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==Plot summary==
==Plot summary==
[[File:Plaza Hotel NYC.jpg|thumb|250px|The [[Plaza Hotel]].]]
[[File:Plaza Hotel NYC.jpg|thumb|250px|The [[Plaza Hotel]].]]
The main events of the novel take place in the summer of 1922, narrated by Nicholas "Nick" Carraway, a [[Yale University|Yale]] graduate and [[World War I|World {{nowrap|War I}}]] veteran from the Midwest who takes a job in New York as a [[Bond (finance)|bond]] salesman. He rents a small house on [[Long Island]], in the (fictional) village of West Egg, next door to the lavish mansion of [[Jay Gatsby]], a mysterious millionaire who holds extravagant parties. Nick drives across the bay to the East Egg, a fashionable and prosperous area of Long Island that is home to the upper class, for dinner with extended family. His cousin, the beautiful Daisy Buchanan, and her husband Tom introduce Nick to Jordan Baker, a beautiful, cynical young woman with whom Nick begins a romantic relationship. Jordan reveals to Nick some secrets of Daisy and Tom's marriage: Tom has a [[Extramarital affair|mistress]], Myrtle Wilson, who lives in the valley of ashes, a gray industrial dumping ground between West Egg and New York City. Not long after this revelation, Nick travels to New York City with Tom and Myrtle. At a vulgar, gaudy party in the apartment that Tom keeps for the affair, Myrtle begins to taunt Tom about Daisy, and Tom responds by breaking her nose.
The main events of the novel take place in the summer of 1922, narrated by Nicholas "Nick" Carraway, a [[Yale University|Yale]] graduate and [[World War I|World {{nowrap|War I}}]] veteran from the Midwest who takes a job in New York as a [[Bond (finance)|bond]] salesman. He rents a small house on [[Long Island]], in the (fictional) village of West Egg, next door to the lavish mansion of [[Jay Gatsby]], a mysterious millionaire who holds extravagant parties. Nick drives across the bay to East Egg for dinner at the home of his cousin, Daisy Buchanan, and her husband, Tom, a college acquaintance of Nick's. They introduce Nick to Jordan Baker, an attractive, cynical young golfer with whom Nick begins a romantic relationship. Jordan reveals to Nick that Tom has a [[Extramarital affair|mistress]], Myrtle Wilson, who lives in the "[[Flushing Meadows–Corona Park|valley of ashes]]": an industrial dumping ground between West Egg and New York City. Not long after this revelation, Nick travels to New York City with Tom and Myrtle to an apartment they keep for their affair. At the apartment, a vulgar and bizarre party ends with Tom breaking Myrtle's nose after she taunts Tom about Daisy.


As the summer progresses, Nick eventually garners an invitation to one of Gatsby’s legendary parties. He encounters Jordan Baker at the party, and they meet Gatsby himself, a surprisingly young man who affects an English accent, has a remarkable smile, and calls everyone "old sport." Gatsby asks to speak to Jordan alone, and, through Jordan, Nick later learns more about his mysterious neighbor. Gatsby tells Jordan that he knew Daisy in Louisville in 1917 and is deeply in love with her. He spends many nights staring at the green light at the end of her dock, across the bay from his mansion. Gatsby’s extravagant lifestyle and wild parties are simply an attempt to impress Daisy. Gatsby now wants Nick to arrange a reunion between himself and Daisy, but he is afraid that Daisy will refuse to see him if she knows that he still loves her. Nick invites Daisy to have tea at his house, without telling her that Gatsby will also be there. After an initially awkward reunion, Gatsby and Daisy reestablish their connection. Their love rekindled, they begin an affair. After a short time, Tom grows increasingly suspicious of his wife’s relationship with Gatsby. At a luncheon at the Buchanans’ house, Gatsby stares at Daisy with such undisguised passion that Tom realizes Gatsby is in love with her. Though Tom is himself involved in an extramarital affair, he is deeply outraged by the thought that his wife could be unfaithful to him. He forces the group to drive into New York City, where he confronts Gatsby in a suite at the Plaza Hotel. Tom asserts that he and Daisy have a history that Gatsby could never understand, and he announces to his wife that Gatsby is a criminal—his fortune comes from [[Prohibition in the United States|bootlegging alcohol]] and other illegal activities. Daisy realizes that her allegiance is to Tom, and Tom contemptuously sends her back to East Egg with Gatsby, attempting to prove that Gatsby cannot hurt him.
As the summer progresses, Nick eventually receives an invitation to one of Gatsby’s notorious parties. He encounters Jordan Baker at the party, and they meet Gatsby himself, an aloof and surprisingly young man who recognizes Nick from their same division in the war. Through Jordan, Nick later learns that Gatsby knew Daisy from a romantic encounter in 1917 and is deeply in love with her. He spends many nights staring at the green light at the end of her dock, across the bay from his mansion, hoping to one day rekindle their lost romance. Gatsby’s extravagant lifestyle and wild parties are an attempt to impress Daisy in the hopes that she will one day appear again at Gatsby's doorstep. Gatsby now wants Nick to arrange a reunion between himself and Daisy. Nick invites Daisy to have tea at his house, without telling her that Gatsby will also be there. After an initially awkward reunion, Gatsby and Daisy reestablish their connection. They begin an affair and, after a short time, Tom grows increasingly suspicious of his wife's relationship with Gatsby. At a luncheon at the Buchanans' house, Gatsby stares at Daisy with such undisguised passion that Tom realizes Gatsby is in love with her. Though Tom is himself involved in an extramarital affair, he is deeply outraged by his wife's infidelity. He forces the group to drive into New York City, where he confronts Gatsby in a suite at the Plaza Hotel. Tom asserts that he and Daisy have a history that Gatsby could never understand, and he announces to his wife that Gatsby is a criminal whose fortune comes from [[Prohibition in the United States|bootlegging alcohol]] and other illegal activities. Daisy realizes that her allegiance is to Tom, and Tom contemptuously sends her back to East Egg with Gatsby, attempting to prove that Gatsby cannot hurt him.


