The Great Gatsby
I had just chatted with a friend who just broke up with his girlfriend. The poor girl was devastated. I have a lot of guy friends who just wanted a short fling, but the girl thought it was something serious, so when it comes to splits time, all hell breaks loose. My friend said that it wasn't a just a fling, but his lifestyle changed and made the relationship impossible. I believe him. Then I couldn't help but think of a passage from F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby:
Even though I had to read The Great Gatsby for my English 101 class in undergrad, it was one of the few books that English teachers assign that wasn't utter crap. I bought the Cole's Notes just in case, but I really didn't need it at all, quite unlike that annoying long-dead Brit playwright who writes in fucked-up English that makes it hell for everyone to even comprehend.
Any book that makes you feel nostalgic about an era long before you are born has got to be good.
"They were careless people, Tom and Daisy- they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made."Not that I share this contempt, but more of sympathy. This had nothing to do with my aforementioned friend, but just something that my thought train arrived at (all the brakes were shot long ago). Sometimes people don't know what they want and get into committments they shouldn't have, only to have someone else suffer the consequences.
Even though I had to read The Great Gatsby for my English 101 class in undergrad, it was one of the few books that English teachers assign that wasn't utter crap. I bought the Cole's Notes just in case, but I really didn't need it at all, quite unlike that annoying long-dead Brit playwright who writes in fucked-up English that makes it hell for everyone to even comprehend.
Any book that makes you feel nostalgic about an era long before you are born has got to be good.
posted by Cosmic Ocean at 8:55 AM
5 Comments:
The Great Gatsby was one of my favorite books...but I liked most of the books I was assigned to read in school - like the Outsider, The Catcher in the Rye, The Chrysalids, etc
Is the Outsider that book from Albert Camus? I read it in French under the title "L'Étranger". Man, what a fucked up protagonist.
The Chrysalids would've been a great comic book. Mutants and boobies!
I get a lot of grief when I tell people I like this book. If I were ever asked to adapt a book to the silver screen, I'd adapt this one, but set it in Richmond, BC...you know, with all the rich satellite kids from HK, driving around in their BMWs, partying, spending every last cent their parents send them, getting by at UBC with their C- grades just so they can stay in Canada.
Other required reading I'm not ashamed to admit I like:
To Kill A Mockingbird
Lord Of The Flies
Farenheit 451
Catcher In The Rye
Animal Farm
The Chrysalids
1984
Charlie & The Chocolate Factory...ha ha.
Yes, I like "To Kill A Mockingbird" for the same reasons that I like "The Great Gatsby".
The Lord of the Flies was just plain creepy, but that's probably why it was a really good social commentary.
Animal Farm just makes me mad even though it's an allegory of the Russian Revolution. Damn Napoleon!
1984 is creepy, as some of it has probably come true, even though Orwell is off by 20 years.
Anyone of you a "Ringer" like me?
A good list, folks. Anyone else like to contribute to our book club?
The Outsider by S.E. Hinton (grade 8). French! Ack...I can't believe I studied French for 5 years and remember nothing!
Post a Comment
<< Home