The Great Gatsby

Now this was not my first read of The Great Gatsby. It may not have even been my second read through. But to be perfectly honest, before I started reading it again a couple of days ago the thing that I remembered most about The Great Gatsby was the name of the main characters and the fact that it talks about a green light in the distance on the last page. The first thing that I noticed reading it this time around was its readability. For a classic novel it is remarkably approachable and overall quick to get through. I think my total reading time for the whole book was just under 3 hrs. So if you don't have a lot of patience it's probably a good book to pick up.

The second was the degree to which it really is a truly tragic love story. I mean, I knew that Gatsby was obsessed with Daisy but I forgot what degree she loved him back and really the complexity of the connections between the characters. Fitzgerald really created, in a short time frame, fairly round characters that intrigue you even as their actions or words that repel you. It seems like a believable story. It's as if they live in the magical world of glamour and money that we all dream of inhabiting. Maybe thats why it pulls people in so much.

As much as I enjoyed re-reading the book, I am concerned about the movie. While I hope it's going to be great, I'm not sure how a book told primarily through internal thought and observation is going to translate onto the big screen. Dropping a couple of key lines, does not mean the movie is going to be true to tone and meaning of the book. It's definitely going to be a glamorous movie, but accurate is going to be a whole other problem. I have a feeling purists might protest, but hopefully it will be a good story in its own right even if its not a perfect fit.

Has anyone else been re-reading The Great Gatsby or starting for the first time? Let us know what you think!

Happy Reading!