When Nick, Jordan, and Tom drive through the valley of ashes, however, they discover that Gatsby’s car has struck and killed Myrtle, Tom’s lover. They rush back to Long Island, where Nick learns from Gatsby that Daisy was driving the car when it struck Myrtle, but that Gatsby intends to take the blame. The next day, Tom tells Myrtle’s husband, George, that Gatsby was the driver of the car. George, who has leapt to the conclusion that the driver of the car that killed Myrtle must have been her lover, finds Gatsby in the pool at his mansion and shoots him dead. He then fatally shoots himself. Nick stages a small funeral for Gatsby, ends his relationship with Jordan, and moves back to the Midwest to escape the disgust he feels for the people surrounding Gatsby’s life and for the emptiness and moral decay of life among the wealthy on the East Coast. Nick reflects that just as Gatsby’s dream of Daisy was corrupted by money and dishonesty, the [[American dream]] of happiness and individualism has disintegrated into the mere pursuit of wealth. Though Gatsby’s power to transform his dreams into reality is what makes him "great," Nick reflects that the era of dreaming—both Gatsby’s dream and the American dream—is over.
When Nick, Jordan, and Tom drive through the valley of ashes, however, they discover that Gatsby’s car has struck and killed Myrtle, Tom’s lover. They rush back to Long Island, where Nick learns from Gatsby that Daisy was driving the car at the time of the accident, but that Gatsby intends to take the blame. The next day, Tom tells Myrtle’s husband, George, that Gatsby was the driver of the car. George, who has leapt to the conclusion that the driver of the car that killed Myrtle must have been her lover, tracks Gatsby to his mansion and fatally shoots both Gatsby and himself. Nick stages a small funeral for Gatsby, ends his relationship with Jordan, and moves back to the Midwest to escape the disgust he feels for the people surrounding Gatsby’s life and for the emptiness and moral decay of life among the wealthy on the East Coast.
==Writing and production==
==Writing and production==
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Revision as of 17:24, 12 May 2013

File:Gatsby 1925 jacket.gif
The first edition of The Great Gatsby published in 1925 by Scribner's, with dust jacket illustrated by Francis Cugat.

The Great Gatsby is a 1925 novel written by American author F. Scott Fitzgerald that follows a cast of characters living in the fictional town of West Egg on prosperous Long Island in the summer of 1922. The story primarily concerns the young and mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby and his quixotic passion for the beautiful Daisy Buchanan. Generally considered author Fitzgerald's magnum opus and best-known work, The Great Gatsby explores themes of decadence, idealism, resistance to change, social upheaval, and excess, creating a portrait of the Jazz Age that has been described as a cautionary tale regarding the American Dream.[1]

Visiting Long Island's north shore and attending lavish parties at mansions is said to have inspired Fitzgerald's setting for The Great Gatsby. He first began planning the novel in 1923, desiring to produce, in his words, "something new — something extraordinary and beautiful and simple and intricately patterned." Progress was slow, however, and Fitzgerald completed his first draft following a move to the French Riviera in 1924. His editor, Maxwell Perkins, felt the book was too vague and convinced the author to revise over the next winter. Fitzgerald was ambivalent about the book's title, at various times wishing to re-title the novel Trimalchio in West Egg.

First published by Scribner's in April 1925, The Great Gatsby received mixed reviews and sold poorly; in its first year, the book only sold 20,000 copies. Fitzgerald died in 1940, believing himself to be a failure and his work forgotten. His work, spearheaded by The Great Gatsby, experienced a revival during World War II, and the novel became a part of high school curriculum in the following decades. The book has remained popular since, leading to numerous stage and film adaptions. The Great Gatsby is widely considered to be a literary classic and a contender for the title "Great American Novel". The book is consistently ranked among the greatest works of American literature and of all-time.

