I love Hunter S. Thompson. Though I do not have many people I look up to, I view Hunter as a role model. And it is rare that I find anyone who lived during my time to be role model worthy in the slightest.
Have you ever known anyone who died of natural causes? I haven’t. Have you ever known anyone who was said to have died from suicide, who actually killed themselves? I haven’t. I think Hunter was like Sylvia Plath in this instance…
“Lesson 5: Truth is Easier”
Hunter S. Thompson was known for his drug use and being outlandishly extreme. How could you be so out there and keep track of your lies? You just couldn’t. Most people lack the ability to tell the truth because they are trying to be something they are not. Or they are trying to get away with something that is not in people’s best interest or even on their radar. Telling the truth is just easier. But it is a luxury most people cannot fathom affording.
“…politics is the art of controlling your environment.”
If your epigenetics are controlled by the environment, it is weird to think that politics are controlling that environment. But it makes complete sense. Because decisions are made and laws are passed that effect who we are on a gene and cellular level everyday. Who we are on a gene and cellular level has become more political than personal in a lot of ways in the modern world. Perhaps, Hunter S. Thompson knew this. But he just didn’t have the words to describe this feeling using science. Epigenetics were not discovered until the mid-1980s.
“Never take yourself too seriously. If you do, you start thinking you have too much to lose, so you start to fear that lose; you lose your freedom.”
Freedom is a theme Hunter spent his life writing about. How we chose to spend our lives is how we chose to spend our freedom. But people don’t think about it like that. They think their comfortable lives in suburbia with delusions of freedom perpetuated by the small mundane choices they make everyday, “Pepsi or Coke? Bootleg or Slim Fit? Sparkling or Flat? Breakfast or Brunch?”. Are what freedom is actually made of. When you believe your ability to make these decisions is apart of what makes you you, then you have taken yourself too seriously and literally.
This book is Hunter’s wife going through seven lessons he taught her during their time together. She published this book a couple years after his suicide. It was a quick, about 100 page, read. If you have not read anything by Hunter S. Thompson I would suggest Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, or just watch the movie. I would not suggest reading this book unless you are really into Hunter S. Thompson and all of his material. His book on Hell’s Angels is something I look forward to reading one day soon fingers crossed.