Because of my recent absence, I never had the time to set out the next book to read. So, in order to give people the chance to read it, I'll postpone the date of our next discussion to Monday, June 6th.

Our next book, by request of a member who has always wanted to read it, will be The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Thanks to Dagny again:

HTML or epub (works for Sony Readers):
http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/f/fitzgerald/f_scott/gatsby/

PDF:
http://www.planetebook.com/The-Great-Gatsby.asp

I haven't tried it since I don't have a Kindle, but it looks like that is available free at:
http://www.feedbooks.com/book/5543/the-great-gatsby

Discussion is now open on The Great Gatsby. Here are a few questions to get you started:

There's an element of autobiography in the book. Fitzgerald met his wife in a similar way to how Gatsby meets Daisy. Does he idealize this relationship?

Why did Gatsby throw a party? Why were the people there that were so different from him?

How is the marriage between Daisy and Tom? How about the relationship between Daisy and Gatsby?

Why does the book start off with the advice: "Whenever you feel like criticizing any one just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had."?

How does Gatsby represent (or not represent) the American Dream? Remember, the book was written around the Great Depression...

Are the characters REALLY that shallow?

This is a reread for me (haven't finished it yet).

I remembered Nick, Gatsby, Daisy and the Wilsons well. I had forgotten about Jordan--and more surprising, I also didn't remember Tom! Major player, how could I have forgotten him! Blocked it out maybe, lol.

A blog I sometimes read mentioned The Great Gatsby as their number one favorite summer read.

"1. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald – Nothing says summer like a crazy bunch of shenanigans in the fictionalized Hamptons."
http://literarytransgressions.wordpress.com/2011/06/06/top-5-literary-summers/

I always have trouble with this novel because the one character that I have no sympathy for, don't understand and just can't stand is Gatsby himself. He always gives off a horrid stalker vibe to me. The book always seems to me to have an almost criminally naive view of human sexuality and relationships. People keep telling me I'm getting it wrong, but I've read it three times now and that's still my take.

It's sure beautifully written, though. That scene when Nick first sees the girls, and the wind is coming through the window? Wow.

I remember the first time that I read The Great Gatsby. All through the book I kept wondering what was so great about it. It wasn't until I had finished it that I began to get it. Not sure though that it was a case of needing to digest it as is sometimes the case. Here, for me I think it was needed the entire picture.

It took me a couple of times to really begin to understand what was going on. I don't think I truly appreciated all the dreams that are built, shattered, and reshaped throughout the novel until I reread the book.

The novel wasn't a great success when Fitzgerald was alive leaving him to believe on his deathbed that he had been a failed author. It wasn't until WWII that The Great Gatsby actually gained it's present-day status. I don't think people at the time understood it much either on the first read and never gave it a second chance.

Yesterday I encountered a trivia question asking which university Gatsby said he attended. I wouldn't have gotten it except for this very recent reading, so thanks to Leo and whoever chose the book.

I have to agree with agony's assessment, and maybe I am just someone who didn't "get it". I thought that the writing and imagery was exceptionally well done, but I just had no sympathy for any of the characters.

It seemed to me like every character in this book (with the possible exception of Nick, an observer) was selfishly in pursuit of his or her own goals to the exclusion of all others, leaving everyone else battered, broken and, occasionally, dead.

Then again, it's a look at a decade known as the roaring twenties. A burgeoning middle class was realizing that leisure time was theirs to spend as they pleased, and human nature very readily lends itself to that which most of us deny in ourselves: selfishness.

Oddly enough, I found Daisy and Tom to be, in some ways, the most sympathetic characters in the book. Not that they were admirable in any way, or likable - they were neither of these - but their motivations and actions rang true. They were real people in a way that none of the other characters were.

I think Gatsby initially isn't pursuing Daisy out of selfish reasons, but because he truly believes that he and Daisy were meant to be together. When this dream is shattered, I think he realized his selfish ways and needed a way to repent. Taking the blame for the act he didn't commit was his act of redemption, and he paid a price for it.