Historical context

Set in the prosperous Long Island of 1922, The Great Gatsby provides a critical social history of America during the Roaring Twenties within its narrative. That era, known for unprecedented economic prosperity, the evolution of jazz music, flapper culture, and bootlegging and other criminal activity, is plausibly depicted in Fitzgerald's novel. Fitzgerald utilizes these societal developments of the 1920s to build Gatsby's stories from simple details like automobiles to broader themes like Fitzgerald's discreet allusions to the organized crime culture which was the source of Gatsby's fortune.[2] Fitzgerald educates his readers about the garish society of the Roaring Twenties by placing a timeless, relatable plotline within the historical context of the era.[3]

Visiting Long Island's north shore and attending parties at mansions is said to have inspired Fitzgerald's setting for the Great Gatsby. Today there are a number of theories as to which mansion was the inspiration for the book. One possibility is Land's End, a notable Gold Coast Mansion where F. Scott Fitzgerald may have attended a party.[4]

Plot summary

The Plaza Hotel.

The main events of the novel take place in the summer of 1922, narrated by Nicholas "Nick" Carraway, a Yale graduate and World War I veteran from the Midwest who takes a job in New York as a bond salesman. He rents a small house on Long Island, in the (fictional) village of West Egg, next door to the lavish mansion of Jay Gatsby, a mysterious millionaire who holds extravagant parties. Nick drives across the bay to East Egg for dinner at the home of his cousin, Daisy Buchanan, and her husband, Tom, a college acquaintance of Nick's. They introduce Nick to Jordan Baker, an attractive, cynical young golfer with whom Nick begins a romantic relationship. Jordan reveals to Nick that Tom has a mistress, Myrtle Wilson, who lives in the "valley of ashes": an industrial dumping ground between West Egg and New York City. Not long after this revelation, Nick travels to New York City with Tom and Myrtle to an apartment they keep for their affair. At the apartment, a vulgar and bizarre party ends with Tom breaking Myrtle's nose after she taunts Tom about Daisy.

As the summer progresses, Nick eventually receives an invitation to one of Gatsby’s notorious parties. He encounters Jordan Baker at the party, and they meet Gatsby himself, an aloof and surprisingly young man who recognizes Nick from their same division in the war. Through Jordan, Nick later learns that Gatsby knew Daisy from a romantic encounter in 1917 and is deeply in love with her. He spends many nights staring at the green light at the end of her dock, across the bay from his mansion, hoping to one day rekindle their lost romance. Gatsby’s extravagant lifestyle and wild parties are an attempt to impress Daisy in the hopes that she will one day appear again at Gatsby's doorstep. Gatsby now wants Nick to arrange a reunion between himself and Daisy. Nick invites Daisy to have tea at his house, without telling her that Gatsby will also be there. After an initially awkward reunion, Gatsby and Daisy reestablish their connection. They begin an affair and, after a short time, Tom grows increasingly suspicious of his wife's relationship with Gatsby. At a luncheon at the Buchanans' house, Gatsby stares at Daisy with such undisguised passion that Tom realizes Gatsby is in love with her. Though Tom is himself involved in an extramarital affair, he is deeply outraged by his wife's infidelity. He forces the group to drive into New York City, where he confronts Gatsby in a suite at the Plaza Hotel. Tom asserts that he and Daisy have a history that Gatsby could never understand, and he announces to his wife that Gatsby is a criminal whose fortune comes from bootlegging alcohol and other illegal activities. Daisy realizes that her allegiance is to Tom, and Tom contemptuously sends her back to East Egg with Gatsby, attempting to prove that Gatsby cannot hurt him.

When Nick, Jordan, and Tom drive through the valley of ashes, however, they discover that Gatsby’s car has struck and killed Myrtle, Tom’s lover. They rush back to Long Island, where Nick learns from Gatsby that Daisy was driving the car at the time of the accident, but that Gatsby intends to take the blame. The next day, Tom tells Myrtle’s husband, George, that Gatsby was the driver of the car. George, who has leapt to the conclusion that the driver of the car that killed Myrtle must have been her lover, tracks Gatsby to his mansion and fatally shoots both Gatsby and himself. Nick stages a small funeral for Gatsby, ends his relationship with Jordan, and moves back to the Midwest to escape the disgust he feels for the people surrounding Gatsby’s life and for the emptiness and moral decay of life among the wealthy on the East Coast.

