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35th out of 123 books
—
86 voters
The Curse of Lono
A wild ride to the dark side of Americana The Curse of Lono is to Hawaii what Fear and Loathing was to Las Vegas: the crazy tales of a journalist's "coverage" of a news event that ends up being a wild ride to the dark side of Americana. Originally published in 1983, Curse features all of the zany, hallucinogenic wordplay and feral artwork for which the Hunter S. Thompson/R...more
Hardcover, 205 pages
Published
October 1st 2005
by Taschen
(first published 1983)
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Part of a conversation about this book:
E: Just ate a sub-par dinner, reading Hunter S. Thompson, avoiding cleaning....I'm doing pretty good.
P: Fear and Loathing?
E: The Curse of Lono. Hawaii in the 80s, marathons, botched fishing excursions, mescaline.
P: Right up there with brown copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Exactly.
E: Just ate a sub-par dinner, reading Hunter S. Thompson, avoiding cleaning....I'm doing pretty good.
P: Fear and Loathing?
E: The Curse of Lono. Hawaii in the 80s, marathons, botched fishing excursions, mescaline.
P: Right up there with brown copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Exactly.
Curse of Lono came out in 1983, which means I would've been about 14 when I found it inexplicable racked in my small town's sole bookshop/newsstand. I freely admit I'd never heard of Thompson or Steadman, and that it was actually the latter's frenetic and vaguely frightening art that drew me to the book. Ten bucks would've been hard for me to come by at the time (probably proceeds from my short-lived Sunday-paper route), but this book was something I had to have. It is not hyperbole to say that...more
Jul 22, 2009
Christopherseelie
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
HST fans, anyone up for a dark laugh
The most elaborate, hilarious, and engrossing "big fish" tale ever committed to print. This is one of Hunter Thompson's greatest achievements, and it doesn't hurt that the packaging is lavish. A huge coffeetable book with quality prints, facsimiles of the Good Doctor's relevant letters, and interspersed excerpts from other books that fill in the Hawaiian history relevant to the story. What is so fascinating about this last feature is that it reveals what other HST books have left out: the studio...more
*Back-dating reviews based on snips I find*
I’m officially taking a break from Hunter S. Thompson. I’m sick of feeling like I’m missing the point. I swear, that blurb has made me paranoid! Every book I read, I’m like “Is it hilarious? Am I missing something hilarious?” I mean, I like his style of writing and I like the fact that much of it surrounds journalism in some form, but I’ve never read a book – barring ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’ and felt like I really got the tone it was written in,...more
I’m officially taking a break from Hunter S. Thompson. I’m sick of feeling like I’m missing the point. I swear, that blurb has made me paranoid! Every book I read, I’m like “Is it hilarious? Am I missing something hilarious?” I mean, I like his style of writing and I like the fact that much of it surrounds journalism in some form, but I’ve never read a book – barring ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’ and felt like I really got the tone it was written in,...more
This is the Hunter Thompson book you've never heard of, but really want to read. It's mostly about how crappy Hawaii is. It has the best ending of any of his stuff I've read, hands down.
Getting the book though is another matter. The paperback of it has been out of print since the early 80s. It's only produced now by Taschen, the art book company, as a big 60 dollar coffee table book. And they only started really printing it about a year after the first batch of 1000. The first 1000 Taschen put...more
Getting the book though is another matter. The paperback of it has been out of print since the early 80s. It's only produced now by Taschen, the art book company, as a big 60 dollar coffee table book. And they only started really printing it about a year after the first batch of 1000. The first 1000 Taschen put...more
I think this is my fave HST book. Coupled with Steadman's delicious gonzo art, the writing and story really comes alive.
Its a crazy romp through Hawaii which no Thompson or Steadman fan should go without reading!
*If you're a fan of Steadmans art, as I am in a big way - look for a recently published version of Lono. Its a huge oversized hardback printed on high quality pages where Steadman's art really is given center stage. I keep it on display at all times!
Its a crazy romp through Hawaii which no Thompson or Steadman fan should go without reading!
*If you're a fan of Steadmans art, as I am in a big way - look for a recently published version of Lono. Its a huge oversized hardback printed on high quality pages where Steadman's art really is given center stage. I keep it on display at all times!
There's something of the throwaway Gonzo pot-boiler about The Curse of Lono. I started reading the first few pages unsure about what to expect but fairly confident in knowing that i'd be able to spend some time riding Thompsons fun and bumpy prose through some kind of wreckless drug-fuelled narrative. That's partly what you get from this book but it isn't as chemically driven as the Vegas book, for example, and it unfortunately doesn't pull you along in quite with quite the same momentum. There'...more
It's rather swish of me, but I have the huge and lavish Taschen edition of this wonderful book - probably one of Thompson's most underrated pieces of work.
