GR: The Great Gatsby- get in and read before the film release!

Some of the many covers out there for The Great Gatsby. The version I am reading is the first one.

10 Trivia on The Great Gatsby-F Scott Fitzgerald

No 1: Born in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1896

No 2: This Side of Paradise- his first novel at age 24

No.3. Fiancee name - Zelda

No.4: Inspired an opera of the same name by John Harbison

No.5: First Movie Version - 1949,Alan Ladd as Gatsby; Betty Field as Daisy

No:6: 1974 Version: Won 2 Oscars, starred Robert Reford,Mia Farrow.Screenplay by Francis Ford Coppola after first choice,Truman Capote was sacked.

No: 7: First Edition (Book Cover's picture):
- The eyes on the original dust jacket echo one of the book's recurring symbols:the alkl seeing eyes that gaze out over an industrial wasteland signifying the bleak reality of the American
dream.

No: 8: Quote: "Still in nearly perfect healthy of 70,this is the American novel of the century,the novel of the Amerian century."-The Guardian on the 70th anniversary of publication

No. 9: Text from book: " And as I sat there brooding on the old,unknown world.I thought of Gatsby's wonder he first picked out the green light at the end of Daisy's dock,he had come a long way to this blue lawn,and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it.He did not know that it was already behind him.somewhere back in that vast obscurity beyond the city,where the dark fields of the republic rolled on under the night."

No: 10: Spoiler: Nick Carraway narrates the story of his friend Jay Gatsby - handsome,well bred,successful,fabulously wealthy and a generous party-giver,.......

Gatsby's past is a sham, and his wealth derives not from 'old money" but from the proceeds of bootleg liquor and his shady involvement in organised crime.

As the story goes on, further
information will spoil the whole reading. Happy Reading !!!

No book cover pictures appeared by clicking at Msg (1).

>3 skoobdo: hi! So there are no images visible at all in post #1? Or just not when you click on something?

**********************************

According to a back issue of the Australian magazine Good Read that I picked up and read at the library today, the title of the book could have been:

Among Ash-Heaps and Millionaires
Gold-Hatted Gatsby
The High-Bouncing Lover, or, the rather odd
Trimalchio in West Egg

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Do you want to read free online of the book ?

http://www.publicbookshelf.com

>5 skoobdo:/6 Great, thanks skoobdo!
Lots of information there for us.

Ill be starting reading Monday- so everyone who is interested, get those books a-ready!

Please put a spoiler alert in your post if you'll be discussing plot turns that might ruin it for other readers. That way we can do all discussion on the one thread.

I read the book for the second time just last October so I'll be lurking. The first time was about 40 years ago when I was a college student. It held up very well.

I have been wanting to re-read this, but I doubt that I'd start before April.

I am still in the midst of a LT ER book, but I will take Gatsby with me on my business trip this week and try to get started!

Thanks for organizing this, Megan! :)

Tina- there is every chance it is just you and me on this read...I was sure someone else was interested.....but cant think who. Never mind, 2 is good company!

I'm planning to read it in April so I've starred the thread!

You are going to kill me, Megan!! I can't find my copy of Gatsby anywhere! I've been through all of my bookshelves & can't locate it! I'm packing for the week & sent myself an email last night to remind me to get it after church. I must have pulled it out at some point. I'll have to request it from the library now so I can't start it this week. I'm so sorry :(

Epic fail!!!

ETA -- I've requested it from my library. I'm 19th on the list :(

Hi Megan, I will join you as well :) Just ordered a copy!

>12 lauralkeet: hi Laura- you never know, we might just have to put off the reading of The Great Gatsby til April, now that Tina cant find her copy, and I am bogged down with a library chunkster and its pesky due-date as well as The Swiss Family Robinson, which is turning into a bit of a chore.
Keep checking in and we might actually get a group here :)

>13 TinaV95:/11 You are going to kill me, Megan!!
Hardly Tina! :)
As its just you and me, we will just have to wait, that way more might jump on board. As I just said to Laura (above) I am weighed down at present too, so could afford to wait.
Just so's ya know....the copy I am reading was $3.65 from the Book Depository, which would be not even US$3. And its decent.

>14 drachenbraut23: great! we might actually have a group soon :)

I may just buy a copy from my favorite online used book store. That would be cheap, cheap! Just can't imagine what I did with it. If I give in & buy a copy at a real store or online, I'll let you know as soon as I get it! You tell me when we start. I can go with your schedule if I buy it rather than borrow from library.

There is a free online text of "The Great Gatsby" at

http://www.publicbookshelf.com.

