MInutes November Book: The Great Gatsby

Minutes November Book: The Great Gatsby

by F.Scott Fitzgerald

(chosen by Elster)



Elster chose this book because she hadn't read it, but knew it was an American classic. Over the course of the year, she had heard lots of people talking about it and then saw that the ABC Book Show did it one month.

F. Scott Fitzgerald was born in 1896, in St. Paul, Minnesota and attended St. Paul Academy, Newman School (1911-1913), and Princeton. His first work of fiction was a detective story published in the school newspaper. He died of a heart attack in 1940 after his health had declined with severe alcoholism.

F. Scott Fitzgerald fell in love with Zelda Sayre, the youngest daughter of an Alabama Supreme Court judge, in June 1918 and they married in New York a week after the publication of his novel, This Side of Paradise (1920). They had one child, Frances Scott (Scottie) Fitzgerald, who was born in October 1921.

(General biographical details from here.)

What the publisher says about the book:

In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald brilliantly captures both the disillusion of post-war America and the moral failure of a society obsessed with wealth and status. But he does more than render the essence of a particular time and place, for in chronicling Gatsby's tragic pursuit of his dream, Fitzgerald recreates the universal conflict between illusion and reality.

What we discussed about the book:

• Is there a cross-over between reality and fiction? Are there elements of Fitzgerald's life represented in the book?
• How was the 'American Dream' defined? Had it changed from discover, individualism and the pursuit of happiness to easy money and relaxed social values?
• Was Gatsby portrayed positively or negatively?
• What was the turning point in our empathy for Gatsby?
• Was Gatsby obsessive? Manic depressive? What drove him?
• Why did Gatsby intrigue us?
• How did we react to Tom's violence towards Myrtle?
• Did Nick love Jordan?
• What did 'The Ashes' represent? Was it a moral emptiness?
• The beauty of the language employed. To what extent did it enhance the plot?

And then we were sidetracked into:

Who had an introduction to the version of their book? Did reading it enhance or detract from our reading of the novel?

Is it true that Fitzgerald's grandfather wrote the Star-Spangled Banner? (ed: it was actually a distant cousin...Francis Scott Key... who wrote it in 1814)

What makes a classic book?

Was this book worth $80 in babysitting to read it?

In other news:

• We talked about the worldwide genealogical source that the Mormons have created: http://www.familysearch.org/
• We were updated on the progress of Elster's broken foot.
• We discussed the marketing of water and fruit juices.
• We analysed the imaginary stories some us used to make up about our soft toys as children.

Ratings:
Ratings average: 7.25
Ratings range:6 to 9

Next book: Twilight by Stephenie Meyer (chosen by Gypsy)