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20 comments:
The most obvious attribute of Gonzo journalism is that the writer is extremely present. It would be extremely rare to read a news article in a paper about the election where the writer was using "I" and working their own experience into the piece. Hunter S. Thompson's experiences are what sets his writing apart. It is much more interesting to read about what's going on around him during Nixon's resignation than to read a dry piece that spits facts and sober observations at you. What I've always liked about "new" journalism is that writers such as Thompson and Didion are much more engaging because they include their experiences. Not only is it more humorous and entertaining, but I'd personally rather read about an event through a person's experience with it than read a stiff, impersonal account of it. Aside from the writer's experiences being present, Gonzo journalism is also quirky, humorous and crosses boundaries--all of the things we as " professional journalists" are fiercly warned against.
Like Tiffany mentioned, the most obvious aspect of Gonzo journalism is the writer's presence. It was once an outrageous idea to use personal experience in a story, to use the word "I" in anything written. Hunter S. Thompson was one of the first people to break that rule and it really worked in his favor. There were plenty of ways to write about Nixon leaving office, it was one of the biggest stories of the century. And like Tiffany mentioned, I got so much more out of his account of the event than I ever would reading a stuffy newspaper article. The idea of really injecting emotion and personal account, as well as in some cases, turning the main event into the secondary actions of the story. In "The Scum Also Rises," I was able to feel what the mood was like around Thompson, something that is hard to express in a straight news story. I was able to understand how difficult it was too keep up the pace of the Nixon Impeachment and the days that followed. I not only got to hear about what was going in Washington, but as a reader I was able to understand what the reporters went through.
I must agree with the above comments. Using the pronoun "I" has to be the most obvious characteristic of Gonzo journalism. Writers, especially those being "taught" to write (like myself), are often told to remove themselves from the story in order to be "objective." But as it has been brought to my attention recently, that's impossible to do. So with that said, I think that Thompson's use of "I" is a little far out for traditional, or common journalist, but if stories were written without "removing" the writer's point of view people would expect writing like Thompson's.
Another characteristic of Gonzo journalism, expressed in "The Scum Also Rises," is the blend of fictional information with the actual information. It reminds me of "the Coca-Cola belt" piece by Mencken (when talking about fictional and factual blending).
Just like the previous comments, I believe that the writers presence is a pivotal part of Gonzo journalism. Hunter S. Thompson, with his unconventional use of I in his articles, helps to include the reader in the story. In traditional journalism we are taught to distance ourselves from a story in order to stay objective, and in turn only include the dry facts. However, by approaching the story the way he did, Thompson was able to show how frantic the whole experience was and how sinister and evil Nixon really was. Even when he was at the point of his demise, Nixon was out for vengeance, and Thompson was able to show this through his first hand accounts.
The most evident characteristic of Gonzo Journalism to me is this feeling I get after reading the piece "The Scum Also Rises," of the writer being present and within the story throughout the entire read. In class you mentioned that you can clearly set Thompson's writing apart from other writing and after reading this I can definitely see why. He talks about his feelings, more importantly his experiences and uses the idea of "I" a lot throughout his piece, showing how "he" felt about the Nixon situation. I feel like using yourself and personal experiences gives a piece something extra special, now my question is do you think using my personal self (I)within my piece would be a good idea?
The writer's presence is a big part of Gonzo journalism but it is not only that. Gonzo pieces take you through the process of the story. Many pieces don't tell you about the subject but instead take you through the steps the writer takes to find out about the subject. In "the Scum Also Rises" we struggle to keep up with the current events just as much as Thompson does. Thompson wrote this about many of the pieces he did on the campaign trail: "Hardly a paragraph in this jangled saga wasn't produced in a last-minute, teeth-grinding frenzy" And that's exactly how he makes you feel with his writing. That's the key to Gonzo journalism.
I need to agree with above answers- what characterize Gonzo journalism is definitely presence of writer in the text. Hounter S. Thompson breaks the main rule of "todays journalism" and includes his own experiences and perspective in the article.
In the introduction to the chapter in the "The Art of Fact" we can read:
"The self-styled "Gonzo Journalism" (...) gleefully defenestrated all the traditional rules of journalism: conciseness, sobriety, objectivity, even accuracy, and especially unobtrusiveness."
Like everyone said, Thompson's use of "I" is characteristic o f Gonzo journalism. By using himself as the portal to this situation in history, we are introduced to a number of emotions and reactions, that were inevitably felt during this time. Anger, frustration, fatigue and in the end nostalgia. These subjective aspects are what separates Gonzo from traditional journalism. Also characteristic of Gonzo journalism, was Thompson's use of vocabulary. He's amazing! He successfully compared our former president to a limp scarecrow (subjectively speaking, the best part of the story). Some of the statements/words I highlighted in the story are:
"The rats are deserting the shop at high speed; dingbat senator, claghorn; cheap little bastard; This is stone flat-out-fucking weather; Even Buchanan, who thinks rationally about 79% of the tme (ha!); He jerks a notebook out of his inside pocked and jots:'Break their balls' (I don't think we are meant to take as serious dialogue- another characteristic of gonzo in itself); 'First we stonewall the bastards, then we outflank them with a Jew!'.."...and the banter continues for another 5.5 pages.
