I was flipping through the channels the other day when I came accross a channel where they were playing The Great Gatsby. I had watched the movie before. Actually, I read the book first and then watched the movie. Few of the scenes I watched reminded me of some of the wonderous parts of the book.
The particular scene I watched was the one in which Nick Carraway (played excellently by Sam Waterston) goes to Daisy and Tom Buchnan’s villa for the first time and on his way back sees Gatsby (Robert Redford) standing on the bank of the river, looking towards the other side of the gulf at the lights coming from Daisy’s villa. It’s a very good scene. It’s over within few seconds but that’s long enough.
Gatsby is not really my most favorite character of the book. He sounds a bit too fictious and helpless and generous and secluded. He is sorta kind, playful and half self-occupied, and you know from his composure that he’ll have his heart broken again, by the same woman. I’m not sure if it’s a personal flaw in his character or a tragedy by chance… or may be a combination of both.
My most favorite character is Nick Carraway. He’s the narrator in the book. He’s a simple, good hearted Midwestern with moderate emotions that burst out just on the right occasions, saying just the right things. He’s naive and intelligent. He is naive because he is good natured and he is intelligent because he can identify the goods and bads in people at their respective emotional levels.
He comes across like a guy who’s a pair of eyes and ears, and a silent smile on his face. Mostly, he narrates, not judges. But when he judges, he lets it known. I just love that character. Few of my most favorite parts of the book outlining his character are:
Then there the is the part when he says goodbye to Gatsby for the last time.
At the very end he says about Daisy and Tom:
I’m not really into reading a book more than once. I find it boring but Nick sounds so detatched from the characters in his narration but yet profound in his insights in some parts of this book that I might just read it again one of these days.
Oh it's a very good book !!
And it's true - the book isn't all that bad, even though one may think it is a bit of a bore, but naa, depends what way u look at it too.
It's very descriptive in the setting though which I like - and the movie did a very good job in the set up. The clever scenes are when the lavish parties were held by gatsby ... not to mention, the small descriptions of all the rich ppl who attend his parties. You know, noting the rich guests who 'earned' their money as opposed to the ones who inherit it.
Daisy.., i liked. Even though she slightly seems like an exaggeration to me regarding her character.. yet she isn't. She reminds me of cat steven's line: "ooh baby baby it's a wild world .. it's hard to get by just upon a smile girl."
Cuz that's essentially all she has to do; being beautiful and enchanting enough always gets her way .. more or less.
Now that friend of Daisy .. wat was her name again - the one whom Nick had a fling with for a while. I really liked her. She was tough & tough (yes, in the movie too), but still very femine.
Anyway, the many points Fitzgerald tries to get across within his book is very well done. Even though it may be very subtle, but it's good.
[This message has been edited by kohalic (edited November 17, 2001).]
Daisy.., i liked. Even though she slightly seems like an exaggeration to me regarding her character.. yet she isn't. She reminds me of cat steven's line: "ooh baby baby it's a wild world .. it's hard to get by just upon a smile girl."
Cuz that's essentially all she has to do; being beautiful and enchanting enough always gets her way .. more or less.
Daisy I hated. Her character was of an emotionally selfish woman. She sounds like babbling meaningless stuff, intoxicated by alcohol and wealth, wanting to be liked and adored without deserving it in terms how much selfless emotionally she has to offer.
She couldn't live without wealth. And once she got it, she wanted more... she wanted an admirer who would console her and love her, and in the end, sacrifice his life for her, without her being even remotely remorseful or conscious of what she had done.
That's exactly why Nick says
[quote]
They were careless people, Tom and Daisy -- they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made ...
[/quote]
[This message has been edited by Roman (edited November 18, 2001).]
“The Great Gatsby” was so unique yet a good reader, I was wondering if you had noticed the symbolism implied for instance the parties, the green light, the billboard, materialism, and the accident.
This Novel also reminds me of "Wuthering Heights" which is still my most favourite book. The character of 'Heathcliff' was just so mysterious. I watched the movie (1992 version) several times. Heathcliff performed by Ralph Fiennes was just amazing, i couldn't get it off my mind for several days.
[This message has been edited by Jal_Pari (edited November 19, 2001).]
One thing which always troubled my mind about the book was its title. What was so great about Gatsby? if Tom n Daisy were the shallow, selfish people, Gatsby was not any better either...he was a criminal....akiller, a crook....and he committed all those crimes to win the heart of a shallow woman?
I personally prefer East Egg, West Egg is so bourgois.
I felt sorry for poor daisy and found gatsby a bit of P-Diddy in the hamptons. Sure he could get Martha Stewart at his parties but even J-Lo dumped him.
I am sure there is great symbolism implied by parties, green light, the billboard, and the rest as you mentioned. It's just that I didn't think too much about it (well, my head sorta hurts if I think too much) and hence missed most of it. Please, do elaborate how you look at it - plus I've forgotten some parts of the book as well so don't remember fresh off my memory the kinda impression I had of these things individually.
To me, all of it was mostly supportive of building an image of the time, culture, and society of early 20's New York City.
Naik,
I don't think word 'great' in the title is meant to be taken in the sense of being pious etc. I think it reflects the character in terms of how people looked at Gatsby in general. He had a contraversial reputation, sure, but he was much liked and was popular in the society in general. His parties, where anybody could just show up, were quite famous and show his generiosity and that's why people regarded him as 'Great Gatsby', but it's not a moral scale to denote his character.
Although, overall, a reader does like Gatsby's character despite of his moral flaws in the character. But that's a different matter altogether.
Info, personally i was on daisy's side too until the very end....and i thought its becoz i am a woman:--)
Roman, i was not talking about piety anyway; i read the book quite a while ago and i might be mixing it with some other book but wasn't morality if not major, one of the minor themes of the book. The corruption of American dream? Compare n contrast of the moral values of east vs west?
And wasn't Nick the only friend Gatsby had? Wasn't Nick the only person in his funeral? Noone else liked him except Nick? and we liked him coz we were seeing him through Nicks' eyes?
i guess i should read the book again.....can i borrow ur copy?
wasn't morality if not major, one of the minor themes of the book
Right, but title doesn't have to reflect that.
And wasn't Nick the only friend Gatsby had? Wasn't Nick the only person in his funeral? Noone else liked him except Nick? and we liked him coz we were seeing him through Nicks' eyes?
Right. And part of the reason was that Gatsby was rather reclusive in his demeanor. Even though he held luscious and franquent parties at his villa, he never socialized much with the people. Ironically, as much as people showed regard towards him because of his parties, they didn't care about him after his death. So the 'Great Gatsby' can even be viewed bearing that irony.
There is underlying sad romanticism about Gatsby's character. It cannot be judged based on his social popularity, or his moral character in terms of his profession or past deeds. May be it was that just one single personailty characteristic that author wanted to symbolize - nothing that sadness is great or not but the point is, whether it's Nick's representation of his character or reader's own extrapolation, 'great' is subjective of how Gatsby's character is portrayed.