New book! Yay!...yay...yah...ugh. Even though I'm not
always excited by books, I'm usually not terribly bitter about them. But classics? I can't. I've attempted many times, but have not yet succeeded. I was able to enjoy some of the "later" classics like
Animal Farm. When I attempted
Wuthering Heights or
Jane Eyre, the only thing that my brain was able to process was that the black stuff was the ink and the tan-ish white stuff was the paper. Maybe I have the not-able-to-process-what-famous-sisters-write curse. When I was told to choose a classic, I had two choices: a) read a "later" classic like
1984 that I can probably be easily interested in, or b) choose a classic I would probably not enjoy, but I'd have to read it eventually for another English class anyways. I chose B. The classic that's going to haunt me?
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
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| Here is my copy of The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. |
I have read about the first ten pages of this book at least four times. I still don't know what's going on. I thought it would be better to do some background research then, which we're supposed to do anyways (there's a reason why English teachers make us do tedious things). Fitzgerald was brought up in an upper-middle class environment and went to two Catholic schools. He worked in Hollywood and made a lot of money at one point in his life, and died from heavy drinking. Although I don't want to judge, he probably lived a superficial life for at least half of his life. There might have been a point in his life where he realized money and drinking wasn't everything. If he did I think there would be a superficial setting in the book and one character realizing that there's more to life than that.
Well, I don't think this book is going to be a panacea because I probably have to do a lot of analyses in order to actually understand the book. I hope though, if I don't understand it well this time around, I'll at least understand it better the second time and go "ohhhh."
A simple remedy (but not a panacea) to a cold or just feeling cold, you can try some
barley tea. It smells nice and if you put it in the fridge to make it cold, it's a great beverage when it's super hot outside.
I enjoyed the post! It was quite humorous! You mentioned conducting some research. Do you think that Fitzgerald's life is reflected in his characters? I have not read the book, but I have heard that references to actual people in his life are very common throughout "The Great Gatsby." You also mentioned having difficulties with understanding what is going on. Is it that the plot itself is confusing? Or is it Fitzgerald's writing? If so, what makes his writing so difficult to understand? I'm reading "A Tale of Two Cities" right now, and it's definitely not easy. I think that because the book was written so long ago, the language used is different enough that it is slightly more difficult to comprehend. Do you think this is the case with "The Great Gatsby?" Anyway, I have heard great things about this book. I hope it gets better for you!
ReplyDeleteOhhhh so we're mixing books and remedies now, huh?? Well, nice job on the post. Just wanted to say that, I finished 1984 and I think you would have thoroughly hated it because it had a very depressing ending. Anyway, I don't believe The Great Gatsby is something we have to be forced to read in the future, but I'm glad you've read it. I read it last year, and although the first ten pages were hard to plow through, I found the rest of the story somewhat enjoyable. Sure, the whole thing is written through the perspective of Nick and he can be such a bore, but he's a "great writer and story-teller" (obviously, Nick isn't the one who is really telling the story, it's Fitzgerald, but you get what I mean). Hopefully you finish this book soon so we can have a book discussion! If you feel like killing time, then consider watching the movie.
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