Literary Pursuits: The Great Gatsby?

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The Great Gatsby?

Printed From: History Community ~ All Empires
Category: Scholarly Pursuits
Forum Name: Literary Pursuits
Forum Discription: all things relating to the written word
URL: http://www.allempires.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=24799
Printed Date: 10-May-2024 at 08:29
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Topic: The Great Gatsby?

Posted By: Kevin
Subject: The Great Gatsby?
Date Posted: 06-Jul-2008 at 02:02

For those of you that have read this book, I've had a hard time understanding it other then the historical context that is painted in it. Also it seems to other little point other then a historical meaning for me at least?

Replies:

Posted By: Richard XIII
Date Posted: 06-Jul-2008 at 04:16

Gatsby?

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"I want to know God's thoughts...
...the rest are details."

Albert Einstein

Posted By: Kevin
Date Posted: 06-Jul-2008 at 14:05

Originally posted by Richard XIII

Gatsby?

Sorry typo lol!

Posted By: Donasin
Date Posted: 28-Jul-2008 at 05:41

I think it is a timeless story about a man who refuses to face the present. Granted the 20's - 30's was a great era for this story and was excellently portrayed the main themes are universal.

Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: 28-Jul-2008 at 06:05

I always thought it was about the hollowness of the "American Dream". And a lots of inter-war issues thrown in.

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Posted By: Parnell
Date Posted: 06-Jun-2009 at 21:26

I thought it was a great book. Came highly reccomended from Dolphin here in a Real life conversation and sat down to read it during my exams.

Personally I felt that the major conflict was between the newly rich (Or flamboyantly rich) such as Gatsby and the old snuff aristocrats, such as the Tom fellow. Gatsby acquired this wealth in a meteoric fashion, and when he had it he didn't particularly want it. The female character (Foolishly forgot her name) was the holy grail for Gatsby, and Fitzgerald does well to paint her as a right bitch. She's the unattainable dream, the manifestation of the eternal barriers seperating men like Gatsby (And by extension Nick, the narrator) from the upper echelons. She also serves as an indictment of her social class by her personality alone. The mechanic Wilson was the ultimate example of the middle guy being trampled on in these egotistic wars. Some guy just trying to get along - safe, steady, reliable - brought to the end of his tether by two warring factions of the American Dream.

Very enjoyable book, very solemn at the end.

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Posted By: pikeshot1600
Date Posted: 06-Jun-2009 at 21:42

I read it in college, and was attracted to Fitzgerald's books by it.

About 22 years ago, the film Wall Street came out just ahead of the October crash of '87. There are many parallels (movie to book), and if you see the film you might agree. I read today that Oliver Stone is going to make another film as a sequel, but I don't know much more about it.

Gatsby types seem to appear in many cultures at many times.

Posted By: LeopoldPhilippe
Date Posted: 08-Jun-2015 at 19:43

The Great Gatsby is excellently written. I declare that once you begin to read, you simply cannot put the book down.
One passage I like: He nodded sagely. "And what's more, I love Daisy too. Once in a while I go off on a spree and make a fool of myself, but I always come back, and in my heart I love her all the time.

Posted By: Centrix Vigilis
Date Posted: 08-Jun-2015 at 19:54

'The Razor's Edge' by W. Somerset Maugham, published in 1944, is better.

"The sharp edge of a razor is difficult to pass over; thus the wise say the path to Salvation is hard''

When he quoted the Katha Upanishad..he knew what the foik he was talking about.

amen.

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"Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence"

S. T. Friedman

Pilger's law: 'If it's been officially denied, then it's probably true'