A guide to the book for discussion is also available.

Morning :) just wanted to bring the thread up !

Promoter !!! ;)

Have you seen the re-make movie starred Leonardo deCaprio?

Glad this thread is chugging along in the absence of any readers ;)
I am primed and ready, so as soon as Tina's copy arrives, we'll start. I hope Bianca's copy arrives in time too!

Eta: >19 skoobdo: no I havent seen the film yet, I wanted to re-read the book before seeing it.

I heard from Bianca that there's a group read going on. Can I still join in or is it already too late?

>21 PersephonesLibrary: great ! We'd love to have you in the group. We havent started yet as were waiting on the arrival of the book for some who wanted to join. Thinking to start Monday next week?

You haven't started yet? That's great - count me in! :)

See you all on Monday!

Yeah, I probably will start on Monday as well. I only have to wrapp up one more book, before I can get cracking on this one. I am very much looking forward to the comments.

Ya hear that Tina?
We are starting on Monday- I really really hope your copy arrives in time- otherwise refer to message #6 for the free online version (http://www.publicbookshelf.com)- courtesy of skoobdo.

Im glad we have a group together now, thanks everyone.

Its Monday!
(here it is anyway)
But I am going to be the bigger person and wait til my Tuesday (most of your Monday's) til I start The Great Gatsby as I decided to sneak in a short book in the meantime. (Excellent Women by Barbara Pym)

See you all soon!

I have got the GG already ready on my bedside table to start, once I wrapped up The Hanging Shed.

I'm not as big a person as Megan is... I only peeked a little bit into the book on Saturday, got stuck and finished it... So, I'm ready for the discussion when you are.

Praying my copy is waiting on me when I get home!!

How do make this a favorite topic so I can find it quickly again?

Tina - Go to the top of this thread and star the topic and that way whenever you're in the group, you'll pick it out easily.

I do want to re-read this before the movie is out in May. I will have to put it on my nightstand or I know I'll forget or be lured away by other books in my TBR Tower.

>28 PersephonesLibrary: LOL- so keen. That's it, I'm starting today!

>29 TinaV95: I hope so too Tina. Id like to read it with you seeing as you were first on board :)

I am starting tonight as well. Managed to wrap everything else up (Well, aside from AK).

OK, I finished chapter 1 and 2. However, I didn't expect to like it that much. I love the language and the wordbuilding used. Although, I currently can't see much of a coherent story as everything is told in snatches of Nick's memory about the time on Long Island.

*****SPOILER AHEAD*****

In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since.
"Whenever you feel like criticizing any one," he told me, "just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had

Nick is the narrator of the story and thinks of himself as tolerant, non-judgemental, and a good listener, and feels that as a result, others tend to tell him their secrets. However, you can see already in the first two chapters that this isn't quite like that. Especially, when he is going to meet Myrtle, which he doesn't want to meet.

I found it very interesting how East Egg - the aristocratic old money and West Egg - the new money are described. When I googled Long Island for the 1920's it appears that there has been indeed this distinction.

OK, off now to start chapter 3, whilst still on my break.

Great one Bianca, for starting the ball rolling. Ill join you in this discussion tomorrow morning, when I have caught you up ;)

I read the first chapter last night, and agree that it's a very enjoyable read so far. I love all the sarcasm and underhanded comments. Here's my favorite so far:

“I hope she'll be a fool -- that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.”

Fitzgerald a feminist--who knew?

Bianca, thanks for the starter! I can already reveal that there is a coherent story. :)

I had quite my problems with the language and I shouldn't have read a translation.
I compared my version to an online English edition and the latter one was way more enjoyable.

Concerning the language I have got a question anyway: There's the scene when Nick meets Jordan Baker for the first time. She looks at him with "sun-strained" eyes. How would you native speakers explain that with different words? Or Bianca, how would you translate that to German? Because I think the translator got that very wrong...

And another question: Am I the only one who's associating the title The Great Gatsby to a magician? Especially when you think about how the book's dealing with appearence and reality...

Rhonda, when it comes to Fitzgerald's feminism it was Jordan in particular who surprised me, because she seems to be a very "modern" female character.

I am up to the end of chapter 2 now.

>38 PersephonesLibrary: She looks at him with "sun-strained" eyes
I would take that to mean that she was squinting. Or had tired eyes, from being in the bright sun all day.

Am I the only one who's associating the title The Great Gatsby to a magician?
I hadnt thought about that, but Im sure it could make sense once I get to know Gatsby more.

I am finding the writing very much more complex than my last book, and as a consequence am reading it slower. Which is great as I am getting a good feel for the setting now.

