Announcement of First Novel!

The totals are in and the winner is…The Great Gatsby!  Although it was most likely read in high school English by everyone, this masterpiece has thrilled readers for nearly a century.  The Great Gatsby has been called the “supreme achievement of [F. Scott Fitzgerald’s] career.”  It is a real reflection of the “roaring twenties” or the period of prosperity following the completion of “The Great War.”  The Great Gatsby is marked as “A Great American Novel” being distinguished from the classical European novels which were widely read at the time.  The novel is a literary zeitgeist, meaning it is accurately catches the spirit of the time along with the thoughts of people living at that period and “typifies and influences the culture of a particular era” (“zeitgeist” Merriam-Webster). 

                What is most memorable to me upon reflection of the novel, is the descriptive and symbolic words as used by F. Scott Fitzgerald.  His prose is prolific in that it adequately describes what he wishes to express, but also painting a canvas of connotation.  Images of implication are rich and abundant.  The casual reader must slowly glean from the passages the immensity of indications which are presented to move the novel forward. 

Another reflection stems from the idea of romance lost.  I think it is safe to assume that everyone has held deep feelings in relation to another person.  The feelings of romance an attraction are natural and can be overwhelming to where we find existential vestiges in the minutia of daily life.  Coupled with these feelings, perhaps we have experienced the dejection of deprivation.  When that love is lost to the wind, taking with it all of its feelings and sucking dry the liveliness of life.  We are, therefore, the opposite of Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz film.  We are dragged from the Technicolor reality of Oz and are slumped back into the droll darkness of desaturated Kansas.  This is experienced by Gatsby, essentially constructing his life around this one idea, and then when the dream itself collapses, literally and figuratively, he must collapse also. 

Needless to say, I am ecstatic to examine this magnum opus once again and pull from its pages the thoughts and ideas of one of the most important American writers of the twentieth century. 

To allow everyone involved with The Finer Things Club to choose a novel by the end of the summer, the reading will require daily vigilance.  Thus, we have created this reading schedule which is totally doable.  I will be commenting on the readings every other day from the chapters which we have finished and I invite you all to leave comments of thoughts, interpretations, and elucidations in regards to The Great Gatsby. 

 

DATE	ASSIGNED READING
Wednesday, May 8 Day 1	Chapter 1 & Chapter 2
Thursday, May 9 Day 2	Chapter 3
Friday, May 10 Day 3	Chapter 4
Saturday, May 11 Day 4	Chapter 5
Sunday, May 12 Day 5	Chapter 6
Monday, May 13 Day 6	Chapter 7
Tuesday, May 14 Day 7	Chapter 8
Wednesday, May 15 Day 8	Chapter 9   If you do not desire to read on Sunday, then plan ahead and read extra on Saturday.