I was strolling around the library one day, searching for something that would serve as occasional distraction from uni work (because, you know, I don't have any books in my shelf...), and came across Thompson. Now, I know that this is probably not the style he came to be known for but it was still entertaining. Occasionally I laughed aloud at all the crazy stuff.

I think what shows also how much I liked this, was that I have no interest in motorcycles or motorcycle gangs, but Thompson somehow made it interesting. This was my first introduction to gonzo journalism and will definitely check out more of Thompson's work, since this area of journalism really hit me. The sarcasm, humour and overall attitude of putting yourself out there were the biggest factors for me.

I would have given this just 1 star but the fact that it occasionally made me laugh and roll my eyes ("what the hell am I reading here??") was enough for me to throw another one behind it. As much as I've always chuckled at the mere idea that someone manages to shock with art I don't think that something should be published just because of shock value. Whether it happened in this case, I don't know, but it inevitably crossed my mind. The junkie ramblings got old before halfway at which point I started hoping that Burroughs would have edited the whole thing a little more. Hallucinatory notes written under the influence of drugs may not always be awesome source material.

Some events were so weird I was giggling inside my head. Brilliantly crafted story about madness and identity. The few philosophical contemplations felt a bit separate from the narrative.

The embodiment of melancholy and beautiful language. Not so much a particular story, more like a portrait of a fading era.

I bought this because it was about Paris (I've been slightly obsessed with it lately) and because for some time I've wanted to try Hemingway. Perhaps I need to try something else for this didn't impress me at all. There are certainly writers who write really well with almost no descriptions and with a very few words but Hemingway (in this case) just wasn't one of those. His writing style is incredibly boring. There was so much potential to write an amazing piece of memoir considering who he hanged out with but now it fell short.

I was a bit torn with the stories. At times I was annoyed by the women, sometimes the men and sometimes I just couldn't care what happens. But they depict the feelings of the characters really well when something suddenly changes.