So we beat on--
Mar. 8th, 2006 01:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
trinityofoneToday I am supposed to: write my Great Gatsby essay.
Today I have:
1) Managed a vague outline of my Great Gatsby essay while mostly looking over various bits of the book and sobbing, sobbing, because no book ever has or does move me like this one; it tears me apart and I am totally inadequate to the task of explaining why.
2) Eaten a sandwich.
But seriously, regarding 1)--I maintain and will continue to maintain that Gatsby is the greatest novel ever written, packing more into less than 200 pages than what others can manage in nearly 2,000 (and I have read War and Peace, so I know *g*). I cry every time I read it (and when I'm reviewing my notes to write an essay on it, apparently). Those of you who have read it: does it effect you in the same way? The class I'm writing the essay for is an American Lit class taught at an Irish university; the tutor has stressed that she thinks the novel highlights American themes--do you think that's true? I would say that the themes of Gatsby--trying to recapture the past, yearning to be known, loved--are universal. But then I am American, so I could be projecting. We do that.
What's your favorite book of all time? What book has moved you more than any other?
Today I have:
1) Managed a vague outline of my Great Gatsby essay while mostly looking over various bits of the book and sobbing, sobbing, because no book ever has or does move me like this one; it tears me apart and I am totally inadequate to the task of explaining why.
2) Eaten a sandwich.
But seriously, regarding 1)--I maintain and will continue to maintain that Gatsby is the greatest novel ever written, packing more into less than 200 pages than what others can manage in nearly 2,000 (and I have read War and Peace, so I know *g*). I cry every time I read it (and when I'm reviewing my notes to write an essay on it, apparently). Those of you who have read it: does it effect you in the same way? The class I'm writing the essay for is an American Lit class taught at an Irish university; the tutor has stressed that she thinks the novel highlights American themes--do you think that's true? I would say that the themes of Gatsby--trying to recapture the past, yearning to be known, loved--are universal. But then I am American, so I could be projecting. We do that.
What's your favorite book of all time? What book has moved you more than any other?
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(no subject)
Date: 2006-03-11 01:30 pm (UTC)I couldn't say what my favourite book is, there are so many that I love unreasonably, but the books I find most moving are probably: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John LeCarre, which is a bit of an odd choice because it's a spy novel, but there are just so many betrayed people, and it makes me cry every time. Not to mention, it has a (discreetly implied) tragic gay love story.
A Very Long Way From Anywhere Else by Ursula LeGuin. It's about falling in love for the first time, and trying to come to terms with the reality of yourself over the expectations of society and your parents, and the pain of having to choose between what will make you happy and what will make other people happy. I love it so much.
Love of Seven Dolls by Paul Gallico. It's a sort-of fairy story about a girl, down-and-out in Paris, and her bizarre, schizo relationship with a puppeteer who can only show his love for her through his puppets. It's so beautiful and sweet, and I cry every time I read it.