I decided to start the challenge with the book The Rum Diaries by Hunter S. Thompson. I did not see the movie (a plus, I think, when reading the book), but did hear the location was Puerto Rico, so I broke out a cold container of coconut water, put on my rose-colored sunshades, and dove in. Now, it takes me a bit longer to get through a book in English than it does in Spanish. First, even though I have been reading in English for over 25 years, I still feel hesitant to read too quickly and miss something. Also, I really like to take in each word and see how it fits in the sentence and if it triggers anything in my mind. With that said, and reminding you that I am NOT a professional literary critic, just a regular reader, I will say I REALLY struggled with it. If I would have played the “shot game” for every time the main character said “those Puerto Ricans” like he was smelling gutted fish, I would have been drunk by the third page. The description of the heat and the drinking is so raw that I found myself wanting to take showers to prevent a hangover. If the writer was going for a gag-reflex, he got it. To me it read slow, drunk, depressed, unfulfilled, and hopeless. I had to read a few reviews because I could have sworn I was missing something. Why was this book published? North American men go to P.R. to work in a newspaper, drink all the time; seem to feel Puerto Ricans were beneath them; get in trouble with the law (but of course it was mainly because the Ricans lied); and at the end (almost very end) two of them seem to get away with murder. Not much energy seems to go into it. The whole thing is a drunken haze, and ah! The one female character gets drugged and raped by the natives but gets blamed for it by her male “friends” who quickly give her the ol’ brush-off. I keep reading reviews of “fast paced” and “action”, and to tell you the truth, I did not see that at all. The narrator seems more of a loner than anything else, and no close relationships seem to build. No lasting memories made, not even for the rape victim due to having been drugged. When towards the end the narrator starts looking back on the “good old days” I had to go back in the book to try to find those days. Never found them. I had the impression that these newsmen were more like parasites praying on the rum and burger resources of the island before being forced to look someplace else for survival. I am so glad that book is over I could throw a dry party.
My next book in the challenge will be Inheritance: It was hers from the beginning. By Thomas Wymark. This book will fulfill the requirement for Horror reading. The book is described as a “psychological mystery and suspense thriller” which in my head means horror maybe because to have a mystery connected to psychology, we must be talking about some twisted characters. The words “suspense” does not paint a pretty picture to me (I like to know the end of a movie before I watch it) so this is the closest I can get to it so far. I am hoping for no explicit scenes. I read Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn and truth be told I had to take a break from reading for a bit. There was too much in terms of imagery in my head by the time I was done and could not shake it off. Then I thought The Girl with All the Gifts by M.R. Carey would be a lighter read, but I still feel some apprehension when walking near a group of kids. Kidding (maybe.)
So, why this book next? Well, I just looked at the first page to see if it grabbed me. It did. How can anyone resist the alluring call of the sirens when the first short paragraph starts with: “I had never been a violent woman.” And ends with: “But things can change.” (Thomas Wymark, Inheratance, Chapter 1.)
Diving in, not knowing what to expect. Don’t know of anyone who has read it and will wait until I am done before looking up some reviews, possibly from Goodreads.com (not a paid announcement, I just really like the resource.)
See you on the other side of the book. Hopefully soon and hopefully very happy.
(Picture credit: Martino Sabia: Lonely reading woman – Woman reading a notebook in Alfama, Lisbon – Portugal. https://www.flickr.com/photos/ezu/42764498/in/photolist-4MboW-VnfpV-e92zvw-dpxAqr-p9sYQs-oT52Qi-83D5Wc-cQkUMy-bW9kQY-pGNG3J-nLF13Z-7jPE4e-ndqdEY-jEv4AU-fuFqK9-aYYfSZ-9vrfYu-foWRWM-997LWw-3NLbqi-foWS2X-5wGVSw-S7ose-aGuZUv-bNMo8p-iz6bDK-5FRRpp-p4fryt-dTQkzA-6G35Ye-8frakk-qD5hY8-fzeEsM-jZLDGH-oBqaJq-9PFvS2-f5CTgQ-8Qh5fa-S7oaZ-oMww45-g2k9c3-dQRc2x-hjUnTq-fJ9J7R-7DgP25-q4rfVF-dux698-PoU2A-pBhSa7-7euof) Some Rights Reserved.