Writing and production

Oheka Castle on the Gold Coast
Beacon Towers in 1920
The Great Gatsby was partially inspired by Oheka Castle on the Gold Coast (pictured top) and Beacon Towers, a now-demolished mansion on the coast in Sands Point (below).[5][6]

With The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald made a conscious departure from the writing process of his previous novels. He began planning his third novel in June 1922,[2] but planning was interrupted by production of his play The Vegetable in the summer and fall. The play failed miserably, and Fitzgerald worked that winter on magazine stories struggling to pay his debt caused by the production.[7] The stories were, in his words, "all trash and it nearly broke my heart."[7] After the birth of their child, the Fitzgeralds moved to Great Neck, New York, on Long Island, in October 1922; the town was used as the scene for The Great Gatsby.[8] Fitzgerald's neighbors in Great Neck included such prominent and newly wealthy New Yorkers as writer Ring Lardner, actor Lew Fields, and comedian Ed Wynn.[2] These figures were all considered to be 'new money', unlike those who came from Manhasset Neck or Cow Neck Peninsula, places which were home to many of New York's wealthiest established families, and which sat across a bay from Great Neck. This real-life juxtaposition gave Fitzgerald his idea for "West Egg" and "East Egg." In this novel, Great Neck became the new-money peninsula of "West Egg" and Manhasset the old-money "East Egg."[9]

Production began on The Great Gatsby in earnest in April 1924; Fitzgerald wrote in his ledger, "Out of woods at last and starting novel."[7] He ended up discarding most of his new story as a false start, some of which resurfaced in the story "Absolution."[2][10] Little was completed due to a quick move to the French Riviera shortly thereafter, where a serious crisis in the Fitzgeralds' personal relationship developed.[7] By August, Fitzgerald was hard at work and completed what he believed his to be his final manuscript in October, sending the book to his editor, Maxwell Perkins, and agent, Harold Ober, on October 30.[7] The Fitzgeralds then moved to Rome for the winter. Fitzgerald made revisions through the winter after Perkins informed him that the novel was too vague and Gatsby's biographical section too long.

Content after a few rounds of revision, Fitzgerald returned the final batch of revised galleys in the middle of February 1925.[11] Fitzgerald was making revisions to the book up to the very last possible minute, including an extensive rewriting of Chapter VI and VIII.[7] Despite this, he refused an off of $10,000 for the serial rights in order not to delay the book's publication.[7] He had received a $3939 advance in 1923[12] and $1981.25 upon publication.[13]

Unlike his previous works, Fitzgerald intended to edit and reshape Gatsby thoroughly, believing that it held the potential to launch him toward literary acclaim. He told his editor Maxwell Perkins that the novel was a "consciously artistic achievement" and a "purely creative work — not trashy imaginings as in my stories but the sustained imagination of a sincere and yet radiant world." He added later, during editing, that he felt "an enormous power in me now, more than I've ever had."[14]

Cover art and title

The cover of The Great Gatsby is among the most celebrated pieces of art in American literature.[15] It depicts disembodied eyes and a mouth over a blue skyline, with images of naked women reflected in the irises. A little-known artist named Francis Cugat was commissioned to illustrate the book while Fitzgerald was in the midst of writing it. The cover was completed before the novel; Fitzgerald was so enamored with it that he told his publisher he had "written it into" the novel.[15]

Fitzgerald's remarks about incorporating the painting into the novel led to the interpretation that the eyes are reminiscent of those of Dr. T. J. Eckleburg (the novel's erstwhile optometrist, depicted on a faded commercial billboard near George Wilson's auto repair shop) which Fitzgerald described as "blue and gigantic — their retinas[note 1] are one yard high. They look out of no face, but instead, from a pair of enormous yellow spectacles which pass over a non-existent nose." Although this passage has some resemblance to the painting, a closer explanation can be found in the description of Daisy Buchanan as the "girl whose disembodied face floated along the dark cornices and blinding signs."[15]

Ernest Hemingway recorded in A Moveable Feast that when Fitzgerald lent him a copy of The Great Gatsby to read, he immediately disliked the cover, but "Scott told me not to be put off by it, that it had to do with a billboard along a highway in Long Island that was important in the story. He said he had liked the jacket and now he didn't like it."[16]

Fitzgerald was ambivalent about the title, making it hard for him to choose. The title may have originally been borrowed from Alain-Fournier's Le Grand Meaulnes, a novel he admired.[17] He entertained many choices before settling on The Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald shifted between Gatsby; Among Ash-Heaps and Millionaires; Trimalchio; Trimalchio in West Egg; On the Road to West Egg; Under the Red, White, and Blue; Gold-Hatted Gatsby and The High-Bouncing Lover. Initially, he preferred Trimalchio, after the crude parvenu in Petronius's Satyricon. Unlike Fitzgerald's protagonist, Trimalchio participated in the audacious and libidinous orgies that he hosted. Fitzgerald refers to Gatsby by the proposed title once in the novel, which reinforces the view that it would have been a misnomer. As Tony Tanner observed, there are subtle similarities between the two.[18] A notable difference between Trimalchio and The Great Gatsby is a less complete failure of Gatsby's dream in Trimalchio. In Trimalchio, the argument between Tom Buchanan and Jay Gatsby is much more even, although Tom still wins in that Daisy returns to him.