Any book that starts with the narrator making his way through customs with a blue arm because he chickened out of flushing his stash down the airplane toilet and grabbed it back is obviously going to be pretty 'out there' and this doesn't disappoint.
As usual, Steadman's manic illustrations match Thompson's twisted narrative. Brilliant.
I went b...more
Any book that starts with the narrator making his way through customs with a blue arm because he chickened out of flushing his stash down the airplane toilet and grabbed it back is obviously going to be pretty 'out there' and this doesn't disappoint.
As usual, Steadman's manic illustrations match Thompson's twisted narrative. Brilliant.
I went b...more
Great read! This has to be the only book that has made me curious about visiting Hawaii. I always thought the only reason the islands existed was so that conservative Americans could have the experience of visiting another country without stepping off of U.S. soil. Anyway, it is some of Hunter's best work and only AFTER I found it at a garage sale for one dollar did I learn that it is rare and hard to find and such, so that made it more pleasant. Of course other reviewers online make it sound as...more
Hunter S. Thompson goes on an adventure of fear and loathing in Hawaii and presents himself as an angry, trickster god in this book. He's supposed to cover a marathon for Runner magazine, but he and his spiteful family and friends end up traversing two islands for over six months instead. As always, his writing is driven, hilarious, and frightening at times. While Thompson's prose is usually disjointed, I found it easier to piece-together a narrative and various themes in his other works. Noneth...more
Suffering from burnout from the '72 Campaign Trail and likely the boredom of the Ford and Carter years, Thompson laid pretty low for quite some time. The Curse of Lono evokes Vegas and shows that he was still keeping abreast of politics and was ready to hit the road running during the Reagan years. The book also strips bare some of the artifice and shows that he was always a serious journalist who did his research, and the illustrations by Ralph Steadman are the most lavish and beautiful of thei...more
One of the last decent stories from Thompson - before the gonzo swamped his journalism, turning his later efforts into convoluted rants.
Lono runs with the wry humor and observations on human foibles. And it has a heaping helping of Ralph Steadman's artwork - in fact this tale of the Hawaiian Marathon is short, collaborative effort between the writer and the artist, rather than a fat Thompson book with a Steadman cover.
All in all it's big fun and worth having on a shelf at home.
Lono runs with the wry humor and observations on human foibles. And it has a heaping helping of Ralph Steadman's artwork - in fact this tale of the Hawaiian Marathon is short, collaborative effort between the writer and the artist, rather than a fat Thompson book with a Steadman cover.
All in all it's big fun and worth having on a shelf at home.
Hunter seemed a little bitter in this one. Opposite to 'Fear and Loathing,' he seemed less about making fun of 'our' situation, and more about crawling under people's skin and bullying and taunting the unsuspecting victims around him.
In the difference of ten years, Hunter seemed to have lost hope in humanity, and this book made that point very clear. It was a well written and tragic story about one of America's greatest journalist's hate-filled trips to Hawaii. The artwork by Ralph Steadman is a...more
In the difference of ten years, Hunter seemed to have lost hope in humanity, and this book made that point very clear. It was a well written and tragic story about one of America's greatest journalist's hate-filled trips to Hawaii. The artwork by Ralph Steadman is a...more
i love hunter. i love that this book, like so many of his other works, breaks down in the telling (to be supplemented by a series of letters to steadman). i love his ability to convey a wealth of background information about his setting in an engaging way. i love his tone and sensibility, razor sharp and bitingly funny, subversive but (generally) good-hearted. i love the image of him cruising into port bellowing "i am lono!"...i love his spirit.
May 24, 2007
Zan G
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Fans of H.S. Thompson and/or Ralph Steadman
I had seen this lying around the local Half-Price Books and snagged it with a coupon diminishing the hefty price tag. This is a gigantic book with huge beautiful prints by Steadman as well as the usual crazed drunken rambling of Thompson.
The whole thing is about a trip to Hawaii to cover the Honolulu Marathon that goes awry a la la Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and degenerates into a mescaline-fueled marlin hunt with a smattering of interesting pre-American Hawaiian history. The art is great, t...more
The whole thing is about a trip to Hawaii to cover the Honolulu Marathon that goes awry a la la Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and degenerates into a mescaline-fueled marlin hunt with a smattering of interesting pre-American Hawaiian history. The art is great, t...more
I must have been reading this at a good time in my life. Out of all the HST books I've read---this one was the funniest I laughed out load and until I was crying reading this. As I was alone at the time, I thought I was having too much fun by myself. I told others about the book and loaned it out, but no one ever seemed to really enjoy it the way I did. One of my favorite memories of reading.
