(I had this scheduled to be up yesterday, but it didn't work. Sorry to anyone coming from Olivia's blog who was looking for this!)
Hey, it's Hannah here. My lovely friend, Olivia from The Cwtch, and I came up with a project in which we both read a book that neither of us have read before, and share our thoughts about it on each others' blogs. Our book of choice was The Great Gatsby.
I'm super excited about this whole thing. It's been so fun planning out this project with Olivia - who, by the way, is the coolest person ever and her blog is one of my very favorites (I practically happy dance whenever I see a new post from her). So, after you read her review here, jump on over to her blog to read my review of Gatsby, and then why not stick around her blog for a while?
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Well, friends. I have some thoughts for you this afternoon.
(Can I just say that by the time I pasted this picture, I'd gotten so distracted by the trailers for the movie The Great Gatsby, that I had to put this whole post on hold so I could go see if Leonardo DiCaprio made Gatsby any better.
MMmmmmmmm no.)
I feel like a heretic for even saying this, but I did not like this book at all. Not even a little bit.
(now that I've said so, I feel as though the point isn't to like it, but to understand some deep and hidden message from Fitzgerald that will make me a better person and throw light on the mysteries of the universe...but the book failed on that account too. Or maybe I'm just dumb, but I only got one thing from the whole 90 pages, or whatever it came to in the end:)
Wow, these people suck at having relationships.
Because can we stop to think for a moment about Gatsby and Daisy? Before reading the book I was familiar with their names, I'd heard them called the "greatest love story of all time," and tbh I was expecting a lot. Some great story of sacrifice, loss, redemption...and what I got was a childish, selfish crush that got a lot of people killed.
and maybe that was the point.
I don't know, I was so confused and disgusted and full of crushed expectations that I had a little bit of trouble following the storyline. Strike one against Gatsby.
Strike two came when I realized that nobody else's relationship was really faring any better. (at this point, I started to get kinda concerned that I'd missed some big moral lesson and all of you lovely readers were going to start shaking your heads in shame at my oblivious-ness.
FUNNY STORY (bunny trail, skip this if you want to read the rest of my hating on Gatsby.
instead of writing "obliviousness" I had totally planned to use the word "misnomer," but I had no idea what it meant (it was just floating around in my head, y'know??) So I looked it up and it has nothing to do with my inability to understand Fitzgerald...it actually means to call something by the wrong name, to use a word in the wrong circumstance.
SO GUYS, using the word "misnomer" in that sentence would have been a misnomer!!
That just thrilled me to bits.
Okay, you can continue reading.)
Strike two against Gatsby! (because I can't really enjoy a book that makes me feel stupid. Although, I do love the show Sherlock....more bunny trails, sorry. Staying on topic now.)
I don't really have a strike three, to be honest, because by the time I'd realized that a) Gatsby and Daisy were not "the greatest love story of all time," and b) that nobody was getting a happy ending, I was so DONE with this book that I was speed-reading just so I didn't have to look at it anymore. I guess that's a strike three in and of itself?? Sure.
So, overall... from an entertainment perspective, from a "read this to write better" perspective, from a plot/character/growth-and-development perspective, I got nothing. Meep.
Have you read The Great Gatsby? Do you think I'm a horrible awful reader who wouldn't know true literature if it bit her on the nose? (if so, please tell me what I'm missing!!! although maybe keep your poor opinion of me to yourself, my self-esteem is quite fine where it is, thanks.)
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Olivia is a seventeen-year-old Canadian girl who loves writing and tea and her puppy Toby. She laughs a lot, would go on a picnic with you even if it was raining, and usually doesn't write inflammatory posts like this one. ;) She loves Austen, has never enjoyed Dickens, and writes a lot of poetry.
(also, she's pretty awkward but she hopes you'll be friends with her anyways.)
(Can I just say that by the time I pasted this picture, I'd gotten so distracted by the trailers for the movie The Great Gatsby, that I had to put this whole post on hold so I could go see if Leonardo DiCaprio made Gatsby any better.
MMmmmmmmm no.)
I feel like a heretic for even saying this, but I did not like this book at all. Not even a little bit.
(now that I've said so, I feel as though the point isn't to like it, but to understand some deep and hidden message from Fitzgerald that will make me a better person and throw light on the mysteries of the universe...but the book failed on that account too. Or maybe I'm just dumb, but I only got one thing from the whole 90 pages, or whatever it came to in the end:)
Wow, these people suck at having relationships.
Because can we stop to think for a moment about Gatsby and Daisy? Before reading the book I was familiar with their names, I'd heard them called the "greatest love story of all time," and tbh I was expecting a lot. Some great story of sacrifice, loss, redemption...and what I got was a childish, selfish crush that got a lot of people killed.
and maybe that was the point.
I don't know, I was so confused and disgusted and full of crushed expectations that I had a little bit of trouble following the storyline. Strike one against Gatsby.
Strike two came when I realized that nobody else's relationship was really faring any better. (at this point, I started to get kinda concerned that I'd missed some big moral lesson and all of you lovely readers were going to start shaking your heads in shame at my oblivious-ness.
FUNNY STORY (bunny trail, skip this if you want to read the rest of my hating on Gatsby.
instead of writing "obliviousness" I had totally planned to use the word "misnomer," but I had no idea what it meant (it was just floating around in my head, y'know??) So I looked it up and it has nothing to do with my inability to understand Fitzgerald...it actually means to call something by the wrong name, to use a word in the wrong circumstance.
SO GUYS, using the word "misnomer" in that sentence would have been a misnomer!!
That just thrilled me to bits.
Okay, you can continue reading.)