On November 7, 1924, Fitzgerald wrote to Perkins that "I have now decided to stick to the title I put on the book [...] Trimalchio in West Egg" but was eventually persuaded that the reference was too obscure and that people would not be able to pronounce it. His wife and Perkins both expressed their preference for The Great Gatsby and the next month Fitzgerald agreed.[19] A month before publication, after a final review of the proofs, he asked if it would be possible to re-title it Trimalchio or Gold-Hatted Gatsby but Perkins advised against it. On March 19, Fitzgerald asked if the book could be renamed Under the Red, White and Blue but it was at that stage too late to change.[20] The Great Gatsby was published on April 10, 1925. Fitzgerald remarked that "the title is only fair, rather bad than good".[21]

Themes

Academic Sarah Churchwell sees The Great Gatsby as a "cautionary tale of the decadent downside of the American dream". The story deals with human aspiration to start over again, social politics and its brutality and also betrayal, of one's own ideals and of people. Using elements of irony and tragic ending, it also delves into themes of excesses of the rich, and recklessness of youth.[22][23]

Others, like journalist Nick Gillespie, see The Great Gatsby as a story "about the breakdown of class differences in the face of a modern economy based not on status and inherited position but on innovation and an ability to meet ever-changing consumer needs." This interpretation asserts that The Great Gatsby captures the American experience because it is a story about change and those who resist it; whether the change comes in the form of a new wave of immigrants (Southern Europeans in the early 20th Century, Latin Americans today), the nouveau riche, or successful minorities, Americans from the 1920s to modern day have plenty of experience with changing economic and social circumstances. As Gillespie states, "While the specific terms of the equation are always changing, it’s easy to see echoes of Gatsby’s basic conflict between established sources of economic and cultural power and upstarts in virtually all aspects of American society." Because this concept is particularly American and can be seen throughout American history, readers are able to relate to The Great Gatsby (which has lent the novel an enduring popularity).[24]

Reception

The Great Gatsby was published by Charles Scribner's Sons on April 10, 1925. Fitzgerald was beside himself on publication day, calling Perkins to monitor reviews: "Any news?"[7] "Sales situation doubtful," read a wire from Perkins on April 20, "[but] excellent reviews." Fitzgerald responded on April 24, saying the cable "depressed" him, closing the letter with "Yours in great depression."[25] Fitzgerald had hoped the novel would be a great commercial success, perhaps selling as many as 75,000 copies.[25] By October, when the original sale had run its course, the book had sold fewer than 20,000 copies.[7][25][23] Despite this, Scribner's continually kept the book in print; they carried the original edition on their trade list until 1946, by which time Gatsby was in print in three other forms and the original edition was no longer needed.[7] Fitzgerald received letters of praise from contemporaries T. S. Eliot, Edith Wharton and Willa Cather regarding the novel; however, this was private opinion, and Fitzgerald feverishly demanded the public recognition of reviewers and readers.[7]

The Great Gatsby received mixed reviews from literary critics of the day. Generally the most effusive of the positive reviews was Edwin Clark of The New York Times, who felt the novel was "A curious book, a mystical, glamourous story of today."[26] Similarly, Lillian C. Ford of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "[the novel] leaves the reader in a mood of chastened wonder," calling the book "a revelation of life" and "a work of art."[27] The New York Post called the book "fascinating […] His style fairly scintillates, and with a genuine brilliance; he writes surely and soundly."[28] The New York Herald Tribune was unimpressed, but referred to The Great Gatsby as "purely ephemeral phenomenon, but it contains some of the nicest little touches of contemporary observation you could imagine-so light, so delicate, so sharp....a literary lemon meringue."[29] H.L. Mencken of The Chicago Daily Tribune called the book "in form no more than a glorified anecdote, and not too probable at that," while praising the book's "careful and brilliant finish."[30]

Several writers felt that the novel left much to be desired following Fitzgerald's previous works and promptly criticized him. Harvey Eagleton of The Dallas Morning News believed the novel signaled the end of Fitzgerald's success: "One finishes Great Gatsby with a feeling of regret, not for the fate of the people in the book, but for Mr. Fitzgerald."[31] John McClure of the The Times-Picayune opined that the book was unconvincing, writing, "Even in conception and construction, The Great Gatsby seems a little raw."[32] Ralph Coghlan of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch felt the book lacked what made Fitzgerald's earlier novels endearing and called the book "a minor performance […] At the moment, its author seems a bit bored and tired and cynical."[33] Ruth Snyder of New York Evening World called the book's style "painfully forced," noting that the editors of the paper were "quite convinced after reading The Great Gatsby that Mr. Fitzgerald is not one of the great American writers of to-day."[34] The reviews struck Fitzgerald as completely missing the point: "All the reviews, even the most enthusiastic, not one had the slightest idea what the book was about."[7]

