post#6

I have read from pg.26 to pg.94

Thompson summarizes the world of sports and politics often relating the two. He starts to say how much he is hating the NFL these days and how sports have only gotten worse. The Lisl Auman cases gets a lot of attention while Thompson bashes on the government for a falsely accused murder. He tells of gambling stories and gives advice on gambling strategies. Thompson wrote about September 11th and how it could affect America.

Thompson is always talking about how stupid are politicians are these days and how the government sucks. He criticizes politicians all the time. this is a big theme that he uses thought his books.

post #5

I finish the last book, Songs of the Doomed, and read to page 26 of Hey Rube.

Hey Rube starts out with explaining why the book is titled Hey Rube. Thompson is referring to the ignorance of Americans in these new days. Clowns and circus freaks would call someone a rube if they were easily fooled. Thompson claims that the vast majority of Americans are rubes to the political world. The book continues with Thompson's commentary on politics and sports.

A theme that has occurred is Thompson refers to other things quite often like Bob Dylan lyrics of excerpts from the Great Gatsby. He uses them as if they were meant to be talking about what he is which could or could not be true.

post#4

I have read from the 120's to 220

As the book moves into the seventies Thompson gets into politics more. He talks about his planes to run for certain offices and how to get so and so elected. He carefully strategies how to win the 1976 presidential campaign by running in '72. Thompson talks about how he came up with the famed phrase fear and loathing, while riding in a car and worried about getting arrested. Thompson set up a secret meeting of the top political heads to set the platform for the '76 election. Hunter also went to Saigon to cover to action over there near the end of the Vietnam war. At the beginning of the eighties he covers the Pulitzer trial, and southern Florida craziness. "The Silk Road" an uncompleted novel about the Cuban immigration movement(freedom flotilla).

themes
-the American dream is mention several times but is never bluntly stated.
-politics had been a big part of Thompson's life
-craziness, but being right in the middle of it and writing as if it was happening right then

Thompson doesn't really use symbolism in his writing. He does make a lot of references to the American dream, The Great Gatsby, and relating his writing to ideas or charters in The Great Gatsby.