The Great Gatsby: Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald

'a Great American novel'.

The finest world of fiction by any American writer... No American novel comes closer than Gatsby to surpassing literary artistry, and none tells us more about ourselves' 

- THE WASHINGTON POST

It is a common opinion of most bibliophiles that film adaptations usually ruin the book or don’t live up to the experience of reading a heartwarming story unadulterated. My experience in this regard range from ‘P.S: I Love You’ to Rick Riordan’s ‘Percy Jackson and the Lightening Thief’ and some other book titles. Though I am not speaking of the Harry Potter series because I will just confess as much of a bibliophile that I claim to be, I haven’t read those books although I wasn’t disappointed with the movies except for the really poor lighting and most of the latter movies being shot using a bedside lamp.

On many occasions I have actually went out to see a film adaptation just because I had loved the book as many of my fellow book lovers do, but rarely or as I would just say only once have I ever read a book because I was absolutely in love with the terrific film adaptation of ‘The Great Gatsby’ starring Leo DiCaprio as the charismatic Jay Gatsby and the narrator Nick Carraway being our very cupid Spiderman Tobey Maguire among others. Obviously I had heard of the classic novel also had heard about this 2013 movie but I didn’t actually see or read it until 6 months back.

The movie was extremely well detailed and almost every part of the script and even the dialogues were directly taken up from the book, I’d assume. So, reading this book really felt exasperating as I had been spoiled to the very last detail. So, to those lucky people who actually haven’t seen the movie adaptation, this is your golden ticket to rush out and read the book first, which has been described as “One of the Greatest American Novels of the 20^th Century” and then maybe go on to relinquish the cinematic experience. As, while usually going through any piece of written work, we actually go on to picture every scene and story in our minds, in this case the pictures were very or should I say unnecessarily vivid, as I pictured Tobey whenever Nick was narrating, Leo whenever the ‘Great Gatsby’ was in picture and even Amitabh Bachchan every time Meyer Wolfsheim appeared on the narration, not to speak of Daisy. O Daisy! The way her voice is described and as I have heard or countless other hopeless romantics including what Nick and Gatsby appear to have heard is priceless.

“……., who began to ask me questions in her low thrilling voice. It was the kind of voice that the ear follows up and down, as if each speech is in an arrangement of notes that will never be played again.”  Gatsby finally said to Nick quite later in the story that her voice resembles the sound of money.

See, you usually don’t get this kind of exuberance when you hear a living person speaking from a screen or otherwise ironical as it may seem, this is why reading has been an always prized activity for hundreds of years and will go on till civilized society continues to inhabit the earth.

Yes! As said earlier, I have felt exasperated when reading parts of the book but quite genuinely felt the richness, originality and the utter romanticism in this marvelous story. 

The plot is narrated by the character of Nick who had actually trained to be a writer at Yale, but somehow ended up as a broker at the infamous roaring Wall Street in the greatest city of the world, New York in the roaring Twenties. The romantic way in which the city of New York is described in this book almost makes me want to be there in that time, as many fellow minded people would want to be in Gatsby’s New York, although most parts of the description are fictional, I would die to be in Jay Gatsby’s New York and go to his wondrous parties. Daisy, the central character of affection in the book is somewhat of a love interest of the protagonist and the neglected wife of one burly and selfish Tom Buchanan. Daisy is what drives the life of Jay and Jay is what the story is as narrated by his close friend and neighbor Nick and almost all the characters are related some way or the other and form a closely knit group. The story tells about how the magnificent and chivalrous Gatsby pursues the love of his life Daisy and how he made himself a man worthy of Daisy and her love being motivated and warmed by the ‘Green Light’ but more on that later.

The first time we actually see the leading pair in prose is during this private and small tea party one afternoon and I’d rather not go into details any further but this scene both in the movie and book is quite memorable, a part of which is….

He followed me wildly into the kitchen, closed the door, and whispered: ‘Oh, God!’ in a miserable way.

“What’s the matter?

“This is a terrible mistake,” he said, shaking his head from side to side,    “a terrible, terrible mistake.”

“You’re embarrassed, that’s all,” and luckily I added: “Daisy’s  embarrassed too.”

“She’s embarrassed?” he repeated incredulously.

“Just as much as you are.”

“Don’t talk so loud.”

“You’re acting like a little boy,” I broke out impatiently.  

And continuing on with that particular memorable afternoon when Gatsby and Daisy meet after 5 whole years, there is somewhat of a melancholic sadness in the air, also as it was supposed to be a happy time after a long time as reflected by this-

Almost five years! There must have been moments even that afternoon when Daisy tumbled short of his dreams- not through her own fault, but because of the colossal vitality of his illusion. It had gone beyond her, beyond everything.

And there’s one more thing-

He knew Daisy was extraordinary, but he didn’t realize just how extraordinary a nice girl could be.

Speaking of the past, the underlying history between Daisy and Gatsby is described with juxtaposing of the present in the narration; the past is what drives Gatsby to be the man he is in the present. He considered himself to be the son of God and before falling in love with Daisy, after they had met for the first time he actually looked out for a sign from the Heavens. As the whole episode was between the war, and Gatsby was an officer in the army, he had to go abroad.

On the last afternoon before he went abroad, he sat with Daisy in his arms for a long, silent time………. They had never been closer in their month of love, nor communicated more profoundly one with another, then when she brushed silent lips against his coat’s shoulder or when he touched the end of her fingers, gently, as though she were asleep.

After one of Gatsby’s infamous parties, one which Daisy visited with her husband. Nick had stayed on with Gatsby till the last guests had left. Gatsby told Nick how he wanted everything to be just the way it was five years back, and the fact that he was going to make it that way.

“I wouldn’t ask too much of her,” I ventured. “You can’t repeat the past.”

“Can’t repeat the past?” he cried incredulously. “Why of course you can!”

Dear Gatsby, I wish I could tell you as Nick had said, “You can’t repeat the past. I am sorry you can’t nor can we. Things never exactly go back to the way they were before, not any way.”

Speaking finally of the green light, it is in fact a green light that Gatsby, who just lives opposite the dock from Tom and Daisy’s home. It is that light which he reaches out every night, and it is what makes Gatsby a better man and it is what always kept him closer to Daisy even though she lived on the other side.

And as I sat there brooding on the old’ unknown world, I thought of Gatsby’s wonder when he first picked out the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock. ………

Gatsby believed in the green light the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter—tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther…. And one fine morning—

So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.

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