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Yo!!! So far nothing much has happened and i have just had my first glimpse of Gatsby. I know I need to hurry it up - especially since I am reading the book for the first time :)
No rush. I haven't started yet, though I know the story well enough to join in even if I'm behind.
LOL.. but I am curious abt ur first book BF.
Nick Carraway was probably my first book boyfriend. I'm writing a blog about my first thoughts as a kid, and my thoughts now. I still love the story. BUT my perspective has changed.
Cool! I'd love to read that blogpost :)
i'm writing it, but i'm keep getting distracted like the dog on UP. "SQUIRREL!"
lol. I can relate. I ended up writing instead of reading.
I started it last night, but I've only managed about 40 pages so far. I've read this book a couple of times at least as I love it, but I'll be really curious to hear your thoughts Zeenat, especially as your perspective has changed. That always make for an interesting discussion!
OK, I finished it tonight. Who wants to talk about it?What did you all think of Gatsby? Hopeless romantic or hopeless fool? Give me your thoughts. :)
LOL I'll finish my blog and come back...But in short: as a teenager I thought Gatsby was a hopeless romantic. This time I found him pathetic. A bit harsh, but I couldn't come up with a better word...
I am not sure what I think of Gatsby - I don't think he was a hopeless anything to be honest. His story felt like he had a glass wall around him and it was through this wall that he had observed what it meant to be happy and what it meant to be "normal". And it was this distorted vision that he held on to and tried to bring to life. His focal point was Daisy, but had he not fixated on her, he would have fixated on something else eventually.
Had he fixated on someone good, someone who stuck with him, he would have really made something of himself. Instead... it was Daisy. Sigh.
I think Gatsby's a tragic character. He's very flawed and very, very obsessive, but it was all about love. He wanted Daisy's love so badly and it was the driving force behind all of his actions and led ultimately to his destruction. I think he simply got lost in the fantasy he'd created in his mind and he paid a high price for that in the end.When Gatsby realised he needed money or he couldn't have Daisy, it led to some questionable choices. I think of that young man who wrote the list that his father produced at the end. He wanted to better himself, but he intended to do it via improving books, sports and elocution. I don't think he meant to become involved in illegal dealings, but his need to acquire wealth overruled any moral misgivings. I don't believe he actually cared all that much about his possessions. They were solely there to lure Daisy.
So I feel that Gatsby's love - and his spirit - were pure at the start, but the years twisted and corrupted them. He'd created the fantasy of his perfect life and then reality came crashing in. Daisy and Tom are horrible, shallow people, and I think Gatsby sort of realised that at the end, but even then he couldn't quite let go of his illusions. They'd become part of him.
I can understand someone becoming fixated about something (I'm slightly obsessive myself!) and Gatsby should have left Daisy in the past when she married, instead of believing that if he could only be an equal in Daisy's society then everything would work out. But that bit in the book when he wants Daisy to tell Tom that she never loved him ... that was the crazy speaking! He isn't just fixated on the past; he wants to rewind the clock and undo history. He can't seem to accept that while he was off making his fortune, Daisy's life wasn't standing still either. I think this was reality intruding on his fantasies.
I think, ultimately, Gatsby is a victim of his own fantasies, but he's also a victim of Tom and Daisy's spoiled, selfish, reckless behaviour. They are every bit as morally-grey as Gatsby, but love was his driving force, not the desire for wealth or status or a place in society. Gatsby paid for his delusions, but Tom and Daisy got off scot-free.
I agree with you on almost all of that. But I do not think Tom and Daisy got away quite scot-free. Daisy will always know that she ran over someone and Tom will always miss the woman he actually loved - who is not his wife. Then again, I am not sure just how capable the two of them are of these feelings. I think what makes Gatsby so attractive in a way is because you can see the points on which his life turned and you want to correct those. To smooth them out so that he survives everything intact - physically and mentally. Yet it just cannot be fixed.
I think everyone in this book is morally grey. All of them. Gatsby did at least start out with good motives - Nick is usually indifferent or ambivalent. Jordan is self obsessed and Daisy takes that to another level. I hated how she treated her daughter - like she was a pretty statue to be showed off. I think that was worst thing I saw Daisy do. Initially too, Nick comments on how she should be planning on leaving Tom and yet she is not.
I think you may be giving Tom and Daisy too much credit when you say that they will have to live with their actions. They don't strike me as introspective thinkers or dealers in regret.Nick says (paraphrasing) that Tom and Daisy smash things then retreat behind their money. I think this is a very good summary of their characters. I don't think either of them truly cared about Gatsby or Myrtle (I think Daisy may have when she was younger, but probably not any more, and even then, she didn't love him enough to marry a penniless soldier). I think Myrtle was an amusement for Tom, but nothing more. I don't doubt that he was genuinely moved when she died, but he immediately set about using the circumstances to his own advantage. I think he shed a few tears, then moved on to the next distraction and that was that.
You touch on an interesting subject about Daisy and her daughter.
I said Daisy was shallow and selfish above, and she is, but I think she occasionally shows flashes of self-awareness, like when she says her daughter should be nothing more than a beautiful little fool. I think Daisy was really talking about herself there. That the best way to live her life was to act like a silly fool and not think too deeply or question anything that goes on around her. Like ignoring that her husband has been cheating on her since day one. It's the only way she can continue.
Does anyone think that Daisy deserves some pity for her miserable lot, or has she only herself to blame (or is she actually oblivious and not even remotely self-aware)? Does anyone think she really would have left Tom in the end? I tend to think similar to Arushi. I think she was full of plans to leave, but whether she'd actually have taken the final step, I don't know. Probably not. I think she was caught up in the romance of the situation with Gatsby and she saw how he worshipped her in a way that Tom never did, but whether that would be enough to leave her comfortable life and society position, I don't now.
On Nick, I do like him. I think he's a bit uptight and strait-laced, but he strikes me as a fairly decent and moral person. I think he's quite disgusted at the behaviour he sees around him but he'd been dragged into events through no fault of his own. I loved that at the end he told Gatsby that he was better than the whole rotten bunch! I think Nick believed Gatsby was acting from the heart and his motives were pure, unlike the rest of them.
http://zeenatkwon.wordpress.com/2013/...Here is my blog, errors and all. My head is low functioning today, lol so I'll come back tomorrow and read your thoughts :)
Darn, too much work - I totally missed this thread! I still have a weekend full of stuff to do but after that I may be able to catch up with you guys. I read this sooo long ago!
No worries, Anna. The thread's here for you to catch up on when you have time. :)
Following on from our chats about The Great Gatsby, it seems a certain George RR Martin is a fan of the book too. He's watched the movie and wrote a little review that I thought some might be interested in reading ...http://grrm.livejournal.com/324330.html
I love that he quoted the last paragraph of the book, cos that has always stuck with me too. It's so poignant.
YAYYYY!! I wonder if it's the "fantasy" element that draws us all. It's "real life" but rich and untouchables...
It probably is. I loved how he called the movie, and the book as being saturated with color - because the golden age is indeed always more golden in retrospect.
We'll kick off by talking about