Monday, May 20, 2013

*spoiler alert* The Young and the Selfish: The Great Gatsby (F. Scott Fitzgerald)


I read the Great Gatsby a few weeks back and finally motivated myself to write about it today since I needed to bust out another post (coming up next: Wild by Cheryl Strayed).  It's about darn time to write about it.  For some reason, I think I was waiting to write about it because I wanted to see the movie and compare the two.  However, since my time and motivation has been limited for movie-watching, and because a few bad reviews made me hesitant, I haven't gone to see it yet.  I was especially hoping to be able to take a group of my students to see it, but again, with my school's graduation rapidly approaching, the logistics became too difficult to make it manageable.  So, instead, I'll simply put my thoughts down about the book and I may update this post to add in my view of the Baz Luhrman movie once I finally see it...



Once upon a time about 4 years ago I tried to read The Great Gatsby.  After roughly 20 pages I was so annoyed with Nick, the narrator, that I couldn't proceed, so I let the book ferment until the movie was about to come out, and I suddenly felt the urge to give the book a new, fresh attempt.  All I can say is that the trailer was sparkly enough that it compelled me to read it, and I figured I was due for some shameless smut-- for me this means reading about parties, affairs and the rich simply being selfish. I wasn't disappointed in that respect.  I was pleasantly surprised at the substance of the piece.

For some reason, the Great Gatsby reminds me a bit of one of my favorite books, American Psycho (by Bret Easton Ellis).  Many may be appalled at this comparison, but I felt like many of the same elements that made the book worthwhile were there: Both books are really period pieces, Psycho covers the late 1980s, while Gatsby covers the mid 1920s (about 5 or 6 years after World War I).  This is reflected in the mention of the make and color of the cars, the sports of the time, women's rights are emerging (especially with the character Jordan, who is a female golf player), the music and hot entertainers of the time, and the fact that bootlegging is such a big deal.  American Psycho also did this, but by describing the musicians of the time, the food culture, clothes, the corporate culture, and the prolific use of drugs (especially coke). Both, as well, focus on the rich and their abilities to be insulated from the rest of the general population, particularly when it comes to relationships and abuses of power.

Here's the gist of the story: Nick Carraway has returned from The Great War (World War I), he's gone to school for some sort of banking and the story begins with him moving to the New York area to establish himself.  His only contacts at the beginning, are his cousin, Daisy and her husband Tom Buchanan.  Daisy introduces Nick to the lavish lifestyle to which she's become accustomed, while he tries to scrape by in a house he's renting with another young professional.  The house is in close proximity to a mansion owned by Jay Gatsby.  Nick hears various lore about Gatsby and one of Daisy's friends, Jordan Baker, takes Nick to a party at Gatsby's.  Jordan introduces Nick to Gatsby and Gatsby urges Nick to go out with him the following morning on a seaplane.  Gatbsy befriends Nick and tells him a few details about himself, but Nick can't help but feel that he isn't getting the full or the real truth, but he doesn't call Gatsby out on this.

Meanwhile, Nick hangs out with Daisy and Tom periodically and when the two are both out the room, Jordan informs Nick that Tom has a girl on the side.  It seems like Jordan is just being catty or speculative, but then Tom takes Nick into town at one point and introduces Nick to his mistress and Tom, Nick, the mistress(Myrtle), and Myrtle's sister all hang out.

Gatsby invites Nick to visit with him and even go to lunch.  While at lunch, Nick spots Tom and walks Gatsby over to introduce him, and when Nick begins to introduce Gatsby, Nick realizes that he's all alone with Tom and Gatsby has ditched him, indicating that Gatsby already knows Tom.  Gatsby makes Nick invite Daisy over so they can potentially reignite their relationship.  Nick finds out that Gatsby has strategically placed himself in proximity to Daisy and Daisy's family in order to win and woo her, despite not having had contact with her for about five years. Daisy is reluctant at first, but then she's won over.

Gatsby stops having lavish parties in order to spend more time with Daisy and finally, Nick, Jordan, Tom and Daisy and Gatsby all hang out together-- but Tom realizes something is up.  They're all restless and decide to drive into the city to party in order to try to get their minds off the unbearable heat. In the process, Daisy drives with Gatsby, while Tom, Jordan and Nick all take off in Tom's car.  The speed along and Tom stops to get gas and he find out from the gas attendant and mechanic that the mechanic and his wife will be leaving town in just a matter of days.  This upsets Tom because the mechanic's wife is Myrtle. Tom leaves, more belligerent than previously.  They all meet up in the city, hang out and drink at a hotel room and then Tom and Nick get into an argument over Daisy.  Daisy obviously upset and takes off again with Gatsby.  Tom is also upset and he takes off with Nick and Jordan.  As Tom's car reaches the fueling station, it's obvious there's been some sort of accident and a woman has been hit by a car.  Tom gets out to rubber neck when he realizes that the woman who'd been hit is his mistress Myrtle.  Tom overhears  witnesses talking about the color of the car, and he realizes the car that hit Myrtle fits the same description as Gatsby's.  Gatsby drops of Daisy, and then he goes back to his mansion.

Gatsby has his servants keep his car out of sight and his relationship with Daisy cools off as they both try to stay low-key.  Nick and Gatsby talk and Nick finds out that it wasn't Gatsby who was driving, but it was Daisy.  Gatsby's servants ask Gatsby about closing down the pool since it's the end of the season, but Gatby asks that they let him swim in it because he's just realized he hasn't even been in it once all summer.  Nick comes to check on Gatsby, and finds Gatsby dead in the swimming pool. The police arrive and start to process the scene.  Nick, convinced that Tom shot Gatsby, rushes off to Daisy and Tom's in order to confront Tom, when Tom tells Nick that it was probably Myrtle's husband, who had recently showed up waving a gun around and acting crazy. Tom tells Nick that he told Myrtle's husband that the car belonged to Gatsby, neglecting to mention who was driving the car.

Nick, disgusted with both Tom, Daisy and Jordan, decides to leave the area and he moves to the Midwest, hoping to escape his "friends."

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