I wouldn’t be kidding if I said The Great Gatsby is one of my favourite books. I haven’t just read the book itself— honestly, I devoured it. And then I moved on to scouring through JSTOR for every research paper I could get my hands on. I read works from Sarah Churchwell, who dives into the inspiration behind the book in Careless People. I really, really recommend it. I watched every possibly film adaptation possible (hated the 2013 adaptation; it felt gauche and downright smarmy at times). I loved the Robert Redford and Mia Farrow adaptation and the lore behind it (ding ding, Watergate).
I got my hands on both Tender is the Night and The Beautiful and the Damned. Trust me, I want to stick through. I so desperately want to enjoy them. I want there to be something that hooks me. But I can’t manage to find that strange feeling every reader gets when they pick up a book and realise they just can’t put it down because the characters are so alive in their minds. Has anyone else felt this way about Fitzgerald? Am I alone in my thoughts about his work?
Do you have any recommendations for work that may hit for me in the same way? Something that may encapsulate that same spirit. Of a fading, decaying society and love that is bastardised by the time it exists in. While I am more prone to reading classics, I’d love contemporary recommendations too.
by fatalflws