This time the Good Doctor takes us to Hawaii, where he's supposed to cover the Honolulu Marathon. As HST connoisseurs will expect, the athletic aspect is just a minor topic in the background, behind the usual drugs and alcohol, high-life and exclusivity, and the veil weirdness that covers and exposes American culture for what it is. Really, nothing new, for those who are familiar with the Fear and Loathing staples. The interesting thing about this book is how it goes beyond the superficial surfa...more
SIZEABLE book! Was surprised when it arrived at the library's checkout counter. I missed this through the years, OBVIOUSLY! Digging in now!
Update: I'm halfway through and already I do not want this book to end. LAUGH OUT LOUD funny. I'm glad I'm reading this after 9+ years living aloha, otherwise this book might have scared me off. He certainly nails the almost-everyone-you-meet-is-running-a-scam bit which still exists today on the islands...I wonder if this is true of island cultures in general...more
Update: I'm halfway through and already I do not want this book to end. LAUGH OUT LOUD funny. I'm glad I'm reading this after 9+ years living aloha, otherwise this book might have scared me off. He certainly nails the almost-everyone-you-meet-is-running-a-scam bit which still exists today on the islands...I wonder if this is true of island cultures in general...more
The Good Doc in Hawaii with the locals and stories of Captain Cook and Lono. Insane take on a marathon, fishing, and all around mayhem. I found myself laughing hysterically throughout this beast of a book. I'm glad I finally got my hands on this. As always, Hunter offers his own choice words of advice and verbal grenades - It wouldn't be a Hunter book otherwise.
Hunter S. Thompson writes his experience when traveling to Hawaii with his friend Ralph Steadman. As the book begins, Thompson already describes various entertaining and wild experiences. As each chapter begins with greater explanation relating Hawaiian mythology, Ralph Steadman illustrates the journey with his signature heavy ink drawings.
i can remember reading this in my teens and liking it even more than the other hst i had read. when the ralph steadman edition came out...i snatched it up and was very pleased at how it still read really well. recently a friend of my son's came home from hawaii and we pulled this out again...it 'has legs' as they say.
I own the gigantic special edition re-release of this book, as well as at least 1 copy of every other hunter s thompson work, and have read them all and I have got to say: This is my personal favorite out of all of them. I'm not sure if this will help anyone who reads this but... here it is
Wonderful HST book! Lono is one of my faves, not just because of the writing but the beautiful Steadman illustrations too! My favorite parts are about the Honolulu Marathon. As a runner, I found Hunter's hilarious commentary on the marathon a treat - and it is frighteningly accurate.
I didn't have the illustrated version, just a epub file of the text. That being said, there was nothing interesting about this book. Nothing interesting about the writing, nothing interesting about the characters, nothing interesting about the action. Not interesting.
This book is a good view into Thompson's later years as he takes a trip to Hawaii with artist Ralph Stedman. Like Fear and Loathing, both characters have very colorful personalities; and although the drug escapades and drunken stupors aren't quite as extreme, the story sheds light to Thompson's self realization and discovery of his own almighty powers (as a person). I would certainly recommend this.
First off the illustrations are amazing giving this book a collectors value unlike other of HST's works. The writing is top notch Hunter as well making this even better. It ranks up their with my favorites of his work and I am glad to have a copy.
This was a fun read, and having read the TASCHEN edition, it had to be the best way to take in the prose along with Steadman's illustrated vistas. I'd find myself knee deep in a classic HST tornado of screed, and then turn the page to have a macabre punctuation by Ralph Steadman across two full pages. Simply jaw-dropping.
A fascinating look into the bizarre mind of both Thompson and Steadman, this monolith of a book stands outside everything else they've done together, I find. A strange masterpiece of peculiar proportions and screaming bizarreness.
Jun 13, 2009
Stanley
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
anyone who feels the need to hitch a ride to Hawaii with a lunatic.
I'm not even going to try to review HST. I think each person needs to experience him on their own, without any previous influences...unless they are illegal drugs. Then I say, good luck to you my friend!
What I learned from this book is that Hunter S. Thompson is awesome. Crazy, but awesome. For what this book is (an art book with an elaborate, absurd story), I don't know how you can get much better.
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
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| curse of lono | 5 | 15 | 08. März, 12:02 Uhr |
Hunter Stockton Thompson was an American journalist and author, famous for his book Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. He is credited as the creator of Gonzo journalism, a style of reporting where reporters involve themselves in the action to such a degree that they become the central figures of their stories. He is also known for his promotion and use of psychedelics and other mind-altering substanc...more
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“Yesterday's weirdness is tomorrow's reason why.”
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“The greatest mania of all is passion: and I am a natural slave to passion: the balance between my brain and my soul and my body is as wild and delicate as the skin of a Ming vase.”
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