Good morning. I'm off this week, so my colleague A.O. Scott is taking over today to make a case for why you should read (or reread) "The Great Gatsby." —Melissa Kirsch
Say, Old Sport
"The Great Gatsby," F. Scott Fitzgerald's tale of a tragic Long Island millionaire, was published 100 years ago to tepid reviews and disappointing sales. Since then, especially in the decades since World War II, it has become a staple of English classes and a fixture in popular culture. The novel has been memed, mocked, tweaked and reimagined countless times, a multifarious afterlife that I wrote about recently in The Times. In my article, I explored some of the reasons for this longevity. But I didn't focus on the most obvious one. In spite of what many critics of the 1920s thought, it's a good book! Let me be clear: I don't mean a Great Book, though "Gatsby" may also be that. We tend to approach literary masterpieces in a spirit of deference and duty. They're assigned in school or placed on authoritative lists of what we have to read before we die, which can be more off-putting than enticing. "The Great Gatsby" is profound and important, but it's also all kinds of fun. Here are some of the kinds. It's a short, quick read. At under 200 pages, "Gatsby" can be finished in the course of a rainy afternoon or a long plane ride. There's a bit of wheel-spinning at the beginning, as our narrator, Nick Carraway, indulges in some philosophizing, but as soon as he mentions Jay Gatsby, whose name arrives in a cloud of mystery, glamour and foreboding, our interest is piqued. And Fitzgerald teases that interest, keeping the title character shrouded in an enigmatic aura until the very end of the book, revealing him — through Nick's eyes — by means of a series of riddles, glimmerings and sideways glances. It's romantic. Or at least Gatsby himself is. Nick describes him in the opening pages as possessing "some heightened sensitivity to the promises of life." But modern life — crass, dishonest and materialistic — betrays those promises and destroys Gatsby's life. Even though he's a rich man with underworld connections, his motives remain pure. Above all, he's driven by his love for Daisy, his former sweetheart, now married to the repellent Tom Buchanan. The tension between Gatsby's noble spirit and the tawdry decadence of his surroundings brings the book to life. If Fitzgerald's social criticism were less astute, the love story might seem corny; if the romance didn't sing, the satire would collapse into cynicism. It's funny. The Jazz Age reviewers who liked the book admired it as an acid-etched portrait of the times. Fitzgerald's eye for hypocrisy and buffoonery and his ear for puffed-up speech remain sharp. Tom Buchanan, whose awfulness has a serious, violent side, is at the same time a brutally comic takedown of a certain kind of know-it-all blowhard, still familiar a century later: "I read somewhere that the sun's getting hotter every year," Tom said genially. "It seems that pretty soon the earth's going to fall into the sun — or wait a minute — it's just the opposite — the sun's getting cooler every year." F. Scott Fitzgerald could write. Almost too well! "Gatsby" often shifts from brisk comedy to swooning lyricism to philosophical rumination within the space of a single page, somehow keeping a steady, conversational, modern tone. Fitzgerald knows when to accelerate the narrative with clipped, telegraphic sentences and when to draw it out in flights of elaborate description. The last sentence ("And so we beat on, boats against the current, borne ceaselessly back into the past") is justly famous, but it follows a score of others that are at least as evocative, or even more so. It has so many great characters … Meyer Wolfsheim, the gangster who fixed the 1919 World Series. Jordan Baker, Nick's feline sort-of girlfriend. Old Mr. Gatz, who shows up at the end to clear up the mystery of Gatsby (but really to deepen it). And of course the central triangle of Daisy, Tom and Jay. … and so much to talk about. There's a reason English teachers love this book. But even if you only read it in school — or never did — there is endless fodder for discussion and debate, much of it still remarkably current. The state of the American dream, the bedazzling and corrupting power of money, the green light at the end of the dock.
The Trump Administration
Immigration
International News
Other Big Stories
Film and TV
More Culture
🎬 "Sinners" (in theaters now): Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan have formed one of the most reliable partnerships in Hollywood. For his latest film, Coogler has again turned to his favorite actor, this time calling on Jordan to inhabit two characters — the twin brothers Smoke and Stack, who encounter supernatural resistance at the juke joint they run in Jim Crow-era Mississippi. Our critic calls it "a genre-defying, mind-bending fantasia overflowing with great performances." Read the review.
Chocolate Easter Egg NestsIf you need a last-minute Easter dessert — or an excuse to buy candy-coated chocolate eggs — you could hardly do better than these darling treats, whose "nests" are crunchy cornflakes held together by golden syrup and melted butter and chocolate. They're easy to make, too, just some stirring and chilling, perfect for keeping tiny hands busy.
The Hunt: Siblings sought a homestead in the Hudson Valley that could house three generations. Which did they choose? Play our game. Living in: Tucson, Ariz., has desert beauty and relatively affordable homes. What you get for $275,000: A rowhouse built in 1970 in Bordentown, N.J.; a 1920 cottage in New Orleans; or a Craftsman bungalow in Little Rock, Ark.
Travel: Spend 36 hours in Orlando, Fla. A celebrity guide: See the actress Olivia Munn's five favorite places in Tokyo. Get fit: Here's a 10-minute barre workout you can do at home, using only a chair and a mat. The city that sleeps? New York bar owners say 4 a.m. liquor licenses are increasingly difficult to obtain. No more "eat and flee": Day trippers will have to start paying a fee to enter Venice. Party inspiration: This chef celebrated her birthday by cooking for family and friends, and even making her own cake.
How to cut energy costsWhat used to be called energy vampires — lights, appliances and electronics that guzzle more power than they really ought to — don't quite exist in the same way anymore. Most of the things you turn on every day in your home are already pretty efficient and use much less energy than their predecessors from 10 or 20 years ago. That also means a lot of the old tricks for trimming your utility costs don't do much anymore. For example, lightbulbs have become so efficient that even if you constantly leave them on, you'll probably only waste a few dollars of electricity per year. But there are still a few simple ways to eke out some savings, including automating your A.C. and setting your water heater to the right temperature. — Liam McCabe
Golden State Warriors vs. Houston Rockets, N.B.A.: The playoffs begin this weekend, and this series is a highlight of the first round. The Warriors were flailing midway through this season. Then the team traded for Jimmy Butler, and everything turned around. Don't be fooled by their No. 7 seeding: The Warriors are hot right now. Key to this series will be how Stephen Curry manages the relentless defense of the Rockets' Amen Thompson. Game 1 is Sunday at 9:30 p.m. Eastern on TNT
Here is today's Spelling Bee. Yesterday's pangram was multimillion. Take the news quiz to see how well you followed this week's headlines. And here are today's Mini Crossword, Wordle, Sudoku, Connections and Strands. Thanks for spending part of your weekend with The Times. — Melissa Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com.
|
Skip to content
