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: 2006-03-08 03:50 pm (UTC)"Gatsby" is just so sad. I prefer "Tender is the Night" mainly because it ends on a more positive note...sort of...there is a feeling of triumph (okay, okay, maybe just survival) at the end that is missing from "Gatsby".
As for American themes...I am confused which themes are supposed to be distinctly American.
I have always thought 'Gatsby' read more like the dark side of a Regency-style romance novel. Gatsby is never going to fit in the 'ton' and while Daisy might entertain herself with him, she is never going to toss aside her position in society for him.
(And too, we see the characters through Nick's eyes and he is both involved with events and at the same time distanced from them. Sometimes it is hard for me to tell what is really there and what Nick puts there)
But take my opinions with a grain of salt since my favorite books list contains things like 'The Maltese Falcon', 'I, the Jury' and 'The Regiment'. (grin)