Fitzgerald's goal was to produce a literary work which would truly prove himself as a writer,[35] and Gatsby did not have the commercial success of his two previous novels, This Side of Paradise and The Beautiful and Damned. Although the novel went through two initial printings, some of these copies remained unsold years later.[36] Fitzgerald himself blamed poor sales on the fact that women tended to be the main audience for novels during this time, and Gatsby did not contain an admirable female character.[36] According to his own ledger, now made available online by University of South Carolina's Thomas Cooper library, he earned only $2,000 from the book.[37] Later on, critics theorized that perhaps Fitzgerald did not receive the public acclaim he hoped for because his characters were wealthy, which would have been problematic during the increasingly desperate economic conditions of the Great Depression.[35] Although 1926 brought Owen Davis' stage adaption and the Paramount-issued silent film version, both of which brought in money for the author, Fitzgerald still felt the novel fell short of the recognition he hoped for and, most importantly, would not propel him to becoming a serious novelist in the public eye.[7] For several years afterward, the general public believed The Great Gatsby to be nothing more than a nostalgic period piece.[7]

Legacy and modern analysis

In 1940, Fitzgerald suffered a third and final heart attack, and died believing his work forgotten. In the last year of his life, he wrote his daughter, "I wish now I'd never relaxed or looked back - but said at the end of The Great Gatsby: I've found my line - from now on this comes first. This is my immediate duty - without this I am nothing.'"[7] By his own admission, Fitzgerald viewed himself as a failure, and only 25,000 copies were sold at the time of his death.[38] His obituary in The New York Times mentioned Gatsby as evidence of great potential that was never reached.[39] However, a strong appreciation for the book had developed in underground circles; future writers Edward Newhouse and Budd Schulberg were deeply affected by it and John O'Hara showed the book's influence.[7] The republication of Gatsby in Edmund Wilson's edition of "The Last "Tycoon" in 1941 produced an outburst of comment, with the general consensus expressing the sentiment that the book was an enduring work of fiction.[7]

Full-length articles on Fitzgerald's works were being published by 1944, and the following year, "the opinion that Gatsby was merely a period piece had almost entirely disappeared."[7] During a revival of Fitzgerald's works in 1945, Gatsby gained readers when Armed Services Editions gave away 150,000 copies of it to military personnel in World War II.[40] During the 1950s, the book gradually became part of standard high school curriculum required reading in the United States.[23] This revival was paved by interest shown by literary critic Edmund Wilson, who was Fitzgerald's friend.[41] In 1951, Arthur Mizener published The Far Side of Paradise, a biography of Fitzgerald.[40] He emphasized the book's positive reception by literary critics, which may have influenced public opinion, and renewed interest in it.[42]

By 1960, the book was steadily selling 50,000 copies per year, and renewed interest led New York Times editorialist Arthur Mizener to proclaim the novel "a classic of twentieth-century American fiction."[7] The Great Gatsby has sold over 25 million copies worldwide. The book annually sells 500,000 copies and is Scribner's most popular title; in 2013, the book sold 185,000 copies of the e-book alone.[38]

Adaptations

Film

The Great Gatsby has been filmed five times

  1. The Great Gatsby, in 1926, by Herbert Brenon  – a silent movie of a stage adaptation, starring Warner Baxter, Lois Wilson, and William Powell. It is a famous example of a lost film. Reviews suggest that it may have been the most faithful adaptation of the novel, but a trailer of the film at National Archives is all that is known to exist.[43]
  2. The Great Gatsby, in 1949, by Elliott Nugent  – Starring Alan Ladd, Betty Field, and Shelley Winters; for copyright reasons, this film is not readily available.[43]
  3. The Great Gatsby, in 1974, by Jack Clayton – the most famous screen version, starring Sam Waterston as narrator Nick Carraway, with Mia Farrow as Daisy Buchanan and Robert Redford as Gatsby, with a script by Francis Ford Coppola.[43]
  4. The Great Gatsby, in 2000, by Robert Markowitz – a made-for-TV movie starring Toby Stephens, Paul Rudd, and Mira Sorvino.
  5. The Great Gatsby, in 2013, by Baz Luhrmann – Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan, Tobey Maguire, Amitabh Bachhan. This adaption of the novel was released on May 10, 2013.

Television

The second season of the Showtime television series Californication, starting with its second episode "The Great Ashby", is partly a modern take on the novel, with the characters Lew Ashby, Janie Jones and Hank Moody as modern versions of Jay Gatsby, Daisy Buchanan and Nick Carraway.[44][45]

In the HBO series Entourage the show's main character Vincent Chase stars in a fictional film based off the book entitled Gatsby playing the role of Nick Carraway with the film directed by Martin Scorsese.

In the CNBC series "Mad Money", host Jim Cramer sometimes refers to an index of companies he originated, known as the "Great Gatsby Index", that is used to reflect the spending habits of the rich and wealthy.

