The Great Gatsby Read-a-Long :: Week Four (Final Review)
Welcome to the The Great Gatsby read-a-long! We’re reading this book through January. You can see the reading schedule and guidelines on the Starting Post Page.
If you would like to participate in the Twitter viewing party of watching the 1974 Robert Redford/Mia Farrow movie version of The Great Gatsby, we will be watching it on Sunday, February 5th at 1:00 pm PST. If you do not have a version of this movie, it is available to rent on Amazon.com for $2.99 (I will be renting it as well, as I can’t find a free version and it’s not on Netflix). We will be tweeting using the hashtag #Gatsby. Will you do me a favor and let me know in the comment section if you’re planning on joining in? Thanks!
Week Four: Read to The End
Discussion:
Not many things have stayed the same in the past 16 years, since I first read this novel. My age (for starters) has changed, as has my pant size (I’m no longer a teenager, give me a break), my experiences, my responsibilities, and so on. What has stayed the same? I still think The Great Gatsby is one of the best books I’ve ever read, I still hate Daisy (maybe even more than Tom, but I hate him too), I still think Fitzgerald had one of the keenest abilities to pack a punch with the greatest economy of words, and I still think the last line is one of the most truthful/heartbreaking/insightful sentences that I’ve ever read… it still almost makes me want to cry. Almost.
Oooooh I had forgotten about Myrtle. Stupid, sad Myrtle. And I had forgotten who was driving the car; pathetic, irritating Daisy. And I totally forgot the ending… I thought it was only Wilson who had died — in fact the entire impact didn’t fully click for me until a few pages after it happened! What I love is that Fitzgerald didn’t just leave us with weak, flawed women (how prosaic would that have been?), he left us with weak, flawed characters. Not one character (not even Nick) showed strength or true grace in this book. Though Nick got the closest (in my opinion) he was the narrator, therefore biased, and he kept his mouth shut too many times when he shouldn’t have. All that said, it is truly amazing that Fitzgerald could make such a work based around characters who weren’t meant to be liked. There was no hero in this novel… yet he has kept readers hanging on his words for over a century! How impressive is that?
Instead of talking about the twenty or so talking points I marked with sticky notes this week, I’m going to leave the discussion open for you to talk about what you thought of the ending. My only questions (just out of pure curiosity) are: Was there any character whom you actually liked by the end of the book? Which character did you like least, and why? Did you notice the use of “holocaust” at the end of chapter 8… how that word worked perfectly in a sentence which was written before World War II, but would mean something entirely different today (so interesting how words can change)? Have you weighed in on the conversation of the casting for the new movie version coming out?
It is said that at F. Scott Fitzgerald’s visitation (before his body was taken to Maryland for the burial), Dorothy Parker murmured “the poor son-of-a-bitch,” the line that Owl-eyes said about Gatsby at Gatsby’s funeral. There are plenty of lines that she could have said, though this one might be fitting at anyone’s funeral, but since Parker herself was a writer, and a crafty woman, I can’t help but wonder why she chose this particular line wen she easily could have chosen a more beautiful one, or said something of her own creation. Perhaps I’m looking to deeply into this, but after some reading, I’ve found there is a vague parallel Gatsby and Fitzgerald at the end of Fitz’s life (in love with an unstable woman whom he couldn’t fully have, corroding effects of wealth and a decadent lifestyle, egoism, and a fierce protection over other’s versions of his life being told). Any thoughts on that?
The last line of The Great Gatsby is etched into the grave stone that Fitzgerald and his wife, Zelda (who were estranged at the time of his death), share. It’s an incredibly famous line – one that I think deserves its accolades. So I’ll end our reading and this post by quoting the haunting yet beautiful sentiment that Fitzgerald left us with…
So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.
Who’s Reading Along:
** Please don’t forget to come to this blog each Friday and share your thoughts in the comments section of the weekly The Great Gatsby discussion (see below for more information).**
Jacqueline Manni
kim
Meg @ A Bookish Affair
Melissa Caldwell
readingwithtea
Megan Granger (@MegsGranger)
Ashley J.
nancy
Johanna
Sarah B
Cindy
Jill
Sarah Williams (@sawcat)
Deborah Morgan
TFrances @ Wading Through the Ocean of Life
Julia L
Ashley W.
Molly
jaynebooks
Whitney
Patty@Taleofthreecities
Peggy Joan
Friendly Reminders:
- If you are participating and I don’t have you on this list, please let me know in the comments section. I did not include people who said ‘maybe’ so if you have changed your mind and are definitely reading along with us, let me know so I can add you. Also, if you are not going to be able to join us anymore please let me know and I will take you off the list.
