Ephemera: Happy Gatsby Day
Today the novel begins
June 7th, today is the day The Great Gatsby begins…
From the book:
“Why CANDLES?” objected Daisy, frowning. She snapped
them out with her fingers. “In two weeks it’ll be the longest
day in the year.” She looked at us all radiantly. “Do you always
watch for the longest day of the year and then miss it? I always
watch for the longest day in the year and then miss it.”
Take note of how Daisy says things twice. Usually she asks a rhetorical question, then she answers it. Whatever the case, I always watch for today and then miss it.
Ah, Nick, why is it often 'The Great Gatsby' and not ‘Tender is the Night’? Did you know, Nick, that Gatsby is possibly Fitzgerald’s most popular work because they included it with the release of ‘The Last Tycoon’ to make up for page count? That’s right -- despite Tender being regarded as, even by Fitzgerald’s own admission, his best work, Gatsby is maybe the best known and loved due to what amounts to the book being the right page length to add on to Tycoon. Crazy, huh? Oh, why are you frowning, Nick? Because I’m not making any sense? Well, see, Nick, the thing is we’re not real. We’re all fictional creations, every one of our very thoughts and actions are dictated by what we might consider to be God, but is in all actuality a mortal man slaving away over paper with pencil. How do I know this? I play the pretty little fool, Nick, but my existence is one infinitely more tragic. I’m cursed with knowing what I am -- which isn’t really anything more than ink on a page. What are we, Nick? We’re nothing; abstractions at the most. But then again, what is human consciousness if nothing more than an abstraction? Oh, hang on a second -- I really must get these curtains open; It’s such a nice summer’s day!
One thing about Gatsby that’s stuck in my mind because of you, Chuck, is the ‘best page break’ in all of fiction. The part of the book when it’s at its most tragic and how it’s pared with the most comforting. Can you cut to the chase and do a whole lecture series on the book, por favor?