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Gary the Bookworm's Reviews > The Great Gatsby
The Great Gatsby
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This is usually assigned in high school which spoils it for many people. That is too bad because it is such a powerful tale of America between the world wars. Fitzgerald explored themes as lofty as the erosion of the American Dream, and as personal as unrequited love and the loss of innocence.
There are no winners in this dark tale of America adrift during the Jazz Age. In retrospect we can see just how prescient his vision was. The violence he described, both random and premeditated, came to define America in the 20th Century. The 1929 Stock Market Crash and the ensuing Great Depression were brought about by shady business deals like those between Gatsby and Meyer Wolfson.
The tension between old and new money, represented by Tom Buchanan and Gatsby, drove our political conversation for decades. The Lost Generation became the Beats who stepped aside for the Hippies. Common to all of them was an aching awareness that America was teetering on the brink of disaster. Fitzgerald may have succumbed to his private demons, but this short novel, his masterpiece, still packs a wallop.
(view spoiler)
Here's a good article about our celebrity-obsessed culture-then and now:
There are no winners in this dark tale of America adrift during the Jazz Age. In retrospect we can see just how prescient his vision was. The violence he described, both random and premeditated, came to define America in the 20th Century. The 1929 Stock Market Crash and the ensuing Great Depression were brought about by shady business deals like those between Gatsby and Meyer Wolfson.
The tension between old and new money, represented by Tom Buchanan and Gatsby, drove our political conversation for decades. The Lost Generation became the Beats who stepped aside for the Hippies. Common to all of them was an aching awareness that America was teetering on the brink of disaster. Fitzgerald may have succumbed to his private demons, but this short novel, his masterpiece, still packs a wallop.
(view spoiler)
Here's a good article about our celebrity-obsessed culture-then and now:
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November 23, 2011
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Kim
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rated it 4 stars
Jan 01, 2012 04:00PM
Gary, this book was not on the syllabus when I was at school a million years ago, although I think my kids may have read it when they were at school. And even though my first degree is in English literature, I didn't read the book at university. So what with one thing and another, I've never read it. Two things make me want to read it now. One is the most recent Woody Allen film, Midnight in Paris, in which Fitzgerald appears as a character. The other is the film adaptation being made at the moment, with Leonardo Di Caprio as Gatsby. Some of filming has taken place in the park where I go for a walk every Sunday morning,which means that I will feel compelled to see the movie when it is released!
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Hi Kim. Interesting about the movie. The last one, with Robert Redford, was a big yawn. Wasn't Midnight in Paris terrific? I hope it encourages more people to read Fitzgerald.
If only the Z-list celebs and those who publish stuff about them took this to heart.
Genevieve Sharon wrote: "My favourite books are read and hopefully buried or burned in my poor dead hands. Great Gatsby is my favourite of favourites. "Huckleberry Finn" has usually been chosen by intellectuals as --the ..."I'm not familiar with The Blood of the Lamb I'll have to check it out.
Cecily wrote: "If only the Z-list celebs and those who publish stuff about them took this to heart."Amen to that!
I too read this in high school as an assignment. In the 70's when I was teaching high school English I taught it. This 2013 re-reading strictly for pleasure mad me realize wThis book would require a sophisticated teen to enjoy it or even grasp it. There is far more story than the average pleasure reader can absorb on a single reading.
That was my experience also. After reading it in HS, I felt neutral, even perplexed, about it. Many years later I read it out loud with a student I was tutoring and it knocked my socks off. Have you seen the recent film?
