This has to be The Great Gatsby, because it sums up a part
of American history for me; that era between WW1 and the Great Depression where
fashion, frivolity and fun were the rules of the day. It is both the most beautiful and sad novel I have read. Jay
Gatsby, played beautifully by Leonardo De Caprio in the most recent film, is
the last of the great romantics in an era where money and power have more
weight than love. He first meets Daisy during WW1 when he is a soldier and she
is a southern belle and the world is still romantic. The sepia toned and
magnolia scented past no longer exist when we meet the novel and we are in the
brash, roaring twenties and our unsuspecting narrator Nick Carroway wants to
join this world by becoming a trader and he moves into a tiny bungalow on Long
Island. He becomes fascinated with his elusive neighbour Gatsby and the
incredible parties he holds, without knowing that Gatsby has long been in love
with Nick’s cousin Daisy who lives across the bay. Gatsby stands at the end of
his pier and watches the light at the end of Daisy’s dock and feels close to
her.
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The rest of the novel becomes a tragedy as we see Gatsby and
Daisy embark upon an affair, despite the wrath of her husband Tom who is
carrying on his own affair with Myrtle. Nick is caught between them all because
he is embroiled in Nick’s Manhattan high life in his city flat with Myrtle and
then he reintroduces Daisy to Gatsby and becomes their confidante and enabler. Whereas
Gatsby is still a romantic, Tom Buchanan is a cynic and is careless with the
hearts of others. There is no other way for this to end than tragedy for all
involved. I love this book because of all the period detail from the 1920s. It
conjures a picture very well portrayed for me in Baz Lurhman’s recent film
where the sadness is balanced with the joy of love, and the beauty is balanced
with decadence and decay. This is a beautiful novel about the origins of one of
my favourite places and it never ceases to move me.
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