H.L. Mencken Reviews the Great Gatsby (1925)
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H.L. Mencken Reviews the Great Gatsby (1925)
1–10 of 64 posts
Re: H.L. Mencken Reviews the Great Gatsby (1925)
#2Mencken has a point: Gatsby, like much famous Science Fiction, derives its strength neither from story nor from depth of characterisation, but from the world which it depicts.
Re: H.L. Mencken Reviews the Great Gatsby (1925)
#3I went on a Mencken binge a few years ago and read a lot of his (mostly excellent) writing. I was surprised to find a recorded interview with him, done in 1948:
Re: H.L. Mencken Reviews the Great Gatsby (1925)
#4I went on a Mencken binge a few years ago and read a lot of his (mostly excellent) writing. I was surprised to find a recorded interview with him, done in 1948: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpGzpqU-b04
I've been wanting to read some of his stuff--is there a website or book that you would recommend as a starting point?
Re: H.L. Mencken Reviews the Great Gatsby (1925)
#5I was lucky not to have The Great Gatsby ruined for me by having to read it in high school. I borrowed it from the library a couple years ago, and wondered if it could live up to the massive hype around it. I have to say that it does.
Mencken's critique seems to be that for all the craftsmanship Fitzgerald displays on the page, the story itself is rather thin and contrived. I don't think I'd disagree with that, though it is interesting that we still read (and teach!) this book a hundred years later. It has a hold on the American psyche not just because the writing is superb (some pages are truly astonishing), but because it feels uniquely American. There is still a recognizable reflection even today in the mirror that Fitzgerald holds up in Gatsby.
Re: H.L. Mencken Reviews the Great Gatsby (1925)
#6I was lucky not to have The Great Gatsby ruined for me by having to read it in high school. I borrowed it from the library a couple years ago, and wondered if it could live up to the massive hype around it. I have to say that it does. Mencken's critique seems to be that for all the craftsmanship Fitzgerald displays on the page, the story itself is rather thin and contrived. I don't think I'd disagree with that, thoug…
I was lucky enough to read it (I think for the first time) in an American Lit of the 20s class I took on the side in grad school. The professor, who I knew well, was a Fitzgerald and Hemingway scholar. It's too bad classes weren't routinely recorded back then.
Re: H.L. Mencken Reviews the Great Gatsby (1925)
#7I went on a Mencken binge a few years ago and read a lot of his (mostly excellent) writing. I was surprised to find a recorded interview with him, done in 1948: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpGzpqU-b04
I've been wanting to read some of his stuff--is there a website or book that you would recommend as a starting point?
Re: H.L. Mencken Reviews the Great Gatsby (1925)
#8I was lucky not to have The Great Gatsby ruined for me by having to read it in high school. I borrowed it from the library a couple years ago, and wondered if it could live up to the massive hype around it. I have to say that it does. Mencken's critique seems to be that for all the craftsmanship Fitzgerald displays on the page, the story itself is rather thin and contrived. I don't think I'd disagree with that, thoug…
Dunno -- I got it in high school, and it's one of the few "class" books that have stayed with me through the years. I'd say On the Road, A smattering of Shakespeare, and 1984 did that as well.
"They were careless people, Tom and Daisy—they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made."
You can't look at modern life without seeing that.
Re: H.L. Mencken Reviews the Great Gatsby (1925)
#9I went on a Mencken binge a few years ago and read a lot of his (mostly excellent) writing. I was surprised to find a recorded interview with him, done in 1948: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpGzpqU-b04
I've been wanting to read some of his stuff--is there a website or book that you would recommend as a starting point?
Re: H.L. Mencken Reviews the Great Gatsby (1925)
#10I was lucky not to have The Great Gatsby ruined for me by having to read it in high school. I borrowed it from the library a couple years ago, and wondered if it could live up to the massive hype around it. I have to say that it does. Mencken's critique seems to be that for all the craftsmanship Fitzgerald displays on the page, the story itself is rather thin and contrived. I don't think I'd disagree with that, thoug…
Dunno -- I got it in high school, and it's one of the few "class" books that have stayed with me through the years. I'd say On the Road, A smattering of Shakespeare, and 1984 did that as well. "They were careless people, Tom and Daisy—they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the m…
I think it's the 18th and 19th century tomes that are tough sledding in high school a lot of the time; many like Moby Dick and much of Dickens are pretty long in addition to the somewhat archaic language.
There are exceptions like The Picture of Dorian Gray although that's very late 19th century--and, of course, Wilde is very accessible.
ADDED: In general, I don't think I read any, but both Fitzgerald and Hemingway seem pretty reasonable for a high school English class. Probably better choices than the like of Catcher in the Rye and A Separate Peace to be honest.