- Comments from the previous week’s reading will be closing Thursday afternoon (before the next discussion takes place on Friday). If you would like to be part of the discussion, please remember to comment before then.
- If you go for two weeks without commenting in my weekly update comments section, I will assume you are no longer participating and will take you off of the list (*NEW GUIDELINE*, in order to get back onthe list, you need to a.) Have missed no more than two weeks of discussion, b.) Let me know you would like to be on the list again, and c.) consistently be part of the discussion for the next two weeks after requesting to be put back on the list.). This is in no way to be discouraging, but helps to keep the read-a-long organized (and helps me remember who’s completed what read-a-long…there (ahem) might be something fun for different levels of participants at the end of the year! Thanks!
It’s over… I got to see the utmost betrayal of a human to another human: Tom and Daisy vs. Gatsby. Which character I ended up disliking even more than in the beginning? Yes, Daisy – oh, how I would love to smack her, to wake her up from this bubble she’s living in … Such a horrible character (i.e. such a well-described horrible character), she did bring out feelings of nausea in me!!! As to the movie versions, I can not follow the twitter viewing as I’m on the other side of the world, but I did watch it right after I had finished reading the book: sorry, I cannot, WILL NOT, replace this version with any new one…
Some more thoughts on my post here:
http://www.talethreecities.blogspot.com/2012/01/great-gatsby-end.html
Definitely “such a well-described horrible character.” So sorry you can’t join us for the Twitter watching (would not be fun to do in the middle of the night on your end), but yay for watching it again! I’m really not sure about this new version either…
But it looks so pretty…and by that I mean, DiCaprio looks so pretty.
I was left with the question: Did Daisy mean to do it? Gatsby says “first Daisy turned away from the woman toward the other car, and then she lost her nerve and turned back.” He assumed the second turn was meant to avoid the second car, but what if Daisy turned into the woman? He continues “I tried to make her stop, but she couldn’t” — couldn’t? or wouldn’t? I’m assuming Gatsby doesn’t know who the woman was to Tom.
The trauma, and the loss of one of the interlopers in their relationship, seems to restore Daisy and Tom’s marriage. I was also surprised that nobody seems to think that they should identify the car and driver to the authorities. They’re happy with the peons, those outside their class, thinking it an unsolved hit-and-run. I’m surprised that Tom doesn’t turn in Gatsby to get rid of his rival. And I wonder if Daisy told Tom she was driving. She might have, during the night of uneaten chicken and ale, and that shared secret brought them together… and gave him more power over her.
More random thoughts: A rather old-fashioned approach to having sex (“He took what he could get, ravenously and unscrupulously— eventually he took Daisy one still October night”) led Gatsby to feel “married to her”, as though the physical symbolized the entire commitment. That attitude may seem foreign to the modern reader raised in a world post-70s. (Interesting that the film adaption was made in 1974. The 70s in general had plenty of nostalgia.)
I believe that Daisy threw over Gatsby because he wasn’t there and she wanted a change. She seems to me bored of continuing on the way she had been, so she took the decision now instead of waiting for the right decision.
We finally learned about the money, that Gatsby became a front man for some dirty business because of his Oxford background.
Jordan thinks Nick is self-deluded, like she is, but his quietness around the catastrophe, not notifying the authorities, shows otherwise. How odd he’s more concerned with getting people to the funeral than justice. Tom murdered Gatsby by sending the crazy widower after him, although perhaps to Tom it seemed to be the truth. At that point, my brain started trying to rewrite this story as an episode of CSI.
The character I liked most was Jordan, perhaps because we don’t see her enough to dislike her, and Nick treats her badly. I have great sympathies for Daisy, since I see her as a victim of her times, not taught how to stand up for herself or what she wants. Liked least? Myrtle, because she’s written to be dislikable and coarse, successfully.
Well, Daisy clearly didn’t tell Tom that she was the one driving… When Tom met Nick much later, he still was thinking that it was Gatsby who was driving, and Nick couldn’t tell him the truth.
Moreover, Daisy didn’t know who the woman was so she couldn’t hit her intentionally. Which is probably even worse… no excuse for her.
I wonder where I got the idea that Daisy did know who Myrtle was, or that the garage was a key location? Maybe because everyone else knew that, or because (as was said in describing the accident) Myrtle went running out to the car as though she knew the driver.
