“What was the use of doing great things if I could have a better time telling her what I was going to do?”
“‘Her voice is full of money,’ he said suddenly.”
“There are only the pursued, the pursuing, the busy, and the tired.”
To say I am excited for Baz Luhrmann’s remake of The Great Gatsby is a gross understatement. I am BEYOND excited (and yes, all caps are necessary). The Great Gatsby is one of my favorite pieces of literature– and that means something, because I’m obviously an expert with my masters in English. {To be quite honest, American literature, until the contemporary period, never really caught my attention. I love British modernism (happening at the same time F. Scott Fitzgerald was writing and led by the great Virginia Woolf) but the American writers of the time just don’t do it for me (the obvious exceptions: Faulkner and Hemingway).}
I loved Gatsby from the first time I read it in high school. Something about that glitzy, luscious, crazy world grabbed me. This was my third re-reading of it, and I have to say, Gatsby is like a fine wine: it just gets better with age.
By now, you probably know the plot. Nick, a guy from the Midwest, comes to the East. Shacks up next door to this Gatsby fellow, who throws the best parties. Hangs out with his cousin Daisy, her husband (crazy, racist, sexist Tom), and the mysterious Jordan Baker. He meets Gatsby, gets to know some of his self-made history, and learns about his old love affair with Daisy. Gets wrangled into putting Daisy and Gatsby back together; there’s a fight with Tom; a car crash; then a tragic, tragic ending.
What stood out to me this time, as a 25-year-old, were three things: first, this was an incredible period where people SAID who they were and it was believed. There is this theme of spoken untruths, that I would definitely write a paper about if I were still in school. Gatsby depicts a magical time period where if you wanted to be someone, you said it, and voila– you were it.
The second stand-out was just how beautiful Fitzgerald’s words were. The words! The man put sentences together out of nowhere that made me stop, read again, repeat five times, double back again later… Gatsby is truly a book of special significance to literature. Fitzgerald said he wanted to “write something new– something extraordinary and beautiful and simple & intricately patterned.” He did. Read it and really pay attention to the form, not just the story.
And, finally, this reading made me really dislike everyone. I’m sure that’s the point, deep down– that we’re all frauds– but it really stood out to me this time. I didn’t like Nick. Sure, he’s the last one standing by Gatsby’s side at the end, but he’s a jerk to him so often. Dismissive, rude, judgmental– who is Nick to be judgmental? Daisy’s a mess, Jordan’s kind of a bitch, Tom is gross, and Gatsby… well, I just kept picturing Leo as Gatsby this time and I couldn’t help but adore him. At the end, it reads as if Nick is blaming the East for creating the disastrous summer he had– that he believes the Midwest is purer, calmer, better. I disagreed. It didn’t stop me from loving the book, but it did make me skeptical of Nick as the narrator (I would make the argument that you’re supposed to question his reliability as the storyteller).
The movie is sure to pale in comparison to the book– but it is sure to be a masterpiece in its own way. Even if you’ve already seen it, go out and get a copy of the book. It’s a fast read, gripping and entertaining– truly a book to be treasured.
fun illustrations by Fred Meyer via my Collector’s Edition Great Gatsby
SM
