beeeep.

"So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past." p. 115

anyone else bummed that Nick and Jordan never get together? I am. I sorta wanted them - ANYONE - to be happy at the end. I mean, Tom has no one. Gatsby's dead. Daisy's with Tom, but not really. Jordan's got a man, but with the way relationships go in this book, I don't see that lasting long. good thing the book ends before anything bad happens.

ANYWAY.

If this quote isn't the quote referenced in the opening line of the book, I'd rather like to think that it is anyway. please don't correct me unless it's vital to my understanding of the work as a whole. also, it fits quite nicely into the whole "I'm on a path trying to figure stuff out" theme I established in my first blog. I think it's a beautifully haunting quote. nice imagery, too.

I haven't decided if I like this novel yet or not, but I've gotta give props to Fitzgerald: it's very well written.

presagio.

"I've always been glad I said that. It was the only compliment I ever gave him, because I disapproved of him from beginning to end." p. 98

I should have picked up on this right about this part of the book... Nick starts talking about "the end". he reflects more about Gatsby's life as a whole. he foreshadows Gatsby's death a mere five pages later. uh-duh. I feel a little stupid now for not noticing it, but I was still kinda worried about Myrtle dying and trying to figure out where Tom was and so on and so forth. the end of the book isn't super clear about all of that. that's probably typical. the reader doesn't need to know EXACTLY where people go. it's sorta like that object permanence thing that babies learn when they're a few months old: just because you can't see it doesn't mean it's not there. it's pretty well placed, actually. right at the coattails of the Myrtle incident. right after the big to-do between Gatsby and Tom. boo. well played, Fitzgerald.

grr. style.

"'Are you a college man?' he enquired suddenly." p. 109

I'm not sure why it bothers me so much that they use "enquire" instead of "inquire". It really shouldn't. It's the same exact word. same meaning. (I just checked dictionary.com to be sure - don't wanna be lookin' like a fool). They use the word a lot. I'm sure it's just a style thing. Fitzgerald also uses "realises" instead of "realizes". if it were a British novel, I'd be a little more understanding. but it's American lit... it might be to appeal more to a higher level of society in some sense. but this is supposed to represent America, no? how can that be accomplished fully if atypical spellings are used? hm?

meh. sorry. badmood. not a good time to blog. hah. yaaay, time constraints!

theme update..

"As he left the room again she got up and went over to Gatsby and pulled his face down, kissing him on the mouth. 'You know I love you,' she murmured." p. 74

now that I've gotten a little further in the book, I've got some solidified themes. I think. essentially, Tom and Daisy aren't at all happy in their marriage. so what do they do? cheat, lie, and lie some more. exhibit A ^ "He" is Tom. Gatsby is not Tom. "She" is Daisy. again, Gatsby is not Tom. what?! right before this they all speculate that Tom is on the phone with his girl, right in front of Daisy. so, she's gotta know that he's with her, right? and he finds out for sure shortly after this that Gatsby and Daisy have a thing for one another two. BUT THEY STILL DON'T GET RID OF EACH OTHER. gaaaaaaah. drives me crazy. especially that everyone holds onto these elaborate lies that everyone else knows about... I mean really? what's the point?

this has been happening throughout the book, but I'm really sick of it now.

I know it has a "c" and the letters "chous" at the end..?

"Daisy looked at Tom frowning, and an indefinable expression, at once definitely unfamiliar and vaguely recognisable, as if I had only heard it described in words, passed over Gatsby's face." p. 77

Nick does this a lot... he describes things he sees, but in the absolute vaguest sense ever. even he isn't quite sure how to describe what he's seeing, so he tells the reader that. it's very unhelpful. I understand what he's talking about, so I guess it's effective, but nonetheless, it's frustrating. I want to know how things look too, not just that Nick can't put it into words because he can't recognize it himself. it reminds me of what happens to me on tests (prime example: today's Bio test). since I have a photographic memory, I can see what the answer is, but I can't read it. it's almost like the hemispheres of my brain aren't connecting. so I recognize what the answer is, but I can't translate that recognition into intelligible descriptions. maybe that's sorta what's happening here?

here's lookin' atcha, kid.

