Okay, you guys. I did it. I read Gatsby because I despise seeing movies without having read the book first. (This is why I haven't seen Anna Karenina, because I couldn't get through the novel. I'm determined to sometime, but now is not that time...) Somehow I escaped both high school and college without having read it, and now, like a good little librarian, I picked up a copy at a used book sale and settled down to read it this week.
Look, I'll admit, the writing is gorgeous. But duh, it's Fitzgerald. There's a reason he's a "Great American Writer"...although, in the spirit of honesty, I haven't read anything else of his. Have I mentioned that I'm a strange kind of English Major?
So, okay, the writing was nice and I get the story and I feel for Gatsby (and kind of love him) and Nick is just an innocent bystander, but I want to slap the hell out of Daisy and punch Tom and shake Myrtle til she shapes up. And Jordan? Oh, I don't know, she's not innocent either, she knows what happened, she was privy to it all, and unlike Nick, who tried to find a way to make things better, she just removed herself from the situation.
I want to say "what's the point" and "why bother writing it/reading it" but I guess maybe that's the point? To make me feel things? Isn't that what all writing is about? So sure, I felt things. Gatsby spent all his life trying to get into this society just to have everyone eff him over in the end. And Daisy is a huge bitch and Tom is an ignorant jerk. And Nick is a bystander and Jordan is....I don't know...I want to like her, I do.
The only time I related to Daisy was when she was crying over how hot it was. I do that. I cry when it's too hot and exclaim over how I can't handle it.
And I'll tell you something else. I'm ordering Gin & Tonics at trivia tonight.
Look, I'll admit, the writing is gorgeous. But duh, it's Fitzgerald. There's a reason he's a "Great American Writer"...although, in the spirit of honesty, I haven't read anything else of his. Have I mentioned that I'm a strange kind of English Major?
So, okay, the writing was nice and I get the story and I feel for Gatsby (and kind of love him) and Nick is just an innocent bystander, but I want to slap the hell out of Daisy and punch Tom and shake Myrtle til she shapes up. And Jordan? Oh, I don't know, she's not innocent either, she knows what happened, she was privy to it all, and unlike Nick, who tried to find a way to make things better, she just removed herself from the situation.
I want to say "what's the point" and "why bother writing it/reading it" but I guess maybe that's the point? To make me feel things? Isn't that what all writing is about? So sure, I felt things. Gatsby spent all his life trying to get into this society just to have everyone eff him over in the end. And Daisy is a huge bitch and Tom is an ignorant jerk. And Nick is a bystander and Jordan is....I don't know...I want to like her, I do.
The only time I related to Daisy was when she was crying over how hot it was. I do that. I cry when it's too hot and exclaim over how I can't handle it.
And I'll tell you something else. I'm ordering Gin & Tonics at trivia tonight.