I have read multiple times before and are right up on my favourite books of all time list. Needless to say it was an enjoyable month and there will be nothing less than three 5/5 reviews.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is an amazing book, but most people know it by the film version starring Johnny Depp and Benicio Del Toro. The film is stunning and amazing, and for a Hollywood film is strikingly true to the book, but the book has (of course) scenes the film is missing. Hunter S. Thompson is brilliant and this is (according to me) his masterpiece. The Rum Diaries are equally as compelling, but there’s a certain appeal to Fear and Loathing that gets me hooked every time. The general plot is a journalist and his attourney are assigned to cover a sporting event in Las Vegas and instead inbark on months of misadventure involving a satchel of drugs and fake names. I cannot put this book down once I start. It is so hard to imagine these two men roaming around Las Vegas like two strung out bats out of hell, but somehow once you get past the second chapter there is no doubt left in your mind that these atrocities took place in one form or another. The dialogue is superb, albeit slightly out there and some references leave you desperately googling phrases and events, trying to make sense of Thompson’s uncanny ability to throw in the most obscure references to 60′s and 70′s drug culture via Raoul Duke’s character. The eccentricities make the characters so endearing despite their obvious flaws. My favourite part in the entire book is when Dr. Gonzo, the lawyer, declares that he has a has a powerful lust for red salmon. I have no idea why, but the idea of lawyer so far gone on mescaline and acid screaming for his “lust” for fish is just my idea of a good story. While this book does involve the explicit description of drugs, weaponry and general tomfoolerly that could land a person in jail for life, it is an amazing read and there’s a much deeper side to it all. Thompson’s obvious disillusionment with the drug culture (and Nixon) underlines the entire story. I highly recommend any of Thompson’s work, especially this book.

Next up is Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Suskind. This is probably my favourite book ever. Even in its translation from German into English, the poetic genius of the writing is not lost. Its simply beautiful to read. Being a history major, the historical detailing of the book is incredible, and at times you almost feel the stinking drudgery of life in 18th century Paris. Set among the rues and rats, the story is based around a man named Grenouille (French for “frog”) whom we follow from birth until death. While wholly a common man living amongst the millions of Paris, Grenouille does have one intricacy and that is his ability to smell. His “heightened olfactory” abilities lead us through this tale. At some point in his life he discovers two things: the most perfect scent in the world and the art of perfuming. I will not give away much more but the title “story of a murderer” should hint to some other aspect of this book. While every page of this book is a delight for me to read, I have to say the best part is when our main character ends up living in a cave in the side of a mountain for years, eating frozen bats. This is another book I highly recommend to everyone and anyone I discuss literature with.

The last book I read was Voltaire‘s Candide, as translated by David Wootton. This is a book that I would adore to read in its native French, as I am sure a lot of the little things are lost in translation. This is not to take away from David Wootton who does a superb job at translating, ensuring in all his footnotes to address language barriers, history, and Voltaire’s personal life (which adds more to the story than one might think). The first thing I shall say about this story is that it is completely and utterly absurd. It is literally one misadventure after another. I can almost say it is an 18th century version of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, with men roaming around the world in search of happiness and that dream of a better life. Candide is the main character, and is quite naive until the very end of the book. Under the guidance of a philosopher named Pangloss, he gets himself into one problem after another remaining ever optimistic that life is exactly as it should be. The elements of fate play well into each other in this book, with characters separating and coming back together with the greatest of ease. It is well to say the main point of this story is fatalism and optimism, but I have to say it is a rather depressing book about how shitty life is no matter what we do. Through the course of events involving rapes, loss of buttocks, running the gauntlet and an “auto-de-fe” in South America, Candide does grow to lose is optimism ever so slowly. In the end, it turns out the meaning of life is to just work your land (or farm?). While it is quite scholarly in a sense, and moves at an insane pace, it is brilliant and makes you laugh at the horrible state of the world. It also causes some reflection on how the world really hasn’t changed much since the time that Voltaire roamed around Europe being all bisexual and investing money in the red sheep of the Andes. Good read if you want something short but action packed. It’s like a Jason Statham movie!