fishingboatproceeds:

operationaltruth:

I decided I would start rereading The Great Gatsby so I could keep up with John’s analysis of it.

And thus I discovered, after rereading the first two pages, I still find myself asking, “Nick…what the hell did you just say?”

Just take your time. Keep going. The language is beautiful, but that can make it feel dense, particularly at first. I promise that once you are in the rhythm of it, it will get easier. Just be patient with yourself (and with Fitzgerald) and I swear to you there are great rewards.

I have a history with this book.  When I was 19 I read the Great Gatsby for the first time, and hated it. This wasn’t assigned for a class, but just one of the many books I chose to read.  At that time I had left college but was still an avid reader, as I am today.  

Over the next half dozen years I read dozens, if not hundreds, of books and as my taste in literature became more refined, or at least well rounded, I thought I should revisit Gatsby.  I had recently revisited The Lord of the Rings which I had found interesting but plodding when I first tried reading it around the same time as I had Gatsby at first. When I revisited Tolkien I found it beautiful and it became one of my favorites, so I thought a classic as well regarded as Gatsby deserved a second chance.  This was about 10 years ago now, and I still hated Gatsby on second read. 

I have struggled through quite a number of books and been glad to have read them when I was done, but Gatsby is not one. I’m torn, because many people I respect greatly mark it among their favorites and for that I want to give it another chance. On the other hand, I’m 35 and have no shortage of books I want to read and with the recognition that I will never get through the list of books I want to read in my lifetime anyway I’m hesitant to revisit one I disliked so much the first two times I read it.

I enjoyed Moby Dick, even with its digressions on whale anatomy. I count To Kill a Mockingbird as almost certainly the greatest american novel of all time. I loved Count of Monte Cristo enough to have given one son a middle name of Alexandre after Dumas. I enjoy authors ranging from Neil Gaiman to Christopher Moore to Yan Martel to Orson Scott Card to John Green. But I do not like The Great Gatsby… and that’s fine with me.