Yes, I guess so. And also Gatsby and Daisy were returning back in Gatsby’s car – but on the way to town, it was Tom and Jordan who were in that car (do you remember that Myrtle was eyeing up Jordan from her window, thinking that that was Tom’s wife?).
Very sad.
So I suppose Myrtle thought that it was Tom returning in the same car, and rushed to “him” which got her killed
Interesting, because I thought the EXACT same thing, Johanna… Daisy turning the car back toward Myrtle made me think she did it on purpose. I thought we were led to believe that Daisy wasn’t so in the dark about the affair. Since she openly knew about it, it wouldn’t be a stretch for her to know whom it was with.
I also noticed the part about Gatsby feeling married to Daisy. It makes me wonder how many men Daisy had been with – Fitzgerald mentioned how wanted she was, and she certainly didn’t feel “married” to Gatsby which makes me wonder about her (particularly because women of that era would value their chastity even more than the men since it was very much a factor of standing).
Alyona is right though — Tom certainly still thought Gatsby had been driving. I was hoping Nick would throw it back in his face that his stupid wife Daisy had done it – and that Tom had sent an innocent man to his grave, but he (as you know) he didn’t.
Yes, I really wished for Nick to tell Tom! Ah. That would’ve taught him. But I guess he would’ve found excuses for Daisy anyway.
After reading this great article in VanityFair, I tried to recall what were my impressions first time ever I read the book (which was long time ago).
And I indeed had a shock with Gatsby’s murder – how quickly it all happened. Almost too quick, as a reader I was taken by surprise with plot development and also with character development, just didn’t it coming. I never could understand why Gatsby was “The Great” – he didn’t seem very grand to me as personality. Nice, naive, trapped in his illusions, I rather felt a bit sorry for him. More weak in his naivety than strong aka Great.
But maybe “great” was meant in a way “great guy”? like “oh, he is a great guy”?
Wonder what is the feeling of Americans who would catch the nuances better.
I remember I also liked Daisy through the book and was shocked at the end. She definitely seemed to me more decent person (even though an airhead and a spoiled girl).
I think the title speaks to the legend and mystery that surround him. To many people, he is larger than life, with his shadowy past and all the other completely false rumors that make the rounds among his party guests.
Few people know the truth about Gatsby, which is that he is just a man from a humble background trying to make something of himself…driven by an all-too-common motivator: the love of a woman.
So calling him “The Great Gatsby” simultaneously highlights his godlike reputation and his mere humanity…and perhaps the rumors of his greatness that carry on even after his death.
I’m thinking “Great” was supposed to be ironic. He was trying to make himself great — and he succeeded in a superficial way, which didn’t turn out to be so… great.
Given Daisy’s popularity back in her hometown, I wonder if she was getting plenty but each of the guys thought that they were the only ones.
What do you mean by action?
I thought from reading stories about that time that it was ok for upper class girls to go on dates with many guys, after their debut… And it was ok for them to know it, in any case Daisy was a princess and probably guys worshipped her whatever she was doing… Wonder about sex though – surely they were not supposed to do that before marriage ?
In this sense Gatsby is also very selfish. He seduced Daisy fully knowing that he shouldn’t do it, and then it was such a big deal, really bad thing to do! If she was less rich, he could’ve ruined her life.
Oh, you were supposed to date many people — getting too serious too young was inappropriate. And no, you weren’t supposed to have sex, but human beings being what they are… they still did, but you weren’t supposed to let anyone know.
Gatsby “seducing” Daisy so relatively easily is what makes me think she wasn’t exactly as pure as he thought, you know?
I may be totally off-base in my interpretation, but I don’t think that bit about Gatsby “taking” Daisy was referring to sex. I think the whole paragraph is necessary to get the correct meaning, and the context seems to say that Gatsby considered Daisy to be his and had already decided she would be his wife, without any confirmation from her on that matter. He “took her because he had no real right to touch her hand.” That is to say, he laid claim to her even though he had no real right to do so, due to his unequal social status.
Or it could be both meanings. I honestly have no idea.
I was wondering the same thing, if Daisy did turn into Myrtle. Daisy acted like a ditz, but she wasn’t an idiot. She surely must have thought this guy from the garage calling so often might be fishy. Though, crazy lady running towards the road possibly yelling her husband’s name might have given it away too.
Oh, and I would like to join in the viewing if I can find a copy of the film in time. (Sorry for the essay above.)