The other aspect of the story I found most compelling was Thompson's presence within the story. He seemed to never be where the "news" itself actually was. He is often by the pool with beer, in his hotel room with whiskey, or in a bar with whiskey and/or beer. I do not feel like this detracts from the truth or credibility from the story, because we are clearly aware that this story is a report of one man's experience, an experience that he is clearly incredibly knowledgeable about and has dedicated much time to.
In gonzo journalism, the journalist is a part of story so the reader gets both the news and the journalists' experience. Thompson knows what he's talking about, and by him being a direct part of the story, we can understand the news better than conventional news writing. To understand Nixon's impeachment, we almost need a journalist's view. The journalist and the readers are a part of a particular culture. The news is a part of the culture-- its submersed in it. News happens because of what's going on. For us to understand Nixon, the impeachment, the frenzy behind all of it, we need Thompson's view as a journalist to dig deeper than conventional "Nixon will be impeached." He helps us understand the tone, the mood and reactions.
If anything, honesty is the biggest characteristic of Gonzo journalism. It's about being open to your opinions, thoughts, beliefs, and attitudes about a subject and not letting some filtration system or a closed-minded publisher/editor get in the way. What I think is a big misconception about Gonzo is that it has to be big, bold, over-the-top, vulgar, and in your face; that is basically just the point of view of Hunter S. Thompson, whose honesty just happens to be about as nutty and twisted as the mangled Payday candy bar I found lodged in a shopping cart the other day (true story). Certainly, the presence of the writer plays a big role in Gonzo, as the journalist becomes a character as well, especially in the biting article on Nixon "The Scum Also Rises." But, for me, honesty (for the sake of the writer and his audience) is the biggest characteristic of this genre of writing.
Hunter S. Thompson once said the closest thing he ever saw to objective journalism was a supermarket security camera with the output placed directly next to it. He saw that fallacy in believing that human objectivity was possible. At least with Gonzo journalism, you know that at least ONE person knows it's precisely true. It's the direct, unfiltered, all-encompassing personal experience, which is more true to reality then thousands of disseminated opinions, filtered, altered and mixed into something someone who wasn't even there believes to be the truth.
Gonzo journalism takes literary journalism a step further. While literary journalism takes the auteur's immediate reactions and interpretations of these reactions onto the page, (the sun was red...red as a firetruck) Gonzo Journalism does this, but then expands from these observations to a full stream-of-conciousness piece (the sun was red...red as the firetruck that ran over my kitty when I was five. Man, I loved that cat. He's name was Able, and he DIGGED the mescal...).
So, yes, the writer is extremely present. Just further defining why with my two cents.
In my opinion, the most defining aspect of Gonzo Journalism is that the writer puts his/herself in the writing with emotions, inner thoughts, conscious observations, opinions and everything that could allow the reader to experience what the author experienced, while reading.
In "The Scum Also Rises," as with the other pieces we have explored that could be called Gonzo, this style works as a fantastic mechanism of journalistic storytelling. It can be argued that the writer blends fact and fiction, therefore taking away from the value of the subjects; however, I think while this might technically be the case, it works wonderfully because the reader can get such a more comprehensive understanding of what Thompson is trying to convey. He wants to shed light on a huge, historical scandal that affected the entire nation that very few got to experience close-up. This style of writing, while the opinions may sway a reader one way or another, essentially make us think about what Watergate meant and how corrupt it really was. In a way, experiencing something like Watergate or the Kentucky Derby like this gives us a more candid, vulnerable and fragile look at the walks of life that drive our own.
Thompson's style of writing-- the images, words and phrases he chooses to use-- are masterful because on the surface they just look like words, yet they really say so much in so little. For example, "Another hot, heavy rain in Washington...falling like balls of sweat against my window." That is a basic description of the weather but melding the concept of hot weather with rain and coming up with balls of sweat...it's hard to explain, I hope you all know what I mean. Another..."looking out across the rotting roofs of our nation's capital," could have connotations to the rain and the age of the buildings, yet clearly refers to what is going or has gone on inside those walls. Little phrases like that enrich his writing so much.
And his blatant opinion statements like, "We will not have Richard Nixon to kick around much longer--which is not especially 'sorrowful news' to a lot of people, except that the purging of the cheap little bastard is going to have to take place here in Washington and will take up the rest of our summer." If only I could have written about George Bush in that light.
The thing that stood out to me the most after reading Thompson's "The Scum Also Rises" is the vivid language he uses in each and every sentence to describe the scene. It is very powerful and speaks to the reader. It is personal and blunt. On page 314 he states "I could feel it pressing my eyeballs back into their sockets." This statement is very forward.
One of my favorite scenes is on page 312 when Thompson heads down to the pool. This scene isn't as significant as others in the story, but it stands out to me because I can picture it clearly. It points out that he is a real person and not just an objective journalist.
