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11 John O’Brien, Leaving Las Vegas (1990)

Suicide

Abstract

This chapter views John O’Brien’s Leaving Las Vegas as a novel which is fully aware of the general tenets of Existentialism, and of the baggage that comes with being labelled ‘an alcoholic’, yet does not see that either of these categories are much use to him: the only way to live is to binge-drink his way to death. In taking this route the chapter views the novel as offering a response to Camus’s views in The Myth of Sisyphus around life’s meaning and the question of suicide. The chapter analyses the ways in which both ‘the alcoholic’ and ‘the prostitute’ choose their modes of existence, and how ‘love’ is ultimately not a viable source of meaning or salvation. The cultural context is very much that of an America deracinated by a hedonism for which the committed binge drinker becomes a logical endpoint, and in the face of which a philosophy like Existentialism begins to lose its purchase.

Abstract

This chapter views John O’Brien’s Leaving Las Vegas as a novel which is fully aware of the general tenets of Existentialism, and of the baggage that comes with being labelled ‘an alcoholic’, yet does not see that either of these categories are much use to him: the only way to live is to binge-drink his way to death. In taking this route the chapter views the novel as offering a response to Camus’s views in The Myth of Sisyphus around life’s meaning and the question of suicide. The chapter analyses the ways in which both ‘the alcoholic’ and ‘the prostitute’ choose their modes of existence, and how ‘love’ is ultimately not a viable source of meaning or salvation. The cultural context is very much that of an America deracinated by a hedonism for which the committed binge drinker becomes a logical endpoint, and in the face of which a philosophy like Existentialism begins to lose its purchase.

Chapters in this book

  1. Front matter i
  2. Dedication v
  3. Contents vii
  4. List of figures ix
  5. Preface xi
  6. Acknowledgements xii
  7. Introduction 1
  8. I Whiffs and gleams
  9. 1 Habitual drunkards and metaphysics 45
  10. 2 Jack London, John Barleycorn (1913) 65
  11. 3 Jean Rhys and drunken consciousness (1929–​1939) 83
  12. 4 Charles Jackson, The Lost Weekend (1944) 98
  13. 5 Malcolm Lowry, Under the Volcano (1947) 118
  14. 6 Hans Fallada, The Drinker (1950) 136
  15. 7 Brian Moore, The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne (1955) 148
  16. 8 Frederick Exley, A Fan’s Notes (1968) 155
  17. 9 Venedikt Yerofeev, Moscow–​Petushki (1970) 176
  18. III Enough: attic, Vegas, paradise
  19. 10 William Kennedy, Ironweed (1983) 197
  20. 11 John O’Brien, Leaving Las Vegas (1990) 210
  21. 12 A. L. Kennedy, Paradise (2004) 224
  22. Conclusion 239
  23. Bibliography 247
  24. Index 260
The Existential drinker
This chapter is in the book The Existential drinker
https://doi.org/10.7765/9781526134714.00021

Chapters in this book

  1. Front matter i
  2. Dedication v
  3. Contents vii
  4. List of figures ix
  5. Preface xi
  6. Acknowledgements xii
  7. Introduction 1
  8. I Whiffs and gleams
  9. 1 Habitual drunkards and metaphysics 45
  10. 2 Jack London, John Barleycorn (1913) 65
  11. 3 Jean Rhys and drunken consciousness (1929–​1939) 83
  12. 4 Charles Jackson, The Lost Weekend (1944) 98
  13. 5 Malcolm Lowry, Under the Volcano (1947) 118
  14. 6 Hans Fallada, The Drinker (1950) 136
  15. 7 Brian Moore, The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne (1955) 148
  16. 8 Frederick Exley, A Fan’s Notes (1968) 155
  17. 9 Venedikt Yerofeev, Moscow–​Petushki (1970) 176
  18. III Enough: attic, Vegas, paradise
  19. 10 William Kennedy, Ironweed (1983) 197
  20. 11 John O’Brien, Leaving Las Vegas (1990) 210
  21. 12 A. L. Kennedy, Paradise (2004) 224
  22. Conclusion 239
  23. Bibliography 247
  24. Index 260
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