supersoul

nothing was the same, it’s hard to understand for those who haven’t lived it. The Sex Pistols are now scoffed at by kids who download mp3s like crazy and are mesmerized by the baroque finger work that Wakeman does with the six wives of Henry VIII while the Sex Pistols were fumbling with their fingers figuring out the chords. But damn it, I’ll quote myself: “... when the four chords of ‘Holiday in the Sun’ kick in with Rotten barking like a dog with adenoids, the magic of rock is renewed for me (even today). I feel sorry for you kids.”

It is evident that the term progressive is quite limiting for Magma; it's no coincidence that they built the zeuhl to which not only French bands but especially the Japanese, so inclined to apocalyptic tones, have drawn inspiration. There is rather a significant amount of jazz rock and classical music in these two suites, plus the disorienting piano tribute to Coltrane. It's something to approach with caution, not for everyone, quite different (rightly) from the four Norwegian monkeys. The two suites Kohntark can also be listened to in that live masterpiece (especially the second part) known as Hhai, although unfortunately (too unfortunately) dominated by the violin. I see Lewis mention two major authors in the French progressive scene like Gainsbourg and Tellier, but I would like to speak in favor of Nino Ferrer (yes, the one famous in Italy for "Vorrei la pelle nera") and his magnificent "Metronomie" from 1971 if I remember correctly.

until the next discussion :)

But I am ironic even with myself, so imagine if I'm not with others. Writing reviews isn't my job; I write them just to share what a record, a film, or (now) a book means to me, not with the pretense of being complete or careful not to be too superficial. I’m not delivering a thesis or a book to a publisher. It seems to me that your criticism was a bit presumptuous, as if to say don't touch Thompson because he's my thing. I believe that from the four lines I've written, it doesn’t come across that Hunter is a simple person or that Duke in the book is the only one who is real (in the literal sense of the term) in a hypocritical society. Of course, if you cling to words (which sometimes need a bit of a lofty leap) with this rigidity, I don’t envy your girlfriend. Said always with irony and without any desire or intention to hurt, of course.

Oh no, dear Brunoro, the arrogance is all yours. First, you say that "the reading plans are multiple and this is one of the great merits of the book," and then you dismiss those of others, validating only your own interpretation. But don't worry, the sport of undermining others and then accusing them of arrogance when they respond thoroughly and not just to beat around the bush is a very common pastime on Debaser. Greetings from Roccarainola :)

@right psycho, but what I find interesting (and truly significant) about the character Thompson is not so much that Barger was actually his friend, but the fact that Thompson BELIEVED he was. Thompson always defended him regarding that fact; I remember that after stating he was his friend to the interviewer who asked in surprise how that was possible after his men had beaten him up, he calmly replied that if you swim with sharks, you have to expect a few bites, but that with Sonny, even if he was a psychopath, he had always felt good. Thompson had thought, only to change his mind later, that that dream of individualist freedom could be represented by the Hell's.

If it weren't for gbrunoro reminding us that Thompson's figure is more complex than it may seem... Thompson is not from Abbiategrasso or Roccarainola; he is an American with all the peculiarities that this entails. It’s true because he is sincere, and for him, the truth is an indispensable prerequisite for defending certain values that drive him in search of the American dream, which, in the end, NO LONGER EXISTS. It's not the phoenix that rises again, but it has been slaughtered by politicians and by the reactionary, puritanical, conservative right. Thompson is the one who hates Nixon to the point of saying that if America was the one mourning Nixon at his funeral, then his America was either erased or never existed. The dream for him consists simultaneously in keeping a sawed-off shotgun at hand and getting elected sheriff of the county to decriminalize drugs. It’s a dream of freedom articulated in his friendship with Sonny Barger. It’s something difficult for us from Abbiategrasso and Roccarainola to understand. For us who didn’t shoot ourselves after Berlusconi's re-election, as he did, disgusted with America after Bush's re-election.

in understanding that for the author LAS VEGAS (...and not Los Angeles) is both the triumph and at the same time the defeat of the American dream

It doesn't take long, reading the book, to understand that for the author Los Angeles is both the triumph and at the same time the defeat of the American dream. There’s a beautiful page in the chapter "To Hell with the American Dream" when in Aspen the famous superpatriot astronaut xxxxx insults the Canadian singer, a friend of Thompson, for his venomous words against America. The next evening, a young boy asks the famous astronaut for an autograph while he is at the table with the cream of American society, and right after he tears it up saying, "...Not everyone loves you, buddy," and no one spoke as if someone had sprayed them with shit spray. Thompson bitterly concludes that in Las Vegas the astronaut would never have had these problems. Those who continue to dream are the living dead, monstrous creatures like those that assault Duke and Dr. Gonzo, high and hallucinating, in the hotel lobby. The Raul Duke of the book is real because he fights against rampant conformity, while the Hunter S. Thompson that followed has unfortunately become a parody of himself, remaining a prisoner of that image of a drugged-out drunkard, trying to reclaim those traits even in the later years, during Watergate. Hunter's dream shattered just like that wave you can read in my personal profile. Greetings to all participants, even to that other anti-American donjunio ahahaha.

Joseph K, Orange juice? the best match was made by vortex, which reminds me of the time when the monochrome set and xtc were releasing their records. The dust from old things must be removed by those old, unfortunate guys using the old method of rag and elbow grease that puts each object in the right light because nostalgia is a feeling tied to lived experiences; otherwise, the young ones use too many modern cosmetics & brighteners that simplify the work but make it too sterile... just like things that haven't been experienced.