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/lit/ - Literature

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22259577 No.22259577 [Reply] [Original]

The prose is nothing special. You have other books like TSAR with similar subject matter from a similar time period that completely outclass it. Why is it a staple of 20th century lit?

>> No.22259589

I am not a fan of Fitzgerald and Gatsby is one of my most hated but to say his prose is not good is just saying that you don't know what makes prose good and reduce it to "I know it when I see it."

>> No.22259601

>>22259577
Because Gatsby has the spirit of every fuckin Grindaholic in America; all just trying to impress (or prove himself above) the girl that turned him down when he wasn’t shit
Can’t speak to the other book but if it really is the same premise that’s just down to luck
Some shit gets advertisers and eyes on it and some just doesn’t
Could be just as good and in a different world just as popular; just didn’t get fuckin lucky

>> No.22259629
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22259629

>>22259577
the party scene

>> No.22259634

>>22259577
>The prose is nothing special
I'm not sure I agree. The prose is good.
Maybe not top ten works of all time good. But good.
I think the real achievement of the great gatsby is not that it is a titanic achievement of prose, but that it has such good prose for how extremely easy it is to read. It requires basically nothing from the reader. You don't need to know the bible inside out, or the classics, contemporary culture of Fitzgerald's time, his favorite poets. You don't need literary context of what movement it was a part of or what it was responding to. It is an extremely accessible book. There aren't many books that easy to read that still manage to have any amount of engaging prose, probably because all the best writers feel the gravitational pull of writing for the literati. It is neither a classical work steeped in a thousand years of context or a postmodern novel that is in someway deliberately challenging. Being both good and accessible is something I think most of /lit/ epuld agree is difficult.

>> No.22259773

>>22259634
This describes Hemingway (prose much more interesting) and Tolstoy (prose slightly better) and many many since Gatsby.

>> No.22259796

>>22259601
>Because Gatsby has the spirit of every fuckin Grindaholic in America; all just trying to impress (or prove himself above) the girl that turned him down

pretty much this

>> No.22260089

>>22259773
I'm not saying it's the best ever, anon. Just that I suspect a very specific reason for its status, which I think it deserves in that sense.

>> No.22260093

>>22259773
What makes Hemingway's prose more interesting and what makes Tolstoy's slightly better?

>> No.22260110

>>22259577
>Why is it a staple of 20th century lit?
It's just Americans forcing their shitty literature down everyone else's throats.
None of the characters are appealing, the plot goes nowhere, and the symbolism is so obvious and obtuse, a chimpanzee could notice it. It’s probably the worst classic book, right next to Wuthering Heights.

>> No.22260116

>>22259577
You have to be American.

>> No.22261410

>>22260116
But I am American. I read this book at 15 (well cliff notes) 25 and now at 35. I don’t hate it. Actually I like the book in a nostalgic way. I just don’t overstand why it’s a cultural staple, required reading in school, with multiple films made from it

>> No.22261414

>>22260093
The writing style. Hemingway was the best ever at his subtle and clever minimalist prose. Tolstoy’s prose is less unique but more satisfying and occasionally clever than FSF. Though with translations it is always a bit difficult to say

>> No.22261623

>>22261414
You did not answer the question. Also, Hemingway's minimalism was actually Stein's, he used it well and to his own ends but the overall style is very much Stein.

>> No.22261654

>>22261623
>He reads female authors

>> No.22261672

>>22261654
Stein was everything Hemingway wanted to be as a writer but he was too caught up in himself/his celebrity. She never compromised.

>> No.22261674

>>22259589
I don't know what makes prose good

>> No.22261681

>>22259634
>It requires basically nothing from the reader. You don't need to know the bible inside out, or the classics, contemporary culture of Fitzgerald's time, his favorite poets. You don't need literary context of what movement it was a part of or what it was responding to. It is an extremely accessible book.
But that's bad, how else am I supposed to feel smart and superior

>> No.22261687

>>22259589
Are you really acting like one of the most renown books of all time is some hard to understand read that OP just didn’t get?

>> No.22261722

>>22261654
Another Hemingway chud, sad.

>> No.22261769

>>22261674
You are doing better than most of /lit/.
>>22261687
You are either trolling or stupid, probably both. I only addressed the prose.

>> No.22261940

>>22259577
>The prose is nothing special
You're either baiting or retarded

>> No.22261976

because it's in the holy trifecta of shitty 20th century authors that intellectuals want you to read - Steinbeck, Hemingway and FItzgerald