Many many thanks to Wallace for another GREAT Read-a-long! I think this one was the most fun yet because of all the discussion. Wonderful!
I wanted to share with all you this article I found when researching my cocktail piece:
http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2000/05/hitchens200005
I haven’t always agreed with Hitchens, but he was a provocative thinker…I don’t think anyone could deny that! His article about The Great Gatsby had me turning his ideas around in my head all week. What do you think of his assertion about the characters who die in the novel:
The only ones who die or are killed, from or by a combination of callousness and caprice, are—the innocent.
!!!!
Now for Wallace’s questions.
Was there any character whom you actually liked by the end of the book?
I still felt some sympathy for Gatsby and Nick. They were both under major delusions, which was sad to me.
Which character did you like least, and why?
I ACTIVELY DISLIKED Tom and Daisy SO MUCH. Because they were rich and of privilege, they thought they were above the law, and above everyone else. They both were so poisonous.
Did you notice the use of “holocaust” at the end of chapter 8… how that word worked perfectly in a sentence which was written before World War II, but would mean something entirely different today (so interesting how words can change)?
This was VERY interesting. Also Wolfsheim’s business was “The Swastika Holding Company” Wow.
Re: Dorothy Parker. Ah, yes, she was not known for a gentle way of saying things, but I think she was spot-on. I think Fitzgerald would have wryly agreed with her, too. I think he wrote about this stuff so powerfully because it was so close to home. She was crying when she said it, and I think had to be out of a powerful empathy. She was a spokesperson/embodiment of this generation, too.
I can’t wait to read what the rest of you have to say!
Thanks for sharing that link. Very interesting analysis.
I loved this article! Thank you!
Great insight! thanks!
That’s a great article! And I agree with Hitchens. “The snobs win.”
Love the article – very insightful!
I caught that about Wolfsheim’s business also. It stood out a bit more since Fitzgerald had to point out the secretary was a “Jewess”. In a post WWII world, that just seemed an odd pairing.
I shall have to check out the article later, when I have time to read it.
I don’t think I’ve read Gatsby since high school myself, and while I remembered Myrtle’s death, I forgot it was Daisy behind the wheel!
I think she may be my least favorite character. I start off pitying her in the beginning of the book – marrying Tom when she clearly was conflicted. However, she is the character who bothers me the most in the end; I think the way she treats her daughter as an accessory is very telling. She can’t even muster up enough energy to spend more than 5 minutes with the child. I always thought that Tom was the most heinous, but I really think it’s Daisy. I would like to think that if I had hit someone with my car, I couldn’t go home, have dinner, and then go to sleep.
Gatsby just breaks my heart. I disagree with the scene in the hotel room in NYC, where he tries to one-up Tom by forcing Daisy to tell him she is leaving him for Gatsby. I do think there is something suspicious about Tom making sure that Wilson knew he was driving Gatsby’s car when they stop for gas and saw Myrtle in the window. Funny how fast he changes his tone after the accident.
I found it unsettling seeing holocaust in print, and then a chapter later seeing Meyer Wolfsheim’s company with swastika in the title.
I love the Vanity Fair article from above, because it really hit home. I do feel like Gatsby, Myrtle, and by extension Wilson, are all innocents. All have their ups and downs, but all three were manipulated by Tom and Daisy and they’re the only ones that pay the price. Gatsby is such a tragedy, because he had so much potential. It was such a waste.
I loved this read-a-long! It really makes the experience so much more rewarding when you have such a great discussion! Looking forward to A Moveable Feast!
So glad you’ll be joining us again!
This Read-a-Long was great! Your comments helped me to see Gatsby so differently than the first time I read this book! I too, intensley dislike Daisy–she obliviously left chaos in her wake. Taking a life had no effect on her. This entitilement is not Daisy’s alone, of course. I wonder hoiw these priveleged people would have endured the oncoming Great Depression. I agree – Gatsby had a wasted life! This book gave me little joy, but I am glad I read it.
No, it’s certainly not an uplifting novel — is it? Glad you joined in, though!
I’m not sure that I thought any of the characters were particularly likable. Gatsby is still a great pretender in a lot of facets of his life even up until the very end. Nick still seems kind of blind to it all. Tom is just mean. Daisy annoyed me probably the most. She only thinks about herself and when things get rough (i.e. the incident with running over someone), she’s willing to still put herself first and let others take the fall for her while she goes on with her life.