Im liking this a lot, so far :)

I picked up my copy from the library yesterday, but didn't make it all the way through Chapter 1 before I had to go to sleep. Not too much sleep the night before so I crashed last night. Have a splitting headache today, so I doubt I'll get much more under my belt tonight. I'm skipping spoilers :)

Just picked my copy up at the library this afternoon, but must finish another book first. Although, i think I might get started on it a little bit tonight.

Yay Tina- you are nearly there!

Welcome OldDan- just a sneaky peek tonight? It might be enough to get you reading the lot, as it it a very short book. Good luck!

> 38 Kathy, I agree with Megan I did interpret "sun-dried eyes" as a squinting - that she had her eyes partially closed, as she would be in bright sunlight. Although, I did wonder how he was able to admire her grey eyes like that *grin*.
I would translate that with - teilweise geschlossenen Augen? Halt wenn man die Augen zusammendrueckt wenn einem Licht in die Augen scheint.

I am almost finished with chapter 3 now and what absolutely fascinates me is his use of adjectives which at times contradict, embeded in very long sentences.
Her face was sad and lovely with bright things in it, bright eyes and a bright passionate mouth, but there was an excitment in her voice that men who had cared for her found difficult to forget: a singing compulsion, a whispered 'Listen', a promise that she had done gay, exciting things just a while since and that there were gay, exciting things hovering in the next hour.
chapter one, page 14

Her face was SAD and LOVELY with BRIGHT things in it

For all TIOLI fans : I will put the book in Challenge #4: Read a book with two or more people on the cover! Or has anyone, some other suggestion?

Hi Bianca -
I like the quote you added, Her face was SAD and LOVELY with BRIGHT things in it
It says so little, but so much.

I've put it on hold at the library. I'm #61 in the queue for 30 copies. I should get it this month.....

Kathy, "sun-strained eyes" is a Fitzgerald term, not an English expression. So that was a good catch on your part, especially since he uses the same expression again in chapter 3.

Not sure what he means, I don't think that it's squinting...

Not sure what he means, I don't think that it's squinting...
Maybe a half-squint? You know, when someone looks at you like they are really concentrating on you, and their eyes are a little bit closed? That's closer to what I mean, I think.

Thanks a lot for the explanation to everyone! That's exactly what I thought when I read the English version. But they translated it with "sonnengestählte Augen", so "hardened, toughened by the sun" - the complete opposite ("Stahl"=steel). No wonder I had problems with my German edition...

Jordan Baker is such a contradictory character--languid, yet athletic. Then there's the whole bit about her lying all the time, which is OK since she is a woman. I am glad I don't have to live in her world!

Tom Buchanan is such a jerk, isn't he?

Tom Buchanan is such a jerk, isn't he?
Yea! And Gatsby is too, imo. His aloofness annoyed me. His witholding of information from people had an edge of his wanting to have power, and be in control, to it.

I have finished now, and will gather my thoughts before I review it!

I finished last night, due to a spot of insomnia. Megan, I now think that EVERYONE in the book is a jerk.

When do we do spoilers?

Spoilers- any time is good for a spoiler :)
Just make sure to announce it at the start of your post.

My review *****with minor spoiler in first paragraph*****:

The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald

I have been putting off writing about the book, as I am not sure I can articulate my feelings about it. In fact Im not sure what my feelings even are about it. I do know I enjoyed reading it and kept wanting to pick it up, and I was glad when a slightly exciting story line developed. The hoo-ha with the car accident finally brought out some interest in the characters for me.

So, yes, they float about in their own little rich worlds. People have been critical of the novel for this reason alone, but that's life isnt it? Some people do have that luxury, and it doesnt make their feelings or experiences any less valid. It just limits who can relate to them. I liked reading about their petty worries and relationship dramas, it took me away from my life and into someone's completely different.
And written in a very appealing way.

The first time I read this book was half my life ago, so this was like the first time for me. And I think there'll be more readings in it yet. 4 stars.

>52 banjo123: everyone is a jerk? Let me think, how about Nick, the narrator? What was wrong with him? Was he really an innocent bystander in all this, or do you think not? I thought he was OK.

Daisy- she was a jerk....I couldnt relate to her at all...particularly on her mothering actions, or lack thereof. And Tom, definitely. lol- I feel like I am gossiping about real people now!

SPOILER ALERT!!!

So, I am not sure exactly what I think of the book, but am now excited for the movie because I just read that Beyonce is going to cover Amy WInehouse for the movie sound track. How cool is that?

