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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