So, here is a thing that will make you think I’m a jerk face: I hate The Great Gatsby.
Considering I already mentioned about this in a previous post, and the fact that I wrote a really bitchy post last Friday, I don’t want to harp on this issue again. Nobody likes a shrieker. However, Leo DiCaprio went and got involved and errrrrrbody I know is talking about it so now I feel compelled to at least provide a reminder as to why this story is lacking. In short:
- Daisy is the OG Kardashian. Is this not obvious? I don’t care if she dresses like a walking Ralph Lauren ad, it’s not cool when authors write cardboard characters and put them on a pedestal as something to be worshiped.
- Gatsby is a total Lifetime movie-esque stalker. For real. Just remember, that if that happened to you in real life, your Gatsby would look like the scary old bearded dude at the Library who rubs his leg too much, not Robert Redford or Leonardo DiCaprio in a linen suit. Reality check, yo.
- If I’m going to invest in 200 pages in a book, the author needs to give me a little sumpthin-sumpthin at the end. Not a happy ending, okay, just something more than a thud. I get it…yada yada yada cautionary tale of greed and moral corruption yada yada. I don’t care. Readers deserve a little more than a splat. Way to go, Fitzgerald.
I could also make a fourth point about Fitzgerald writing much better books (The Last Tycoon anyone?)…and I’m not trying to discourage anyone from seeing the film. A show is a show! But if you are going for the story factor, production value be-darned, here, let me save you the trouble:
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| Get it. Get it. |
Okay. That was my gripe. It’s over with. Now, here is the good news! While everyone else I know is reading/re-reading Gatsby, I am going to be reading like eleventy billion other amazing books I found thanks to Book Lamp. Do you know about this? It’s a website. It’s been around a while but someone at work just showed it to me last week and I’m all WHY DIDN’T I KNOW ABOUT THIS?!
This, this is genius. I feel stupid for not knowing about this sooner. If any of you are also late to the boat, listen…
Book Lamp is like Pandora for books. All you have to do is type in the name of your favorite book or author, Book Lamp will ask to confirm with one click and then spit out dozens of other titles recommended by other people who liked that same book/author.
Some of these I have already read and loved, others I recall other people recommending but never made note, others are news to me but I’m writing them down because based on these other titles, I’m guessing their pretty good too.
Isn’t that the niftiest thing you have seen all day?
Now you go try it out.
Or, better yet, recommend a book in the comments below. What is the last great book you read
PS: I mentioned this before but it’s worth repeating — If you enjoy the classic lit and have a Kindle, you can download some entire collections for 99cents. Like, 55 works of Charles Dickens. Clarification: Not one book for 99cents, I mean 55 books for 99 cents. Or 18 works by Jane Austen. Or 69 short stories from Edgar Allen Poe. THE ANNE OF GREEN GABLES COLLECTION. Scoot around the sliders at the bottom and you’ll see one you like. You’re welcome.
I just finished “The Night Circus” by Erin Morgenstern. Loved it.
Yes!! Great book!!
My friend Kiki just finished reading it and told me “YOU HAVE TO READ THIS”…it’s on my list for sure!
Karen at the Art of Doing Stuff read it and loved it!
The Poison Wood Bible wasn’t a story I thought I would love, and it wasn’t but the impression it has left on me even after a year of reading it.
I have heard that one is great — yet to read it though. Thanks for the reminder!
It is NOT great. I had to read it and explain it to one of my kids. I hated it. She hated it. Don’t bother. Read The Power of ONe instead.
The Poisonwood Bible is one of my all time faves. I’ve read some reviews from others who did not like it and I’m baffled by it. I wonder, did we read the same book?
“Sister Mine” by Nalo Hopkinson is so fantastic! Twin sisters (one is magic, one is not), family drama with a family of gods and goddesses, and Jimi Hendrix’s guitar in human form.
Midnight Robber by Nalo Hopkinson is good too! I read it for class last year, along with Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor, which was an amazing book!
I’m reading a collection of essays by Michal Dirda, “Reading”. He’s a huge bibliophile and almost every essay in the book; I’m half-way through it; has a mention of books I’ve never heard of. I just finished an essay where he talked about his 100 favorite books that made him laugh. “Ulysses” by James Joyce was on the list. I slogged through that and I don’t remember finding it the least bit funny. I was reminded of a quote from Dorothy Parker, “This is not a book to be tossed aside lightly. It is to be flung with great force.” Did you know there is humor in “Moby Dick”? The middle of the book is actually quite funny.
I’m on the fence about seeing the new Gatsby movie. Betraying my age here, I was in high school when the Redford-Farrow “Gatsby” movie came out. I, too, found the book dull. I far preferred Shakespeare to Fitzgerald, but I really liked the atmosphere of the movie, how it was filmed. There is such a contrast between Gatsby’s ethereal mansion that looked like sponge cake and the hard reality of Daisy’s life with its dinginess and dark blues and blacks. I liked how the movie looked.