Nick definitely is a jerk. He pretends to be an objective observer, but really he is all absorbed into the Buchanan's world, and uses his "objectivity" as an excuse for not acting. He totally lost me when he spent all that time hanging out with Tom and Myrtle Wilson, without any acknowledgement about how Tom's infidelity was effecting Daisy. Then Tom breaks Myrtle's nose, and nobody does anything! Nick also arranged for Daisy and Gatsby to meet, without any though of the consequences.

I don't mind disliking all the characters. I think Fitzgerald did this on purpose, as a critique of the class system. The Buchanan's can get away with anything, and still be accepted and loved because they are rich. Gatsby envies them, and tries to get that power by getting his own obscene wealth. But it doesn't work because he is still on the wrong side of the egg.

I also thought that the book showed how little power women had in a sexist society. Daisy has a little power, because "her voice sounds like money", but it's the power to get away with things, not the power to do things. Jordan has to lie and cheat to get any recognition.

SPOILER ALERT

Here's my review of the novel:
Nick Carraway, the first-person narrator of this novel, gets to know Jay Gatsby in the Roaring Twenties. The latter is very rich and throws glamorous parties on his grandiose estate to which he invites his neighbour Nick.

The title drops already a hint: The Great Jay Gatsby is a magician and everything in his life is an illusion: Before he went to war Gatsby, then known as James Gatz, fell deeply in love with Daisy. But as he was away, she married another man and had a daughter. When Gatsby returned after the war, he still clanged to the dream of a married life with Daisy. Everything in his life is build up around that dream – he even seems to have accumulated his wealth only to make it real.

Fitzgerald’s novel is about make-believe worlds and chimeras, about appearance and reality. A very interesting scene is when a guest notices in amazement that the books in Gatsby’s library are actually real. The novel disproves the American Dream and shows that money can neither buy love nor true friends.Money may talk, but not everybody listens.

Unfortunately I got a quite bad translation. When I compared a part of the book with an English version online, the latter one was way easier and more enjoyable to read. Honestly, I was underwhelmed by the book when it comes to the story. And I don’t think that it will stick in my memory for long. But I’m glad that I can finally tick it off my to-read-list.

***

I'm with you when it comes to the characters - they're shown in a very negative light and act like jerks.
Even Gatsby - and I expected to be fascinated by him - seems like a mysterious man at the first glance. But the more you get to know him, the flatter his character gets.
The scene Rhonda mentioned (Tom breaking Myrtle's nose and nobody reacts) made me angry. It was the time where cheating men were celebrated as "ladies' men" while women were sl*ts. Myrtle has lost all respect because of her relationship to Tom - and that's why everbody can treat her how it pleases to them.

I'm still thinking about Megan's comment:
So, yes, they float about in their own little rich worlds. People have been critical of the novel for this reason alone, but that's life isnt it? Some people do have that luxury, and it doesnt make their feelings or experiences any less valid. It just limits who can relate to them.
I don't think that readers don't allow rich people to have feelings or think little of them.But I think Fitzerald wanted to criticizes the upper class for their superficialty.
I'm thinking about if I would feel different to the characters if they were poorer...

Yeah, I finished as well and I have to say that I enjoyed the book immensly. Thoughts will come later :)

Finally found this thread again!! I lost it after I stopped reading for fear of spoilers, as I was a bit behind everyone else...

Love this discussion. Gave your review a thumbs up, Megan, and tried to give yours one too Kathy, but I couldn't find it on the main page (did you post there?).

I have to agree that I really didn't like any of the characters. I thought Nick was decent at first but then I felt like he was just standing by watching the chaos happen! Pardon in advance if anyone here is wealthy, but... reading this re-emphasized my dislike of rich people! LOL

I wanted to scream when Tom broke Myrtle's nose.... And nobody really cared when she was run over??

Ah, but the language was so beautifully descriptive. Bianca, I LOVED the phrase you chose to demonstrate Fitzgerald's use of descriptions. The language and wanting to know who Gatsby was kept me engaged and turning pages quickly!

>56 PersephonesLibrary: But I think Fitzgerald wanted to criticize the upper class for their superficialty.
Definitely. I agree with you there.
I think I missed the point with my review, and that I was reacting to the criticisms I had heard rather than talking about what the essence of the book was.
They were definitely a crowd that were above worrying about other people, and that trait was exacerbated by their wealth in that it shielded them from having to face their... poor choices...... their crimes, really.

>58 TinaV95: Hi Tina, I cant wait to read read Tender is the Night now too. I look forward to it.

