#3 - The Great Gatsby

This was my first side-trip from the direct list. I had originally planned to go straight through the list in order, as a way of appeasing my obsessive-compulsive tendencies. Alas, this was not to be and I have taken on multiple side projects as a result.

First, there is the OCDSB's request that I be educated. To satisfy them, I must read and report on some books of their choosing. Luckily, theirs are mostly on the list as it is. This year it was Great Gatsby (and possibly another), next year might be Heart of Darkness or another of the teacher's choosing. The next book I am reading, The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz by Mordechai Richler, is also for school.

The second distraction (yes, I'm calling it a distraction) from the appointed task is my friend Amy. Upon telling her about the idea she looked over the list and decided that it was missing things. She also thought that if I were to start reading "real books" as she called them, then I should be reading her favourites. So once every 8 books off of the main list, I will depart to read one of hers. These will have a poetry and a modern slant, but we all love her anyways. The first is actually on the list: Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

Now, Great Gatsby. In class we watched a documentary on Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald, the writer. They tried their best to portray him as a loving husband, a workhorse of a man. I saw things slightly differently. He was so engrossed with the idea of fame, of making a legacy, that he was driven to madness at various times. Incessant revision of his work, frantic drinking, these are all signs of a truly disturbed man. The only things positive I can see stemming from his writing is that it took him away from starting a dictatorship, and this book The Great Gatsby.

The Great Gatsby is the polar opposite of Moby Dick. It reads quickly, keeps to the plot and leaves no unneccessary words. If Moby Dick was a sumo wrestler, Great Gatsby was a sprinter. The book is just what it needs to make the point, and nothing more. You had to read every word, because every word was important. Therein lies one of my few problems with it. Everything had a meaning. The green light, the pink clouds, Dr. Ecklesburg in the sky! Some of the things really don't make sense at first glance. I'm thankful for once to have some English class guidance to explain the symbolism, because a couple of the bits seem like absolute nonsense, even though you know they aren't.

The book is interesting on a different level. People talk of Gatsby defining the Jazz Age. But he seems to be unsure whether or not to glorify it or tear it down. His glittering descriptions of the parties are tainted with the faintest bit of ennui, and you're left feeling not excited for the participants, but a little bit sad for them. I make the connection to the frat parties at today's universities. It may LOOK like they are having fun, but eventually the hangover will hit. And a decade-long hangover seems a bit painful to deal with.

The book was fun though, and it won't be a pain to go back and look over the book time and again for class, as each page greets you with a gentle "old sport" pat on the back.

8/10