The Great Gatsbyby F. Scott Fitzgerald (1925)
I have mixed feelings about this book. In some ways, I'm undecided as to whether I like it or not. I enjoyed reading it, and when I finished I thought, 'well, that was good', but it kind of left me empty. The more I think about it, the less I like it.
The book tells the story of a Roaring '20's Cool Cat called Jay Gatsby, from the point of view of his friend and neighbour, Nick Carraway. It is a pretty negative and pessimistic story, with a pretty negative and pessimistic ending.
I don't know, maybe I'm missing something. Yeah, I get that it's a comment on society at the time, and on this boring upper class who apparently didn't have a lot to do with their time except throw parties, smoke a lot and idle away the afternoons on big lounges. But is it enjoyable to read about these characters, who frankly aren't that likable? Not overly.
10 comments:
Hear, hear. I read it years ago because it was one of 'those' books - the ones where people claim that it's a classic simply because it's well known (and so it's a self-perpetuating cycle). Afterwards I wondered why I bothered.
It's funny, I would argue a large part of the book's success is its ability to create that hollow, empty feeling in the reader. It's a highly evocative work, that produces a nostalgia that can't be satisfied. And I think that's the point.
I also found it a grower - when you read it multiple times, you feel it in a different way.
But I could be a bit blind in my perspective,as I wrote an essay on it last semester!
Yeah. I guess while I can appreciate Fitzgerald as a writer, I think I recoil at the idea of a book that intends to leave the reader hollow. I need a reason to invest. I don't mean that it needs to be formulaic with a neat, happy ending, but I need SOMETHING to make me glad I made it to the end.
I appreciate his expression and turn of phrase; I think he manages to capture the ephemeral in his description. Thats what hooks me in with Gatsby. But I can understand your frustration with a book that sets out to disturb. But couldn't you say the same of Faulkner?
I'm totall with sophg on this one.
It was a book that transported me to a pretty awful place. But it's a place I've been in. And one that I'm never that far from returning to. And I know that plenty of my friends are there right now.
I've read it twice. And now, after this post, I'm going to read it again.
Thanks for the reminder.
Soph- Hmm. I definitely get your point. Certainly, of the Faulkner novels I've read, they are certainly not happy little ditties that make you feel great. I guess I like them so much for the language, and for his skill in writing- slowly weaving together something clear from a lot of fogginess!
Maybe with Gatsby I just couldn't relate enough to the characters, or appreciate them enough as 'people' so wasn't prepared to sit thru such a bleak story to see their outcome.
Al- Out of interest, was 'the awful place' you describe in empathy to Gatsby, or to the narrator guy? In some ways I wasn't sure who I was meant to identify with more.
You know, I can appreciate what you guys are saying though.
It reminds me of when I tell some people how much I love Catcher in the Rye and how closely I identified with and loved Holden Caulfield, and they say they hated the character, and weren't interested in reading about him. I get hurt and cross!
I think it was the general atmosphere of the book. But I'll read it again and do a review of my own.
I think I liked the book in the same way that I like songs by The Whitlams.
There's a helplessness and even self-loathing that, in my dark times, I can relate to. And as a preacher I know that there will be people I preach to each week who have been in that place for a very long time and who really need to hear of a lover/saviour who will never be disappointed in them.
So spending some time in an a dark atmosphere stretches me emotionally in helpful ways I think.
Anyway, I could be talking through my hat here. I'll read the book again and see what I think as a 37 year old rather than as a 25 year old.
Hmmm ... when I studied Great Gatsby in high school in an American lit class taught by a Brit we took a bit of a different angle and talked a lot more about how Gatsby idolizes and elevates "Daisy" -- not the real Daisy herself, but an image he creates based on the real Daisy and then sculpts to suit his needs, thus ensuring he finds disappointment when remeeting the real Daisy years later. We thought it was brilliant and spent the rest of high school accusing our friends of Gatsby syndrome whenever they idealized a crush ... but maybe that was just high school.
I will say that it is one of only three works of literature I've ever read (out of, I should hazard to guess, hundreds if not thousands) that refer to any female character as being both small breasted and beautiful. (Jordan, who IS a girl, despite both her name and bra size.)
KIM- Hmm interesting observation about Jordan!
Yeah, maybe had I read it in high school it would have appealed to me more. Maybe. yes, I remember that stuff about Daisy now you mention it.
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