I think this book goes to show you exactly why Fitzgerald’s books are still as widely read as they are today. He writes really good characters, you may not like them but they pull you in and keep you reading through the book. This is still by far one of my favorite Fitzgerald books!
And he writes so well! The structure of his sentences, the choices of his words, and the deliberateness of his plot are all so enticing!
I had completely forgotten the ending! The whole thing was just so depressing in the end. It’s totally unsurprising that nobody came to Gatsby’s funeral–after all, they were only ever using him for his parties–but it still made me sad. Like everyone else, I absolutely HATED Daisy by the end. Her inability to grow a spine is the root cause of everything bad that happens. And I’m mad at Nick for never saying anything. I’m so glad I (re)read this with you guys, because I hadn’t loved it the first time and I really did enjoy it this time. And I actually kinda like the idea of Leo as Gatsby in the new movie. What makes me cringe is that it’s going to be in 3D. Nooooooo.
I didn’t even hear about the 3D part. Oh my, that’s pretty atrocious. Is it just me, or is making this movie in 3D the equivalent of Gatsby’s big showy pointless house? Do these people understand the book?
Haha! Oh, such a good point. BUT it *is* a Scorsese movie, which is a good sign…he is really wonderful with character-driven stories. I just didn’t think that particular illustrious director would give in to 3D so easily.
That is SUCH a good point, Jackie. It would almost be fitting if they actually got it — but I imagine they think the 3D part is actually cool rather than a tool of metaphor.
Megan- it’s not Scorsese, it’s Baz Luhrmann (same guy who did Romeo & Juliet with Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes).
Bahaha! You’re totally right…and I just realized why I thought it was Scorsese. Because of an episode of Entourage in which Scorsese talks to Vince about being in his Great Gatsby adaptation. Oh, TV…you aren’t real life.
Another reason everyone avoided the funeral: Gatsby had become part of a scandal and been in the papers, so he had to be avoided. (The snobby types, because they don’t like publicity because it isn’t proper, and the criminal types, same thing for another reason.)
Nowadays, all the people famous for being famous would flock to a funeral like that.
Oooh, I hadn’t thought of that but it makes perfect sense.
I also wanted to tell you guys about one of my prized books. It’s called The Romantic Egoists, subtitled A Pictorial Autobiography from the Scrapbooks and Albums of Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald. Partially edited by their daughter Scottie Fitzgerald Smith.
My copy is the older hardbound one that is big – probably about 10 x 16 – full of photographs, newspaper cuttings, journals, Zelda’s astonishing paintings and paper dolls, lists, telegrams, maps. So unique.
The icing on the cake was I got it for one dollar! I wanted to mention it especially for those of you who are used bookstore hunters. You may be able to get a nice old one for very little money. There are new ones, but they are paperback and about $30. Still – invaluable resource if this is one of your pet subject areas.
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/145996.The_Romantic_Egoists
I also LOVE the last line. It’s poignant, heartbreaking, and hopeful all at the same time. Above all else, rereading this book has reminded me how much of a master author Fitz was. He truly had a find command over the English language.
No matter how devious he may seem, I can’t help but like Gatsby until the end. He seems to be a victim of his own dreams, of his own ambition. Did anyone else find it interesting that Fitz didn’t actually show Gatsby’s death? Instead of writing about the event, he wrote about what Nick thought Gatsby was thinking at the time, not what *actually* happened. Interesting that he gives Nick control over this image.
And this is Ashley W., by the way.
That is interesting. In my opinion, he did it because Gatsby’s life was very empty. It was a St. Elmo’s Fire type of life, if you will. Very showy with nothing really substantial behind it. I think Fitzgerald must have known that while we would all find it sad, we were more moved by how depressing the aftermath of his death turned out to be.
I actually liked Nick quite a bit by the end. He doesn’t do anything to change the course of events, and maybe that’s why readers get so frustrated with him. But he was one of Gatsby’s newest friends and also the only one who stayed faithful to him until the end…and after. When he was desperately contacting anyone and everyone about Gatsby’s funeral, I could FEEL his disappointment at the lack of interest. He took Gatsby’s side against the world.
And Gatsby himself. I always sympathize with him, even when I want to smack him in the face. What seals it for me is when Gatsby’s dad shows up for the funeral and is overflowing with pride for his son. He tells Nick that Gatsby was always destined for bigger and better things and that he always made sure his parents were provided for when he came into his riches. He wasn’t perfect, but I think he was doing his best. He just got caught up…in so many ways. And he paid the price.
