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 07:13 pm (UTC)It goes in the list behind HP 4 and 5 and the last 9 Aubrey/Maturin novels. I am determined to finish those before you get back to the states. Plus, the ending to the 11th one was awesome.
My favorite book? I know it's utterly predictable. My favorite book is the Lord of the Rings. It's not my favorite because of the characters or the writing. I love it because it isn't just a book, but a whole word. Whenever I read it, I'm left in awe that one human mind could create so much from nothing. Middle Earth is a place of Epic adventure, love, strife, and tragedy. Each reading makes me want to be a better person.
At least I didn't say it was my favorite book because Legolas as cool. :-p