Thanks for this link. I did not know about this site either. Oh dear. I can see a birthday/Christmas list that is nothing but books.
Moby Dick is funny? This is news to me.
I think I’ll see the new movie — I appreciate Baz Lurmans take on things, although, out of all the story lines, why this one? I think the 70’s version was as good as it gets. One of the rare occasions when the film outshines the book (in my opinion). I understand why they remake old crapper movies that failed at the box office…but this seems an odd choice. Anyway, it’s got feathered headdresses, and I’m a sucker for a good headdress!
Ugh, thank you for saying that about Gatsby. I have always felt like the crazy because everyone one loooooves that book. Ick.
…I’m very excited to see the movie, though. Pretty things!
Thanks for the book website. I’m going to check that out. I mostly read non-fiction, so it will be fun to see how it does.
From a former English Lit student, Thank YOU! Spot on about Daisy as a mannequin and Gatsby as the creepy stalker dude who is weirdly into mannequins and gelatin moulds.
My current favourite book is “The Discovery of Witches”. I recommend it to people by calling it a thinking woman’s “Twilight”. It and the sequel are engrossing.
Yes, I heard it was very good! I’m afraid I burned out on witches/warlocks/ vampires/whatnot a couple years ago. I think a lot of us did. When I get my taste back (Halloween maybe?) that one is at the top of my list.
I’m pretty “meh” about Gatsby and Leo is no big drawing point for me either. Thanks for the link to Book Lamp. I see a big long hold list at the library in my future 🙂
Life After Life by Kate Atkinson. Any book by Kate Atkinson, actually.
I was in high school when I first (tried to) read The Great Gatsby. Then we watched the film in English class. When Farrow’s character looks at her newborn daughter and says (paraphrasing) “I hope she’s a little fool like me” I remember very clearly thinking two things 1)”What the f***?” and 2)”F*** that”.
I haven’t read it/watched it since. I’m not going to start now.
Thanks for this link! A book that I really liked and thats appropriate for a younger audience is Still Lolo. Its a real life story and its kind of like Soul Surfer; lolo lost her eye and hand in a helicopter accident. very good! read the whole thing in one sitting, its a good short easy read
You are not alone.
I have always disliked the book. UGH! And I was furious that it was required reading and all of my children *had* to read it in high school. Really? Couldn’t they choose a better book? I wonder who comes up with those lists. And the book was poorly written. There. I said it. I have suspicions that F. Scott Fitzgerald’s editor was pressing him for a deadline, so he killed the characters and went out drinking.
Thanks for letting me rant.
Thank you! I never finished it because it made me feel meh.
A book that did NOT make me feel meh is Where’d You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple. Something tells me you may have already read it? On a completely different note, I am also currently reading Something Wicked This Way Comes (Ray Bradbury) and it’s creepy as hell, but damn. Describing his prose as lyrical sounds incredibly high-toned but it’s true.
Just finished rereading Gatsby today at lunch. Not a great book, confusing, I think, especially as to who ends up dying. But I’m excited to see the movie! Loved Redford, a true “old sport”.
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I am reading “The Confusion” at the moment, which is the second book in Neal Stephenson’s Baroque cycle. Epic, but so.much.fun. I’d been avoiding Stephenson because totes not into sci-fi, but these are all historic fiction as well as being a rollicking good time. Rollicking!
thank you for the heads up on booklamp. my husband seriously needs this. i think he’s read almost every scifi novel out there and is quickly running out of things to read.
My favorite…
The Secret Life of Bees
I hadn’t heard of Book Lamp but it looks like I will be there often. Thanks!!!
Jay Gatsby = Poser. I don’t think Leo can compare to Robert Redford one bit. And Carey Mulligan? No way. Mia Farrow was a good actress and also looked preppy and privileged enough. The one part I liked was when Nick said that Daisy and her crowd were careless people. That struck home. I have about fifty books to read thanks to lots of good library and thrift store sales. Thanks, Peach, another site to waste my life with! I used up and wore out my Kindle, so I got a new Kindle Fire. It is really nice with the light. I don’t have to use a flashlight in bed anymore. I feel guilty that I never read Ulysses, I should get the Cliff Notes. Ann
Read Gatsby decades ago and hated it. Saw the old movie and hated it. Won’t bother with the new version and can’t imagine why it was chosen for a remake… boring, boring.
Loved The Secret Life of Bees and Pillars of the Earth. Also World Without End….Ken Follet rocks!
Thanks for the info on Book Lamp! Always looking for more good reads.
Hi peaches! This is very un related but i saw this (http://www.cremedelacraft.com/2012/10/diy-gold-statement-ring-from-rock.html) and thought it was something that would interest you. Its a cool gold ring made from a rock and wire. you could add sparkles…?
thanks for enlightening me about book lamp….no one ever told me!!!
now i can add to my ever expanding list…….i have no interest in gatsby..but i do love the fashion!