Strike two against Gatsby! (because I can't really enjoy a book that makes me feel stupid. Although, I do love the show Sherlock....more bunny trails, sorry. Staying on topic now.)
I don't really have a strike three, to be honest, because by the time I'd realized that a) Gatsby and Daisy were not "the greatest love story of all time," and b) that nobody was getting a happy ending, I was so DONE with this book that I was speed-reading just so I didn't have to look at it anymore. I guess that's a strike three in and of itself?? Sure.
So, overall... from an entertainment perspective, from a "read this to write better" perspective, from a plot/character/growth-and-development perspective, I got nothing. Meep.
Have you read The Great Gatsby? Do you think I'm a horrible awful reader who wouldn't know true literature if it bit her on the nose? (if so, please tell me what I'm missing!!! although maybe keep your poor opinion of me to yourself, my self-esteem is quite fine where it is, thanks.)
Olivia is a seventeen-year-old Canadian girl who loves writing and tea and her puppy Toby. She laughs a lot, would go on a picnic with you even if it was raining, and usually doesn't write inflammatory posts like this one. ;) She loves Austen, has never enjoyed Dickens, and writes a lot of poetry.
(also, she's pretty awkward but she hopes you'll be friends with her anyways.)
i think i should re-read the great gatsby. i only read the translation version which didn't hook me up. i should read the one in english
ReplyDeleteDefinitely re-read it! And then come tell me what you thought!! :p
DeleteHmmm yeah, I mean I can understand where you're coming from. None of the characters in Gatsby are particularly likeable but I'm not sure they're meant to be. I think Fitzgerald's intention with this book was mainly to paint a picture of the hedonism of 20s flapper culture, (bit of a paradox since Fitzgerald basically invented flapper culture, nonetheless he always seemed relatively conflicted about how he felt towards it). If you think about it, Gatsby is a testament to how the world works in favour of those with money and power, thus why Gatsby and Myrtle for example, end up dead while the Buchanans essentially live "happily ever after". Not a lot of entertainment factor in Gatsby perhaps but I still think there's an important message to be found there. It's also a good piece of historical text and says a lot about Fitzgerald himself xx
ReplyDeleteP.S. whoever said Daisy and Gatsby are the greatest love story of all time was talking bullcrap. Daisy's a total tramp haha
Beth | Alphabeth
Hey! So interesting to hear your thoughts on Olivia's review. Like Olivia, it wasn't my favorite book...but I definitely do see why others love it. I think it is interesting to look at it from a historical standpoint.
DeleteYeah...Daisy and Gatsby: Not my OTP.
I read your review too Hannah and really liked the points you made, I feel the same about a lot of the things you said! You might enjoy the movie more if you haven't seen it already? x
DeleteThank you very much! I haven't seen the movie, but I'm definitely interested in watching it. The trailers are awesome. :)
DeleteI read Gatsby at the beginning of the year and absolutely loved it (please don't stone me)! I read the whole thing in a day, and the ending actually made me cry. But I can understand how people could dislike it. It is basically like a book full of first world problems. Anyway, I've enjoyed reading you guy's thoughts on it :)
ReplyDeleteHey, we don't stone anyone around here! :)
DeleteI read somewhere (probably pinterest) that "no one has ever read the same book". I think it's cool how some people love a book to bits, and others feel like throwing shoes at it. Makes life interesting, ya know? :D Glad you enjoyed reading our reviews! Olivia is hilarious...
I actually think it's so cool that you liked it!! :) and girl i would never stone you, you're too cool. ;)
DeleteI've never read this book before, but I admit I was going to borrow it from the library! Thanks so much for the reviews...girls. :) Now I;m not sure I even want to read it. ;)
ReplyDeleteAlso, I've nominated you for the liebster award! http://missabbeynoelle.blogspot.com/2014/10/liebster-award.html
DeleteIt's a pretty quick read...obviously i can't recommend it (!!!) But still i think you might enjoy giving it a try. Maybe you'll think I'm totally wrong! :p
DeleteThanks for nominating me, Abbey! And like Olivia said, I think you totally should give Gatsby a try. It might be just your cup of tea.
DeleteThanks for your thoughts, Olivia! Honestly, I think Jay and Daisy weren't meant to be an otp or particularly likable. The whole thing, to me, seemed like a cautionary tale about how holding onto the past can mess up your entire life.
ReplyDelete***SPOILER***
Jay's whole life was dedicated to holding onto a ghost: his old relationship with Daisy. He tried to recreate it, but it ended up messing up the lives of pretty much EVERYONE involved. And then, it killed him. It's a pretty chilling metaphor for how we can't hold onto things so tightly, I think.
***END SPOILER***
Again, thanks for your thoughts! While I admit the Great Gatsby is a very negative book, I still LOVED the imagery and the metaphors I found in it. I can definitely see why it might be off-putting to some. But there is a lesson to be learned in it, I think.
This is so true, Sky! And i agree that some of the writing was lovely. This book just didn't gell with me, but it's so neat to hear other perspectives and realize that maybe there are some redeeming qualities that i missed. :)
DeleteWowzers, a lot of great points there, Sky! I think that the fact that there are so many different opinions and feelings about this book shows how interesting a book this is.
DeleteThanks for the reviews, Olivia and Hannah. Yeah, I don't think The Great Gatsby's going on my To-Read list. It sounds like one of those books that I would hate. And I know how you feel, Olivia! It's kinda awkward when you feel like you should be coming away with some deep, profound truth but there aren't any.
ReplyDeleteACKTHANKYOU i'm not the only one!! :o okay whew, i was like, "wow I'm such an uneducated reader."
DeleteNope, not the only one. I'm kinda having that issue with Les Mis.
Delete