But my FAVORITE character in this book is the sole party guest who shows up to Gatsby’s funeral. Owl-eyes, you’re swell! I knew I liked him when we first met him in Gatsby’s library. He sees Gatsby for the showman he is, but he doesn’t hold it against him. His matter-of-fact revelations about the unread library books carry no judgment…just fascination. And his presence at the funeral is SO meaningful because he isn’t there under false pretenses or for the sake of appearances.
In the end, the only people at Gatsby’s funeral are the ones who actually KNEW Gatsby…imperfections and all. And I think that’s just as it should be.
Yes, Owl Eyes
I agree!
The thing about Nick is that he got so sanctimonious about Wolfsheim etc not coming to Gatsby’s funeral, but didn’t do Gatsby the real, actual service of revealing the truth about the murders. It makes me more sad than mad. He totally can’t see it about himself.
That is true…he could have at least made sure Tom and Daisy didn’t get away with EVERYTHING.
You’re right… Owl-eyes may just be my favorite character of the entire book.
Wouldn’t it make an interesting conversation piece to find out more about people by asking them who their favorite character in Gatsby is and why? I feel like you would find out so much about a person by asking that.
I’m going to try to do the twitter party – I’ve never done one before, and I can’t walk and chew gum at the same time, so this should be interesting. Oh dear!
I’d like to try to do it too. It sounds like a lot of fun!
It’ll be fun! I’ll get us started so it won’t feel so foreign. It’s easiest on a computer since you can use tweet chat to view only our conversation (and not get sidetracked), and you also don’t have to type the hashtag in with each comment… and it’s free.
Here’s the site if you’d like to look into it before the par-tay.
http://tweetchat.com/
Thank you so much for setting up the read-a-long, Wallace. I’d never had an opportunity to read Great Gatsby before, so it was good to have other people along for the ride.
It is interesting how little Fitzgerald describes Gatsby’s actual murder. We hear the shots and they show us the bloody circle and then Wilson’s body. It’s unfortunately where I can see the movie will filling in the visuals.
By the end, I admired Nick for his loyalty to Gatsby and his disgust with Tom and Daisy. I still quite like Jordan. She managed to get out with most of her dignity intact. Nick did treat her badly and she recognized it for what it was, rather than hanging around.
I hated Tom and Daisy about equally by the end of the book. I couldn’t quite see Daisy as the pure innocent, more the careless rich girl, used to getting what she wants and not caring who she leaves in her dust. In some ways, she’s worse than Tom. Say what I will about him, Tom did seem to mourn stupid Myrtle’s passing.
Doesn’t it make a difference to read with others? I find I get so much more out of the book than if I read it alone… and it’s nice to have the motivation of an upcoming conversation to get through the pages each week! Glad you joined!
I couldn’t agree more! Each day I looked forward to everyone’s insightful comments. Read-a-Long taught me to enjoy the journey of a good book, rather than to hurry and find out what’s going to happen next. Often I had to go back and read what I had missed. Wallace, thanks so much—I just ordered A Moveable Feast–can’t wait!
P.S. You’re right… I actually do think Tom cared about (maybe even loved?) Myrtle. It was his human streak.
I think the closest I came to liking was Nick, but I really can’t say I liked any of them as a person. Daisy is one who won’t make a decision for herself, and Nick really could grow a pair, to make him have a bit of personality. Something about Jordan makes her seem selfish to me, though she does not really get taken in with the romantic notion of Gatsby like Daisy and NIck do. Also, there’s not really a proper ‘bad boy’ character- one that you love to hate and are almost sorry when he or she gets their come-uppance because they won’t be there for you to dislike anymore.
I can’t join in the viewing party since Netflix doesn’t offer it, and honestly I’ll be lost in a marathon of something to avoid that football thing
The end of this made me really grumpy. I had enjoyed the beautiful writing and the characters up to the confrontation in the hotel, and then it all ended in a rush and I didn’t like any of it. I realise this is sacrilege, but it felt rushed, like FSF was on a publisher’s deadline and didn’t know how to end the book.
I didn’t like any of the characters by the end of the book – where did Jordan slink off to? Why did Daisy, given a chance to be… well, anything – either controversial and choose love, or controversial and choose marriage – be so… “meh”, so equivocating?
I noticed “holocaust” but I didn’t think about it being used pre-WWII.
I would quite like to see the movie on Sunday night (1pm PST is 8pm GMT) but I doubt I can get my hands on a copy that quickly, so I won’t commit to joining in.