/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.21881648]

>The Great Gatsby is an American Classic and there is nothing you can do about it

[Anonymous No.21881661]

>The Great Gatsby is an American Classic and there is nothing I can do about it

[Anonymous No.21881662]

Hi I’m on my 5th re-reading of it, I love it for the prose and also for its poignant message about the irrecoverable nature of time / loss of youthful dreams, wasn’t able to appreciate this in high school but it really hit for me in my mid twenties. What books are similar in style and message? I’m 25

[Anonymous No.21881727]

>>21881662
Read a better American author

I recommend
> Steinbeck- “Tortilla Flat,” “Grapes Of Wrath”
> Hemmingway- “The Sun Also Rises,” “Selected Short Stories”
> Faulkner- “Barn Burning” “As I lay Dying”
> Melville- “Moby Dick”
> Pynchon- “Crying of Lot 49”

[Anonymous No.21881736]

>>21881661
> The closest thing /lit/ has mustered to American Classic are schizobooks that cost $6/pop if your a rube enough to buy a physical copy

[Anonymous No.21881750]

>>21881662
I think there's a couple of threads right now about "The Tartar Steppe" by Buzzati. The style may be similar enough, but the message is amplified by 1000x. The setting is quite different though. Having said that, I didn't really "enjoy" either book. They both left me feeling pretty empty. But maybe that's the point?

[Anonymous No.21881763]

>>21881727
>Mentions Hemingway and doesn't mention The Old Man and the Sea

[Anonymous No.21881772]

>>21881727
Same anon, I had to bin grapes of wrath 100 pages in, super boring
Hemingway I’ve read a moveable feast + old man and the sea, tried reading a farewell to arms but couldn’t get past the first few pages
Not read the others
Why u say they’re better than Fitzgerald? Fitzgerald writes beautifully in Gatsby

[Anonymous No.21881776]

>>21881727
>>21881772
Oh and I really enjoyed moveable feast + old man and the sea

[Anonymous No.21881852]

>>21881772
Grapes of Wrath is my favorite novel. Although I low key understand because Page 100 is the page I would refer to for a list of all the characters. Because the action of the novel doesn’t really start until then.

There is this interesting thing happening in those early 20th century American Novels with a focus on transportation. “As I Lay Dying” they take horse/mule and carriage from point A to point B.

Hemingway is galavanting around Europe on train and bus.

Fitzgerald’s characters are driving in luxury cars and commuting to their City jobs

Steinbeck’s characters drive a caravan of cars/trucks. It really is Americana to its core. For me, it’s also the comfiest book and the family dynamic really resonates with me. There is also a biblical reading of the book and it exhibits the American Dream more than any other American novel imho.

Grapes of Wrath is “The Great American Novel” to me because it is full of the Modern values which made American Exceptionalism so appealing. It has fair critiques of government without being too pretentious.

I really can’t recommend it enough

[Anonymous No.21881950]

>>21881662
have you read Fitzgerald's other works?

[Anonymous No.21881971]

Sure, but it gets completely and utterly soloed by anything by Faulkner, Melville, or Pynchon.

[Anonymous No.21881976]

>>21881763
>>21881772

best hemingway is Farewell to Arms followed by For Whom The Bell atolls

[Anonymous No.21882013]

>>21881648
Yes but also this place sucks. Edgar Allen Poe is probably the best writer we have produced.

[Anonymous No.21882098]

>>21881976
I hated Farewell to Arms, but can see why people like it.

[Anonymous No.21882499]

>The billboard is the eyes of God watching him
>Get it?
>Do you get it?

[Anonymous No.21883354]

>>21881772
Steinbeck is the filler b-roll mention of every "Great American Authors" list. Pure padding. I've read three of this man's books and none of them were interesting.

[Anonymous No.21883368]

>>21881976
not true
best hemingway is the sun also rises

[Anonymous No.21883590]

>>21881772
>>21881776
Glad to hear you like a Moveable Feast. I liked a Farewell to Arms, but I would agree that it is his weakest. The second half is much better than the first. I would recommend The Sun Also Rises for the most Gatsbyesque Hemingway novel.

>>21881852
The Grapes of Wrath was my favorite novel until I read East of Eden, which I don't think that East of Eden is necessarily better, but I just enjoyed it more. It's like overdosing on Steinbeck.

What you point out about transportation I think transcends the 20th century. I think it actually defines American literature because it defines the America itself. America's 19th century literature is also filled with travel, like Melville and Twain's writing. Cooper (who I would argue was the first American novelist) also has a focus on travel in his books, even though they all take place in upstate New York.

[Anonymous No.21883683]

>>21881648
I just finished it. It was a light read which was nice but I didn't feel like it really explored those themes about wealth, like new money vs. old money was only mentioned once. I suppose there's more about judgement, maybe guilt (eyes talked about a lot). And there's a lot more about obsession and holding onto the past. The wealth critique seems to be what it's most known for but it wasn't really explored that much, I feel like there are other books that explore that theme in more depth.

[Anonymous No.21884724]

>>21883683
The wealth critiques are moreso “money doesn’t buy happiness” but Fitzgerald doesn’t really seem overly concerned about the issue. I think you are right about the obsession aspect.

There also seems to be some observation on mismatched couples in the book. Everyone is cheating on their spouse and it’s pretty despicable. Nobody has a modicum of shame and there is a lot of “clout chaser” types who are going to the parties because they want to rub shoulders with famous people. Found some of the party scenes interesting because there’s some casting couch implications with one of the famous actresses at one of Gatsby’s parties.

Also nobody ever talks about the shady Jew character who is always talking about “gonegtions” that he has

[Anonymous No.21884755]

>>21881727
Steinbeck is even worse than Fitzgerald

[Anonymous No.21884803]

read British authors if you want the best. plebs.

[Anonymous No.21884811]

atmosphere in gatsby fucking sucked, even those parties felt like shit

[Anonymous No.21884818]

>>21884803
Britbongs got BTFO 247 years ago. Suck on my 3 inch chode

[Anonymous No.21884830]

>>21884811
>The Great Gatsby is an American Classic and there is nothing you can do about

[Anonymous No.21884837]

>>21884830
I still think it deserves to be one but I expected more from the portrayal of 20s

[Anonymous No.21885512]

>>21884724
Maybe the mismatched couples is a part of that "money can't buy happiness" since they have so much money that they are bored and so they cheat on their wives to add some drama into their lives.