I finished the book yesterday and really enjoyed it. Lately I've been reading a lot of short stories, and really admire those authors who can write a complete, yet concise story and make both plot and characters real in a very short time. Gatsby is similar in that regard. The characters are not as fully developed as I would like, but the setting and plot certainly are, and there's a lot buried in those 180 pages. My review is still percolating.

I especially enjoyed Fitzgerald's language and description of the valley of ashes at the beginning of chapter two!

SPOILER-SPOILER-SPOILER-SPOILER
***

Tina, I had the same feelings about Nick as well. First, I thought that he was quite ok. But after witnessing him as a pure passive bystander he lost my sympathiest. The only positive character trait is that he went to Gatsby's funeral.

***

Megan, but at least Gatsby couldn't pay his funeral guests...

***

Laura, I made the same experience: I love to dive into a story and get to know its characters. The Great Gatsby is too short to lose oneself in the story, but nevertheless Fitzgerald's world and characters get alive and vivid before my inner eye.

>61 PersephonesLibrary: lol! True. That was from go-to-woe really wasnt it.
But maybe put a spoiler alert at the top of that one- its rather a biggie

OMG, I am so sorry! Stupid me hasn`t thought of that at all.

:)

Im sure most people are finished it now who are following this thread, but I got burned once for a spoiler, and it ruined the whole 2nd half of the book for me (Of Mice and Men).

Nice, comprehensive spoiler alert!

****SPOILER ALERT****
When I was reading in the book how the guests of Gatsby were severely diminished at his "last party"...... it was a huge deal. It said so much about what her was really about, and the worthiness of his life, him....

I appreciate everyone's thoughts on the book. Now that I've been sitting with the book for a few days, I've decided that I liked it better than I originally thought. I keep thinking about it and it is relevant to many things that happen in my day to day.

And here finally my gathered thoughts on the book :) Well, I found myself rereading some of the chapters. I know for sure that this book will warrant many rereads for me *smile*

What a fabulous little gem this is! Usually, I am not someone who is too fond of short stories, but I have to say that I loved this one. The most appealing aspect of this story is Fitzgerald’s magnificent sense of language, which drew me in straight away. Right in the beginning I couldn't truly connect with the story itself and felt rather underwhelmed. However, after rereading a few of the chapters I finally recognized how beautiful Fitzgerald has woven this story.

This is a valley of ashes - a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens; where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and, finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air. Occasionally a line of gray cars crawls along an invisible track, gives out a ghastly creak, and comes to rest, and immediately the ash-gray men swarm up with leaden spades and stir up an impenetrable cloud, which screens their obscure operations from your sight .

Illuminated in this brilliantly written novel is the High Society of the US during the 1920’s. In America, the time of Prohibition is represented as “The Roaring Twenties”, extensive drug use and extravagant parties with innovative jazz. All of this is brought to light in deep facets through the brilliant use of Fitzgerald’s descriptive writing. In addition, Fitzgerald depicts in a wonderful way the superficial blasé attitude, the over-saturation of the fashionable upper class, their fast paced life and continues boredom.

Nick is the narrator of this story. He thinks of himself as tolerant, non - judgmental, a good listener, and feels that as a result, others prefer to tell him their secrets. However, it becomes pretty quickly clear that Nick is not as detached as he believes and that he has to bear some of the blame of the tragic events which follow.

“In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since.
"Whenever you feel like criticizing any one," he told me, "just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had”

The style and Fitzgerald's melancholic aspect of his characters lure you into such a lightness of being that you can’t hate the utterly annoying decadence of the main characters. You know they are nasty, and actually you shouldn’t like them, but you are fascinated anyway. What Fitzgerald manages to portray in this little story, is that despite all the wealth, every single character, is a rather lost soul, with no real focus on life, without the ability to fill the empty spaces. This has been particularly evident in Jay Gatsby’s unquenchable desire for Daisy which is the setting for this novel.

"He wanted to recover something, some idea of himself perhaps, that had gone into loving Daisy. His life had been confused and disordered since then, but if he could once return to a certain starting place and go over it all slowly, he could find out what that thing was.”

Jay Gatsby is one of the “New Money” and is fascinated by the dazzling and mundane society of the twenties. For a while, he is allowed to share their and especially Daisy’s life. However, how illusory this life might seem notwithstanding the element of fraud, jealousy and neuroses of that society rule. In the end even 'The Great Gatsby' has to deal with the consequences and the reality of this life.

"Gatsby, pale as death, with his hands plunged like weights in his coat pockets, was standing in a puddle of water glaring tragically into my eyes."

Great review, Bianca!

Thumbs up for that review, Bianca!!