Gatzby

After reading way too many leftist praises of The Great Gatsby as well as well-written and articulated critiques (also from the Left.), this.

I read Gatsby in A1. Sbk had it hidden in his room, after (likely) stealing (read: borrowing without any intention to return, which is how I also got hold of Satanic Verses) from from some poor soul, and I happened by it, and read it, in an afternoon. It's a short novel, and not a very hard read.

Here's a confession: I skipped parts of it. Now that I think, I skipped a lot of it. I read somewhere that the names were an integral part of the story. I skipped all the names of the people in the parties, like when I skipped the names when reading the Old Testament. I skipped the emotional blather. I skipped details of the parties.

And yet I liked the book. Without ever being told it was about jazz, I could feel the jazz in it. I still felt that it was powerful stuff, without a clue about the hidden symbology. The dark, glum mood of a stormy day with lighting across the horizon was there every moment in the story, I felt it.

I'm told Gatsby is about the American dream. That's not the only read -- it's also about the unfulfilled  American Dream (remember how Tom, the one with inheritance, ends up 'winning', after all?) or the folly of having a misguided American dream. One thing that's for sure is that Flitzerald intentionally engineered the smallest reference and symbolism knowingly -- with this man, an apple is never only an apple. Apples stand for dreams and whatnot in his world. I didn't need to know that, I didn't figure it out until I was told. I still enjoyed the book.