Tuesday, February 22, 2005
Unfair comparison. Derrick is disappointed I compared Hunter S. Thompson to William F. Buckley Jr. He's right. I hope Mr. Buckley isn't offended at this tremendous slight.
If you haven't guessed, William Buckley has been a personal favorite for years. Attention to detail? Buckley's very descriptive, but not laboriously so. May I recommend one of his books? A Blackford Oakes spy novel? God and Man at Yale? Nearer, My God?
Take your pick, Derrick. And watch your mailbox.
As far as his fear of telling the truth, what truth didn't he tell? His book God and Man at Yale alienated him from his alma mater just two years after graduating. His "radical" thesis: the university's embrace of secularism and socialism was far too hasty, and that alumni should take part in the university's direction.
His magazine National Review was founded with the mission of "standing awthwart history, yelling 'Stop!' "
He did more than stop history from being made; he made his own. He was instrumental in Goldwater's ascent to the Republican nomination for president, which brought on Reagan's elevation, which ushered in Buckley's brand of conservatism as the mainstream Right.
He was in England just as the Brits entered World War II, and he was witness to Neville Chamberlain's folly of brokering peace at any cost. He called out the evils of Communism and socialism and the failings of modern liberalism.
Hunter S. Thompson was a symbol of the time, but little more. His writing talent cannot be denied, but what did he do with it? He smoked a lot of grass, drank a lot of Chivas Regal, and struggled to develop a coherent mantra.
Read Richard Roeper's column (reprinted from 1989) about a Hunter Thompson speech at Cabaret Metro.
Or read this piece from a former Rolling Stone colleague of Thompson's.
No one can deny his talent. I believe he was an entertaining writer, a humorous writer and an opinionated writer. But he was a guy whose love of chemicals kept him from doing anything with that talent.
What change did Hunter Thompson instigate with his writing? Where do you see his influences? What will be said of him and his body of work 10, 15, 25, 50, 100, 200 years from now?
He was an all-star, just no Hall of Famer.
If you haven't guessed, William Buckley has been a personal favorite for years. Attention to detail? Buckley's very descriptive, but not laboriously so. May I recommend one of his books? A Blackford Oakes spy novel? God and Man at Yale? Nearer, My God?
Take your pick, Derrick. And watch your mailbox.
As far as his fear of telling the truth, what truth didn't he tell? His book God and Man at Yale alienated him from his alma mater just two years after graduating. His "radical" thesis: the university's embrace of secularism and socialism was far too hasty, and that alumni should take part in the university's direction.
His magazine National Review was founded with the mission of "standing awthwart history, yelling 'Stop!' "
He did more than stop history from being made; he made his own. He was instrumental in Goldwater's ascent to the Republican nomination for president, which brought on Reagan's elevation, which ushered in Buckley's brand of conservatism as the mainstream Right.
He was in England just as the Brits entered World War II, and he was witness to Neville Chamberlain's folly of brokering peace at any cost. He called out the evils of Communism and socialism and the failings of modern liberalism.
Hunter S. Thompson was a symbol of the time, but little more. His writing talent cannot be denied, but what did he do with it? He smoked a lot of grass, drank a lot of Chivas Regal, and struggled to develop a coherent mantra.
Read Richard Roeper's column (reprinted from 1989) about a Hunter Thompson speech at Cabaret Metro.
Or read this piece from a former Rolling Stone colleague of Thompson's.
No one can deny his talent. I believe he was an entertaining writer, a humorous writer and an opinionated writer. But he was a guy whose love of chemicals kept him from doing anything with that talent.
What change did Hunter Thompson instigate with his writing? Where do you see his influences? What will be said of him and his body of work 10, 15, 25, 50, 100, 200 years from now?
He was an all-star, just no Hall of Famer.