Opera

An operatic treatment of the novel was commissioned from John Harbison by the New York Metropolitan Opera to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the debut of James Levine. The work, which is also called The Great Gatsby, premiered on December 20, 1999.[46]

Books

  • Ernesto Quiñonez's Bodega Dreams adapted The Great Gatsby to Spanish Harlem
  • The Great Gatsby, a graphic novel adaptation by Australian cartoonist Nicki Greenberg
  • Daisy's Dilemma, a series of short fiction pieces by S. Williams published in Momzone magazine that portray Daisy Buchanan as mature and insightful.
  • The Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian imagines the later years of Daisy and Tom Buchanan's marriage as a social worker in 2007 investigates the possibility that a deceased elderly homeless person is Daisy's son.
  • The young adult novel Jake Reinvented by Gordon Korman is a modern version of The Great Gatsby in which the characters are high school students.
  • Daisy Buchanan's Daughter (2011) by Tom Carson is the purported autobiography of Tom and Daisy Buchanan's daughter
  • The Late Gatsby (2012) is a mashup of The Great Gatsby and a vampire narrative.[47]

Radio

Music

  • The band Gatsby's American Dream is named after the book.
  • In April 2010, the folk duo Reg & Phil released a song entitled "Daisy Buchanan" on their self-titled album. The song, told by an anonymous narrator, directly addresses the novel's title character.[50]
  • Ballad group 2AM released an EP in 2012 titled 'F.Scott Fitzgerald's Way of Love', which draws inspiration from and narrates the story of Jay Gatsby's love for Daisy.[51]

Theater

  • The Great Gatsby Musical opened at the Kings Head Theatre, London, on August 7, 2012, to fairly modest critical acclaim. A Ruby In The Dust production, it is adapted by Joe Evans and Linnie Reedman with music and lyrics by Joe Evans, directed by Linnie Reedman, with Matilda Sturridge as Daisy Buchanan. The show returned for the 2013 season in a reworked and recast form, with the assistance of choreographer Lee Proud.
  • Simon Levy's stage adaptation,[52] the only one authorized and granted exclusive rights by the Fitzgerald Estate, had its world premiere at The Guthrie Theater to commemorate the opening of its new theatre in July 2006, directed by David Esbjornson. It was subsequently produced by Seattle Repertory Theatre. In 2012 a revised/reworked version was produced at Arizona Theatre Company[53] and Grand Theatre in London, Ontario, Canada.[54]
  • Elevator Repair Service, an experimental theater group, produced a theater version of The Great Gatsby, entitled "Gatz."[55] It is set in an office and read and performed by actor Scott Shepherd along with a cast of 12 other actors.[56]

Computer games

See also

Notes

  1. ^ The original edition used the anatomically incorrect word retinas, while some later editions have used the word irises.

