Book: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, by Hunter S. Thompson
Genre: absurdist fiction
Themes: bureaucracy, absurdity, the lurking threat of a controlling state
Comps: Waiting for Godot, Rozencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
Representative quote: "Be quiet, be calm, say nothing ... speak only when spoken to: name, rank, and ... affiliation, nothing else ..."
Page: 22
It is a bleak, absurd look that cuts to the heart of the machine that is modern society. Red tape engulfs, nay, smothers, all human impulses for the productive, effective, and simple, leaving only a mad lusting for what can never be achieved.
In a telling moment Raoul makes the mistake of mocking the ineffectiveness of the system, saying, "We haven't done anything yet!"
"There's somebody waiting for you," says a woman who isn't even given a
name. She is an anonymous piece of the machinery, like everything else. For his candor Raoul has been threatened with the sinister presence of some man--again unnamed and this time also faceless--who lurks, waiting, in a room that is not even ready yet. The threat of punishment looms real, unabated by any suspicions that in this failed bureaucracy punishment might never actually ever come. The uncertainty is part of what hoists the existential dread to excruciating heights.
The book concludes as it opens, with Raoul standing in line with all the others. Nameless, faceless others, waiting for who knows what, destined to be standing there for who knows how long. Look upon these works, ye mortals, and linger in despair!
Final Rating: 5/5 bookmarks. A compelling, immersive tale from 1971 of an inevitable future that, from this late date in 2018, seems increasingly prescient. Some may say we have already realized that bleak future entirely.
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