I agree with Agony and LadyCaitriona in that I didn't understand Gatsby as a character either. He came off as being very cold, distant and uninteresting to me. As for the writing itself, the book is very well written I just think that it needed more character development or it is just as Leo asked - perhaps the characters just seem to be too shallow. They appear to care only how other people perceive them rather than how they really are.

I think that Gatsby threw the party partly in hopes that it would be heard and seen by Daisy across the water and she would jsut show up as many of his "guests" did. This would also show Daisy how successful he had become and it raised his hopes that she would leave her husband to be with him.

For some reason I have never wanted to read this book. Always thought it would be a 'slog' and a bore. So glad it was chosen here which 'forced' me to read it. A really beautifully written book and so easy to read.

The characters, except for Nick, are all so shallow and self absorbed, but somehow that didn't bother me. I normally want a little 'meat' to the characters but this time it seemed somehow right to gloss over the deeper motivations as if it doesn't really matter - life goes on, people do what they want and only a few bear the consequences.

I don't think I'm really making any sense here.

Bottom line - I enjoyed the book, glad I read it and can't wait for the next one.

That's what gives me the "stalker" feeling. "Meant to be",
"belong together", the idea that because someone loved you (or thought they loved you) at some time in the past you now have some claim on them....all of this sounds good in sentimental songs and romantic fiction, but in real life it is unrealistic at best and scary at worst. If this truly were the great novel it is made out to be, there would be some recognition of that fact - even if none of the characters realized it, Fitzgerald should have, and I don't think he did. I think he bought into the romantic nonsense as much as that fool Gatsby.

Daisy is shown to us as being unworthy of the great love Gatsby has for her, when really, the idealized "great love" is the part that was unworthy of any living breathing person.

Gatsby didn't love Daisy - his "love" for her was as much a fantasy as everything else in his life, an imitation of something that was in itself a sham. The only real love in the novel was that between Tom and Daisy - messy, shot through with selfishness and weakness, a little ugly, just like real love often is.

Castle Rackrent-
When Nick has Daisy over at Gatsby's request, he mentions to her:
"That's the secret of Castle Rackrent."

I didn't know this the other time I read The Great Gatsby, but this time it sprang out at me. Castle Rackrent (1800) is a novel by Maria Edgeworth. The Wikipedia article says: "It is also widely regarded as the first novel to use the device of a narrator who is both unreliable and an observer of, rather than a player in, the actions he chronicles."
( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_Rackrent )

I have a question for y'all: I'm going to be away for the entire month of July. If anybody would like to step up to lead the next discussion, it would be greatly appreciated. It would require you to pick a book now and to come up with interesting questions based on it to ask the people.

If you're interested, send me a private message.

I so hope someone kind offers, The bookclub is going so well Leo and I hope it can be kept going. I will, of course I will, but I would be much happier if some kind soul can do it , as we still have iGCSE, ASlevels and A2 exams and I am in the thick of it, and the whole of July is taken up with Summer School(no peace for wicked teachers).

I'm sure someone will step up.

Anyhow, back to our book...

Gatsby is a bootlegger, therefore, he's a criminal. He associates with criminals, and knows he's breaking the law. Isn't it fitting that he meets his end criminally?


I'd hate to think that's the case. I am also a romantic, and I wouldn't want my love to be represented by a couple that can't even be faithful to one another.

I don't know how to use the "quote" function so this in in reply to Leo's last post.


I agree, Tom is unfaithful and uncaring - I don't call that love. And Daisy only stays with Tom for what he can provide for her - that's not love either. They use each other and their marriage is convenient. Sad really.

I'll be happy to take over. I'm aware that I've been neglecting this area lately, but I am reading "Gatsby" today and I'll post in the next day or so. Then I'll try to come up with a book to start discussing in early July.