References

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  2. ^ a b c d Bruccoli 2000, pp. 53–54
  3. ^ Gross 1998 p. 167
  4. ^ Kellogg, Carolyn. "Last gasp of the Gatsby house". Jacket Copy. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 26 April 2013.
  5. ^ Bruccoli 2000, p. 45
  6. ^ Randall, Mónica (2003). The Mansions of Long Island's Gold Coast. Rizzoli. pp. 275–277. ISBN 978-0-8478-2649-0.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Arthur Mizener (April 24, 1960). "Gatsby, 35 Years Later". The New York Times. Retrieved May 12, 2013. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  8. ^ Murphy, Mary Jo (30 September 2010). "Eyeing the Unreal Estate of Gatsby Esq". The New York Times.
  9. ^ Bruccoli 2000, pp. 38–39
  10. ^ Haglund, David (7 May 2013). "The Forgotten Childhood of Jay Gatsby". Slate.
  11. ^ Bruccoli 2000, pp. 54–56
  12. ^ Fitzerald, F. Scott. "F. Scott Fitzgerald's ledger". Irvin Department of Rare Books and Special Collections. University of South Carolina. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
  13. ^ Zuckerman, Esther. "The Finances of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Handwritten by Fitzgerald". The Atlantic Wire. The Atlantic Media Company. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
  14. ^ Leader, Zachary (21 September 2000). "Daisy packs her bags". London Review of Books. 22 (18): 13–15. ISSN 0260-9592. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
  15. ^ a b c Scribner, Charles III. "Celestial Eyes/ Scribner III Celestial Eyes—from Metamorphosis to Masterpiece". In Bruccoli 2000, pp. 160–68. Originally published in 1991.
  16. ^ Hemingway, Ernest (1964). A Moveable Feast. New York: Scribner. p. 176. ISBN 978-0-684-82499-4.
  17. ^ "The girl at the Grand Palais". The Economist. 22 December 2012. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
  18. ^ Tanner's introduction to the Penguin edition (2000), p. vii–viii.
  19. ^ Bruccoli 2002, pp. 206–07
  20. ^ Lipton, Gabrielle. "Where Is Jay Gatsby's Mansion?". slate.com. The Slate Group, a Division of the Washington Post Company. Retrieved 6 May 2013.
  21. ^ Bruccoli 2002, pp. 215–17
  22. ^ Churchwell, Sarah (3 May 2013). "What makes The Great Gatsby great?". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 May 2013.
  23. ^ a b c Symkus, Ed (4 May 2013). "'Gatsby': What's so great?". Boston Globe. Retrieved 5 May 2013.
  24. ^ Gillespie, Nick (2 May 2013). "The Great Gatsby's Creative Destruction". Reason. Retrieved 12 May 2013.
  25. ^ a b c O'Meara, Lauraleigh. (2002). Lost City: Fitzgerald's New York. Routledge, 160 pp. First edition, 2002.
  26. ^ Edwin Clark (April 19, 1925). "Scott Fitzgerald Looks Into Middle Age". The New York Times. Retrieved May 11, 2013. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  27. ^ Lillian C. Ford (May 10, 1925). "The Seamy Side of Society". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 11, 2013. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  28. ^ "Books On Our Table". The New York Post. May 5, 1925. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  29. ^ "Turns with a Bookworm". New York Herald Tribune. April 12, 1925. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  30. ^ H.L. Mencken (May 3, 1925). "Scott Fitzgerald and His Work". The Chicago Daily Tribune. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  31. ^ Harvey Eagleton (May 10, 1925). "Profits of the New Age III. F. Scott Fitzgerald". The Dallas Morning News. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  32. ^ John McClure (May 31, 1925). "Literature-And Less". The Times-Picayune. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  33. ^ Ralph Coghlan (April 25, 1925). "F. Scott Fitzgerald". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  34. ^ Ruth Snyder (April 15, 1925). "A Minute or Two with Books-F. Scott Fitzgerald Ventures". New York Evening World. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  35. ^ a b Mizener 1951, p. 167
  36. ^ a b Bruccoli 2000, p. 175
  37. ^ "Five things you didn't know about The Great Gatsby". The Star. 5 May 2013. Retrieved 5 May 2013.
  38. ^ a b Deirdre Donahue (May 7, 2013). "The Great Gatsby by the numbers". USA Today. Retrieved May 12, 2013. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  39. ^ "Scott Fitzgerald, Author, Dies at 44". Nytimes.com. 23 December 1940. Retrieved 30 August 2010.
  40. ^ a b Bruccoli 2000, p. 217
  41. ^ Verghis, Sharon (4 May 2013). "Careless people of F Scott Fitzgerald's Great Gatsby have a modern equivalent". The Australian. Retrieved 5 May 2013.
  42. ^ Mizener 1951, p. 183
  43. ^ a b c Dixon, Wheeler Winston (2003). "The Three Film Versions of The Great Gatsby: A Vision Deferred". Literature/Film Quarterly. 31 (4). Salisbury, Maryland. Retrieved 20 April 2013. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  44. ^ Gajewski, Josh (7 December 2008). "'Californication': Journey to the end of the night". Latimesblogs.latimes.com. Retrieved 30 August 2010.
  45. ^ Gajewski, Josh (19 October 2008). "'Californication': Free Bird". Latimesblogs.latimes.com. Retrieved 30 August 2010.
  46. ^ Stevens, David (29 December 1999). "Harbison Mixes Up A Great 'Gatsby'". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 April 2011.
  47. ^ The Late Gatsby, Amazon.uk
  48. ^ "BBC World Service programmes – The Great Gatsby". Bbc.co.uk. 2007-12-10. Retrieved 30 August 2010.
  49. ^ BBC – Classic Serial – The Great Gatsby
  50. ^ "Reg & Phil Bandcamp Discography". Regandphil.bandcamp.com. 22 April 2010. Retrieved 30 August 2010.
  51. ^ Cho, Chung-un. "2AM returns with album on painful but endless love".
  52. ^ Simon Levy"The Great Gatsby Play Official Website".
  53. ^ "Arizona Theatre Company".
  54. ^ Levy, Simon. "The Great Gatsby Play Official Website".
  55. ^ "Elevator Repair Service – Gatz". Elevator.org. Retrieved 30 August 2010.
  56. ^ "Scott Shepherd". Studio 360. 2007-04-06. Retrieved 30 August 2010.
  57. ^ Paskin, Willa (15 July 2010). "The Great Gatsby, Now a Video Game – Vulture". Nymag.com. Retrieved 30 August 2010.
  58. ^ Bell, Melissa (15 February 2011). "Great Gatsby 'Nintendo' game released online". The Washington Post. Retrieved 15 February 2011.
  59. ^ Crouch, Ian (16 February 2011). "Nintendo Lit: Gatsby and Tom Sawyer". The New Yorker. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
  60. ^ Carter, Vanessa (15 July 2010). "Classic Adventures: The Great Gatsby". gamezebo.com. Retrieved 20 April 2013. The game loosely follows the narrative of the F. Scott Fitzgerald classic,...
  61. ^ Classic Adventures: The Great Gatsby at metacritic.com

Sources