I find it sooo interesting that you use the term “lookahere” don’t you think that is slightly wrong on some level? I thought that went away along with the N word…. just saying…
The last great book I read was…. The Great Gatsby. I also hated it the first time I read it, but after a few more reads and teaching it, I really appreciate it now.
Have you read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society? The title alone makes it worth reading, but it’s kind of a cross between Bridget Jones’ Diary and The Diary of Anne Frank. (Intriguing, no?)
Er. mer. gerd.
Finally, someone who agrees with me on Gatsby. You made my day.
don’t forget the nook peeps……very similar pricing and lots of free books and easier side loading from the library.
Gatsby bit…agreed. Cannot stand decaprio’s acting in any movie. Counting the days until Star Trek is released and I really liked ‘natural born charmer’ by Susan Elizabeth Phillips.
So cool! You are far from a jerk face. He totally was a grade A stalker and those parties…bad idea from the start. But the clothes…ahhh, those clothes.
I am in love with you! I just discovered your blog a few weeks ago and you are my new favorite. This Gatsby hype has been irritating me for weeks! I finally had a little outburst over Mother’s Day weekend. All the hype and the fixation on the clothes, etc. is SO ironic—the novel is a condemnation of WWI, and what Fitzgerald thought had become a depraved society. It’s a completely amoral novel, intentionally so, but everyone’s like, the CLOTHES!!
Anyway . ..
Booklamp sounds AMAZING!! I already have all the classics you mentioned. Assuming you’e into at stuff (19th century English romantic novels) have you read any Georgette Heyer or Catherine Cookson? They’re both really fun.
Thanks so much for the blog, you had me with Elvis dressed as an Indian!
YAY! Someone who realizes that the Emperor ain’t wearin’ no clothes!!! I agree with you 100% regarding Gatsby. Your comparison of Daisy to the Kardashians is priceless! Here’s another one for you…..I hated Moby Dick. Plodding, weary and boring from beginning to end. Even in movie form; there was only just so much Gregory Peck could do to liven up a dead story. You go, Girl!!!
Thanks for the “heads up” about Booklamp!!! I skipped over there and signed up almost immediately. Nearly anything “book” is brain fertilizer for me. Glad to find more! Here’s one for you: http://www.paperbackswap.com
Go over there and enjoy!
My name is Alexandra, and I endorse this blog post.
Oh, and thank you for telling us about Booklamp! 😀
If you like alternative history mixed with fantasy/magic stuff then you MUST read Flora Segunda by Ysabeau Wilce.
Flora is just 13, but she’s brave, spunky, and likes food. She lives in a house with 50,000 rooms and a magical butler (who has been banished). She has more mishaps and adventures in 4 days than you can shake a stick at.
And you will find yourself using the slang and faux curse-words in everyday conversation.
I read it at least once a year.
Kids books that even grown-ups should read: Wonder (R.J. Palacio) … lovely story about compassion. The One and Only Ivan (Katherine Applegate) … come on. A gorilla in a mall? Based on a true story? The Agency (Y.S. Lee) … enjoy a great period murder mystery. A Long Walk to Water (Linda Sue Park) … way too realistic fiction about the lost boys of the Sudan.
Have any of you actually tried to use Book Lamp? It kinda sucks. I typed in Maile Meloy, who’s my fave writer of the mo and got a bunch of marital handbooks in the “BookDNA.” So, I tried someone a little more mainstream — John Irving — and got grad school handbooks. When I dig a bit deeper, other novels pop up here and there, but it mostly seems like a place to plug cast-off self-help books. What are others experiencing?
not just books for 99cents – I downloaded FREE classics. Right now, I’m in between Middlemarch and a Cleopatra history. I’ve read all of the Sherlock Holmes’ for free, and since I did not have to read Fitzy in school (or college for that matter), I downloaded him for free too, and I learned that he puts me to sleep, lol. Have not read Gatsby, although I am slightly interested (based on what the movie looks like, which I totally know is not a good recommender of what a book is about), and kinda feel obligated since he’s supposed to be an American Icon and all that (and since my minor was in English Lit, and I still never had to read him…). Thanks for the synopsis (and the lead to Book Lamp – will totally give it a go!)!
David Sedaris for a good giggle. My favorite being, “Me Talk Pretty One Day” hilarious!
A novel I STILL think about a year latee is Atonement. It is rare to find a book that is both written extraordinarily well and gives me pause. I will definitely be checking out this website so I can discover others like it. So glad I stumbled upom your blog.
I never liked Gatsby but I ADORED “Bless Me Ultima”; it spoke to my mexican side and it taught me how to curse in spanish. I heard there was a movie, but I haven’t yet seen it. Also “Me Talk Pretty” is really good too XD
Also @ Double O Jen: I have a bachelor’s in english, went to a school that had a nice Steinbeck center, was taught by Steinbeck fellowship professors and I have never once opened a Steinbeck novel. I think its about time I try one XD.