"Let's go to Coney Island, old sport. In my car."

why not use "kid", or "bud", or just plain ol' "sport". this is my rant blog. it has no real relevance. but I don't like that Gatsby uses "old sport" at the end of nearly every sentence addressed to Nick. I'm hoping that there's some profound meaning behind it. I'm sure there's not. it reminds me of those people, usually girls, who randomly throw the word "like" in the middle of sentences. I counted during the Death/Raisin SocSem for some people. in a single comment, a few of the girls got up to 20+ "like" uses that were not necessary or proper. the "y'know"s and "I mean"s are getting bad too. I know I say "I mean" a lot though. hm... I'll work on that. but really, Gatsby? can't you give me a little bit of variety here? I'm dying. I can't stand when people call other people "sport". It really bothers me. I'm sure you can understand how "old sport" is even worse. ugh.

characterization, eh?

"He had seen me several times, and had intended to call on me long before, but a peculiar combination of circumstances had prevented it - signed Jay Gatsby"

peculiar indeed. the characterization in this book is pretty direct with all of the characters except Gatsby. generally, Nick just says what they're like. sometimes another character helps us out as well, but generally it's just Nick. in the beginning, he characterized himself straight-up and continues to do so. all of the other characters are loud, obnoxious, quiet, pretty, calm, interesting. they're all given the adjectives you learn to use in any first-year language class. La chica es bonita. Él es alto. blahblahblah. you get the point. but Gatsby is a rather strange fellow. no one knows him. so he's indirectly characterized. we know he likes (or doesn't mind) having parties. he's rather reserved. and Nick doesn't think he has much to say. he's a bit shifty. I'mma keep my eye on him.

themesie.

"However, as calmness wasn't and end in itself, I made an excuse at the first possible moment, and got to my feet."

I'm starting to see a pattern here. Nick doesn't like tension. I mean, no one does, but he ACTIVELY avoids it. (by "avoid" I of course mean "runs away from") and it's not just tension for him. he just up and leaves when he feels uncomfortable. it's a pretty common theme I've found. when Gatsby and Daisy are... sitting in silence in Nick's house, he just leaves. when Tom decks Myrtle and breaks her nose, Nick leaves. again. he doesn't seem to want to deal with anything. at all. but he doesn't really seem to have any vice. he's only been drunk twice in his life, y'know.

Nick's pretty self-conscious, I think. it's starting to get a little annoying.

protaaaaaaaaaagonist!

for some reason I wanted to type Antigone, but that's not related at all to the task at hand.

this fellow Nick is the protagonist. this surprises me some. I expected there to be some mention of the title character beyond

"Or, rather, as I didn't know Mr. Gatsby..."

but nope. Mostly Nick thinking. and talking. but, since he's the narrator as well, that's to be expected. looks like Nick's the one that's going to be going through things and introducing us to people. so anything he sees, we see. and not much else. he's calling the shots here. he's the head honcho of what the reader knows. it looks like we're going to be moving right along with what he does. could call for some bias along the road, but I'm not seeing any so far.

GreGat.

that's how I've decided to shorten The Great Gatsby, bytheway.

"In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since."

That's the first line of this novel. I find it particularly interesting. So did a list I stumbled upon recently naming the fifty best first lines of novels, but that's beside the point. This line is pretty simple, I think. It's not anything really profound, and he (the narrator) doesn't even tell you what his father said to him. He simply says he was once given some advice. And it stuck, since he's been mulling it over since he was "more vulnerable". This sentence sets the tone for the book and gives one of the themes too, I believe. So far, the book focuses on the one character, Nick. The story is told from his point of view. I think that this line gives the reader the indication that this book isn't about living life and having all the answers. Rather, it's the story of a journey. and how this one man reflects on his own view of the world throughout the book, trying to make sense of it all. maybe I'm jumping a little to far ahead of myself here. we'll find out shortly, I'm sure.