So we beat on--

[trinityofone]

Today 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?

Comments

[caseymae.livejournal.com]

The Giver, for sure. I read it once as a kid, and didn't realize how much it affected me, even though I remembered a lot of the details. When I reread it recently, I cried on the very first page because I knew what was going to happen.

Also: Phantom, by Susan Kay. The life story of the Phantom of the Opera. Some call it the best fanfiction there is.

[stillane.livejournal.com]

Oh, The Giver! I haven't re-read that one in forever, and you've triggered a longing for it. Now I need to go hunt down a copy...

Thank you for reminding me.