The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald

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audre_child
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Re: The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald

Post by audre_child »

The Great Gatsby is phenomenal! I love the depth and deeper meaning of the novel. The underlying themes throughout the story lines are very intriguing.
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Roswell0021
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Post by Roswell0021 »

Still my favorite classic book to read. The characters are amazing the the use of symbolism is outstanding. I try to read the book once a year and am instantly transported back to that era. Such a great and tragic story.
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TeshLewis
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Post by TeshLewis »

I love this book, I love how everything is described from, the scenery, to the clothes to the romance and drama!
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pt_12
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Post by pt_12 »

I like the book. I like its setting, because it's set in my hometown area. I like the writing style.

I read during high school; only didn't like it because, well, required reading does that. But I need to read it again, to appreciate its themes more.

As for the movie...insert joke about Leo and his Oscar here.
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Post by scriptbunny »

Probably off-topic, but I remember reading The Great Gatsby on a plane and having the woman sitting next to me ask if I was reading it for a high school English class. I think I told her yes at the time in order to avoid the awkwardness of telling her not only was I not a high school student but was in fact in my mid-twenties.

Back to the original topic though, I pretty much adored The Great Gatsby. Much less pretense than This Side of Paradise.
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Post by shayna »

I love the book. People often complain about a lack of character development, but I think that is the point. Daisy is not supposed to be developed. She is portrayed as she is supposed to be; shallow.
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Post by 1fanofjane »

The Great Gatsby is one of my all time favorites. I read it every year. I did not enjoy the recent movie. Most movies do not do the book justice as you have your own image of the characters in your mind. A better movie version of the book is the one with Robert Redford and Mia Farrow. To me, they are closer to my image of Daisy and Gatsby.
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Post by casper »

I read this for the first time a couple of months ago and was so struck by it that I read it again straight away. An amazing book, but I'm not sure that I will watch the movie. So often I'm disappointed by the transition to the screen and it's worse when it's a book I've really enjoyed.
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Post by gabbycalametti4 »

Loved Leo as Gatsby! he captured all Jay's imperfections and showed how troubled he was! But I wasn't a big fan of Daisy. I liked her a lot more in the book than in the movie! But I thought Maguire did a great job portraying Nick! He was innocent and confused to perfection. The movie definitely portrayed the "Roaring 20's" to a point where i wish I had a time machine to go there! I do think the book is better for many reasons; character traits, more information, and scenes not in the movie- but the movie was still enjoyable!
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Post by ttuso22 »

I do not know why I didn't enjoy this book. I wanted to so badly. I bought the book immediately thinking I would love it and was sadly disappointed when I didn't. I was so distressed by the vileness of the culture in this setting and was so depressed by the ending that I could not appreciate it even if it did embrace the culture of the jazz period adequately or even if it did express a realistic approach to society. Maybe I just enjoy a good fantasy that ends with a more feel-good type ending than a good tragedy.
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hedda gabler 46
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Post by hedda gabler 46 »

gabbycalametti4 wrote:Loved Leo as Gatsby! he captured all Jay's imperfections and showed how troubled he was! But I wasn't a big fan of Daisy. I liked her a lot more in the book than in the movie! But I thought Maguire did a great job portraying Nick! He was innocent and confused to perfection. The movie definitely portrayed the "Roaring 20's" to a point where i wish I had a time machine to go there! I do think the book is better for many reasons; character traits, more information, and scenes not in the movie- but the movie was still enjoyable!
True the movie did a really good job portraying the 'roaring' quality of the twenties and the party scenarios a re faultless in the portrayal of the frenetic,desperate pace of the era right before the Crash of the NY stock Exchange.Certainly the movie is very very good Leo as usual does not dissappoint .I wonde if anyone has seen the Robert Redford movie? Redford's Gatsby I would say is timeless I think.Leo wasnt half s convincing as Gatsby and well Daisy was portrayed by Mia Farrow to the T! the production might hve been less dramatic but the characters were spot on. The new movie of course picked up on other tropes in the novel and was a great production but i couldnt help comparing it to the subleties of character portrayal that Redford and Farrow so effortlessly presented while Leo and Mulligan were somewhat stunted I thought.
of course the book's linguistic flow is exceptionally beautiful. The atmosphere is so so wonderfully pictured in the hot summer afternoons while this human drama plays out...Gatsby is simplistic,...obsessed with Daisy and I get the feeling he wants to own Daisy but actuall its her husband Tom who really gets her.Regrettably Gatsby does'nt and its so sad that he doesnt see this at all...He's romantic but unrealistic,single minded in pursuit and tries to bully Daisy into leaving Tom. The part where Tom talks about the things he has shared with her is like a door shut into Gatsby's face but he's too stubborn to accept this.
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Post by Fran »

@hedda gabler 46
Totally agree with you re the Robert Redford version (as I think I said in an earlier post) & for me the languid & shallow nature of the society Daisy & Tom occupy is better depicted in the older movie. IMO the more recent version, while certainly glitzier & flashier, does not portray the ennui & vulgarity of the "nothing to do & all day to do it" nature of the post war society of the nouveau riche set.

I don't agree that Gatsby is "simplistic" - he is a man in a time warp, still in love with the girl he first fell for & with the concept of the "perfect love" he believed they shared & that he believed Daisy would sacrifice everything for. He fails to see or understand that she is now a different person & that what he took for "innocence" has in the older adult Daisy become manipulation & self-interest or perhaps just a realism. In that sense Tom certainly understands the adult Daisy in a way Gatsby never can. Great book
We fade away, but vivid in our eyes
A world is born again that never dies.
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Post by Wndr_Wmn »

I am sad to say I haven't seen the new movie yet. The Great Gatsby is in my top 5 favorite and I watch every movie they put out, repeatedly. LOL I will definitely reread the book before I watch the movie.
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Post by Lfrock »

I first read The Great Gatsby in high school and I really enjoyed it. Then I had to read it again in college and I was surprised by how much of it I had forgotten since I read it in high school just a few years before. That makes me think I "liked it" so much in high school because it was a quick and easy read. However, in college, I took more time with it and really thought about it more and realized that it was actually great book. I loved reading about the history mostly. I imagined the people, dress and parties of the time and, of course, the cars! I love old cars. Just recently I decided to read it one more time before the movie came out. Surprisingly, this time my focus was one the devastating heartbreak of the relationship between Gatsby and Daisy. What hit me was that the different stages of my own life gave the same novel different meaning to me and regardless of what that was I found it engaging each time.
hedda gabler 46
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Post by hedda gabler 46 »

Lfrock wrote: Surprisingly, this time my focus was one the devastating heartbreak of the relationship between Gatsby and Daisy. What hit me was that the different stages of my own life gave the same novel different meaning to me and regardless of what that was I found it engaging each time.



now surely that is the mark of a truly great artist ....the timeless ability to touch differently each time...and the reader says wonderingly '' yes this is how i feel...'' :cry: :) :?: :shock:
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