A few more comments on The Great Gatsby
Some people think this the best U.S. novel. I mentioned to someone recently that “best” is always a matter of opinion. But I think the novel is an excellent exploration of what motivates people, especially ambitious men. The language is also fine. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s first novel was actually more popular during his life. I think it is interesting that so many great people like Fitzgerald, Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerburg never actually graduated from college. I suppose if you trust your own intelligence enough, you don’t need a university degree.
The narrator says of Gatsby that he was “a person of some undefined consequence [who] had gradually faded and he became the proprietor of an elaborate roadhouse next door… ‘Look here, old sport. What’s your opinion of me, anyhow?’ (Gatsby asks) A little overwhelmed. I began the general evasions which that question deserves… ” Gatsby goes on to recount his escapades overseas, where he unsuccessfully tried to get killed in World War I and elsewhere because he had lost his youthful romance. The narrator remarks, “My incredulity was submerged in fascination now; it was like skimming through a dozen magazines.”
I heard it said once that the narrator of the novel is homosexually attracted to Gatsby. I don’t know about that. I think he is enchanted by the romance and tragedy of Gatsby’s life. The recent Baz Lurhmann film adaptation of the novel expresses this. In the latest movie version, the main plot is framed by the narrator being in an insane asylum and recounting what happened to a doctor. That is not in the novel.