The Great Gatsby

One of the nice things about summer reading is that in addition to new stuff, you can revisit some old books that you haven’t read in years and see them with a new perspective.

This weekend I started re-reading Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. It’s one of those books you’re forced to read in school, to which your adolescent reaction is invariably a bored “Huh?” But as you get older, you begin to appreciate the nuances.

For a little humor try this passage describing the scene at one of Gatsby’s over the top parties-

“I was immediately struck by the number of young Englishmen dotted about; all well dressed, all looking a little hungry, and all talking in low, earnest voices to solid and prosperous Americans. I was sure that they were selling something: bonds or insurance or automobiles. They were at least agonizingly aware of the easy money in the vicinity and convinced that it was theirs for a few words in the right key.” (Sounds suspiciously like some of the parties I attended during the dot com bubble.)

And finally for those readers who haven’t read the book and just want the nickel-tour-summary so that they can discuss it, here it is-

“They were careless people, Tom and Daisy- the 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….”

Regurgitate that summary, and you’re sure to get an A.

-John P.

PS- For the record, and at the risk of getting beat up via email, I do think The Great Gatsby is the only good book Fitzgerald ever wrote.