great-gatsby.md (1983B)
1 +++ 2 title = "Some of This and Some of That" 3 date = 2024-09-19 4 [extra] 5 book = "The Great Gatsby" 6 author = "F. Scott Fitzgerald" 7 finished = 2024-07-04 8 rating = "★★★★★" 9 +++ 10 11 I read this and imagined it contained in a small pocket-sized book, and 12 myself quite the intellectual, amused by quaint fictions. I sought to 13 divine from the tale of hedonism and grandeur exactly the line where one 14 crosses over from glory into excess. A selfish goal, to be sure. 15 16 <!-- more --> 17 18 I [watched the movie] shortly after reading the book. I enjoyed the 19 adaptation greatly. I thought it did well in capturing the scale of the 20 parties implied in the novel. I was not a huge fan of the narration. I 21 enjoyed that they threw out any historical pretense and embraced a 22 radically modern soundtrack. 23 24 It is a young man's interpretation of this book that defines it as a 25 source of inspiration, but I can't help myself. I want to throw out my 26 arms and present to an audience the splendor and spectacle of my life 27 and tell them they can't find anything quite like it anywhere else in 28 the world. Now ideally, I would be able to do as such without Gatsby's 29 failings. I don't think a warning about spoilers is required some 30 hundred years after publication: the book doesn't end well for Gatsby. 31 Is it wrong to say this is due to his refusal to take the past as 32 immutable? His dissatisfaction with only controlling the future? These 33 seem remarkably solvable issues. I am surely missing many others. 34 35 For now, at least, I will try and fold what showmanship and generosity I 36 can from Gatsby into my own life. To give favors and gifts to those who 37 wash up on my shores. To unabashedly [enjoy existence]. To fake it, as 38 they say, until you make it. 39 40 I dove into the world of Gatsby at the recommendation of Jack and his 41 family. My thanks go out to you. 42 43 [watched the movie]: https://letterboxd.com/figbert/film/the-great-gatsby-2013/ 44 [enjoy existence]: https://x.com/jordanbpeterson/status/1633882580746653696