Thompson's use of "I" is inspirational and tells a true story. It reaches out to the reader and allows them to relate. it also allows the reader to feel as if he or she is actually there. His description of his hotel room on page 304 is also very realistic. He is angry and frustrated, just like a normal person would be if they couldn't find the heat switch.
Thompson's documentation of his interaction with other people is also another mark of Gonzo journalism. The fact that he points out on page 306 that Nolan said "We're just being jerked around" conveys that he too is a regular man. The men relate to each other and the reader which stands out.
As I believe everyone else has stated previously, the biggest characteristic of Gonzo journalism is the writer's presence. Hunter S. Thompson pulls it off brilliantly and brings his readers in closer to the subject at hand. It's more personal for readers. Another characteristic of Gonzo journalism is the mix between truth and exaggeration. I wouldn't exactly call it flat out fiction but it definitely is not what one would call absolute truth. He pulls the readers in with interesting details and makes sure it's not dull.
Gonzo journalism, as everyone before me has said, uses the first person narrative, placing the journalist front and center as fact-giver and mood-setter of the story. It blends fact and fiction so as to set a tone and give meaning to the scene that the journalist is giving. Thompson's fictionalized account of Nixon on the beach at San Clemente is meant to make us feel the way he feels about Nixon. He is open and honest with his feelings toward the president, which, I think, allows us to trust his judgments on the true events he writes about. Thompson embellishes but doesn't need to create the character of Nixon. He uses the literary embellishments to get us to see what was already there.
Gonzo journalism crosses lines, uses profanity and stream-of-consciousness, and takes us through the whole process. No one could really tell you exactly what was happening during Nixon's impeachment, and the press was just as fatigued and dumbfounded by the whole thing as the public was. There was no way to give it in a nice little package of facts. So why not just write what you know, what you saw and experienced, in the way you want, just as Thompson did.
At the risk of sounding completely like a broken record, I have to say that the seemingly most prominent aspect of Gonzo journalism is the writer's presence in their story. In "The Scum Also Rises," everything is told exactly from Thompson's point of view, exactly how he saw it. It represents what he sees, including any mind altering substances he may have consumed. Gonzo journalism follows the writer's quest for the story as well as the story itself. It is full of personal interpretations and experiences not found in common journalism. Also, it seems that nothing is too extreme. Thompson can swear and be crass and judge those around him all within the framework of the story he was supposed to cover.
The first characteristic of Gonzo journalism that I noticed was how the story revolves around the writer. In most forms of journalism, since you are supposed to take yourself out, this would never happen. There seems to be a truer essence to the story when the journalist places himself in it. Of course, with this immersion, there is also a biased approach. Thompson is not ashamed to hide his biases, which makes this piece very honest and enjoyable to read. I feel that often a bias will come out in any news story; Gonzo journalism just embraces the writer’s feelings. The end product seems to reveal more truthfulness than would normally be attained. There is also a great amount of exaggeration and hyperbole in Thompson’s words. This seems to go further into what he sees as the truthfulness of a situation or person. Also, there were around two pages of sheer fantasy, where Thompson envisioned Nixon’s reaction to the unanimous vote that would end him. While probably mostly fictional rationalization, this seems to paint an honest picture of a moment many would never be able to witness. From past readings of Thompson, I know he can dabble into an element of his mental fantasies draining out onto the page. This is a true trademark of Gonzo journalism.
On a side note, if you could fix the time zone this blog has my OCD would be pleased. It says my last comment was at 8:44am, when it really was at 11:44am.
I don't know, this has been bugging me for a while now...cause I am probably insane.
It seems that some of the defining characteristics of Gonzo journalism are the first person accounts of the events which unfold. Furthermore, Thompson never explicitly mentions that something is his opinion or that he is interpreting something through his own eyes since he realizes the fact that everything is subjective and this is already implied in his writing.Gonzo writing also is detailed, fact leaden, and humorous. He describes the way the wind from the rotors effects his eyes and the color of the helicopter. You also get the impression that there is no difference between the man you read and the man himself. They are the same; eccentric and brazen. The story of Nixon on the beach I found brilliant, funny and deeply informative about not just how Nixon might actually be but more importantly how Thompson and people see him. After reading, you still are extremely informed about the bare facts and events of the Nixon resignation, yet are also fed a rich and interesting view point of those events through one person.
As everyone has said here, what appears be to be a characteristic part of Gonzo journalism is first person narrative. In this selection from "The Scum Also Rises" Thompson defines himself as a different sort of writer. In reporting the Nixon scandal he seems to create a parallel to himself. At least that's how I saw it - he reports the events, sometimes subjectively, and alongside that he reports about himself and what was happening in his life at the time he was reporting. One other characteristic I noticed about his writing is his use of dry humor, cynicism, sarcasm and occasional obscenities. While mainstream journalism would certainly frown upon the use of these devices, Thompson actually captures the reader by using them. A reader might say, "How could a journalist write like this?" I think that kind of question is the one Thompson wants his reader to ask. Thompson does not stray from reporting the facts, but he most definitely is not objective, and I think that is the defining part of Gonzo journalism - that there can be such a coexistence as that.
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