‘Gatsby’s eyes floated toward her.
“Ah,” she cried, “you look so cool.”
Their eyes met, and they stared together at each other, alone in space. With an effort she glanced down at the table.
“You always look so cool,” she repeated.
She had told him that she loved him, and Tom Buchanan saw.’
‘and will I like being called a jazz baby? — You will love it.’
Couldn’t help but post two snippets this week. The first is, obviously, from Gatsby and, for me, encapsulates the novel. The second is from The Beautiful and Damned, which I equally adore.
It is always with fascination and a huge dollop of trepidation that I approach film adaptations of beloved books. I find them an intriguing genre to consider, and the upcoming adaptation of Gatsby will be no exception – it will either flop disastrously or soar. Can’t resist the trailer!
June 22, 2012 at 9:51 pm
Not sure I can bear to watch the new one! The old film represented the book so perfectly for me. I think FSF is the most fantastic writer – I love his short stories.
June 25, 2012 at 7:48 pm
Yes, I agree, Kathleen – the old film was a great adaptation. He is a master of the short story; I particularly love ‘Bernice bobs her hair’.
June 23, 2012 at 1:31 am
I have just finished ‘Tender is the Night’ while here in Spain on holiday. And Gatsby is an old favourite of mine. Such good writing that it leaves you wanting when it’s done and dusted.
Jim
June 25, 2012 at 7:49 pm
Oh, how lovely, Jim – to be reading ‘Tender is the Night’ on hols in Spain – I am very jealous!! Tender is just fabulous. I absolutely agree with you, re: that ‘I want more’ ache that his writing prompts. So nice to have you pop by the blog again
June 23, 2012 at 8:52 am
Also just reading (almost finished) ‘Tender is the Night’ with my No.1 Book Group – fascinating – looking forward to the book group meeting for the discussion about this book.
June 25, 2012 at 7:52 pm
What a fantastic choice for a book group, Maggie! Although it sounds as though you have several book groups – awesome! It certainly must keep you on your toes with your reading. What did you think? Are you a ‘Tender’ fan?
June 26, 2012 at 7:56 am
Well, I’m finding it a lot more challenging than ‘The Great Gatsby’ and aspects of it are simply beautiful (acute and yet almost meandering observations of people). This is why book groups are so special – my No.1 Book Group will bring their fierce intellect and breadth of reading to the table and illuminate stuff I’ve totally missed (or not understood) – or…. they will all be as bemused as I am by some of it…whatever, it is surely a great book to read and to talk about. It feels very dated too at times, but I have the ‘notes on the text’ at the back of my edition to refer to (golly, it’s like a tutorial instead of just reading a book!).