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The Great Gatsby is the most misunderstood novel (2021)

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Re: The Great Gatsby is the most misunderstood novel (2021)

#31

Post by an0malous »

viccis wrote: post #24

This is a very confused article, I think. The fact that people associate these extravagant roaring 20s parties with the character of Gatsby has everything to do with his character and over-the-top parties being the strongest cultural touchstone that people today have with that era, given that almost all of us (in the US at least) have to read it in high school. The fact that the aesthetic qualities of Gatsby that are…

> Tony Montana being clearly depicted as a complete idiot whose lack of impulse control is his undoing. The didn't "misunderstand" Scarface.

I think you’d be surprised how many people didn’t understand that

Re: The Great Gatsby is the most misunderstood novel (2021)

#32

Post by sharkjacobs »

akoboldfrying wrote: post #26
thundergolfer wrote: post #7

This article ends up seeming like an ad for some dubious derivations of the original novel. - "Take, for instance, Michael Farris Smith's new novel, Nick. The title refers, of course, to Nick Carraway, the narrator of Gatsby, who here gets his own fully formed backstory." - "Jane Crowther's newly published novel, Gatsby, updates the plot to the 21st Century, and flips the genders to feature a female Jay Gatsby and a…

> Jane Crowther's newly published novel, Gatsby, updates the plot to the 21st Century, and flips the genders I was tired of the idea of gender-flipping a story before the first story was ever gender-flipped, and I'm no less tired of it now. I suspect that even people who think it's important to perform the rite of gender-flipping a story don't actually like the stories that result. Because it's the same story as befo…

What are the other gender swapped retellings that you're thinking of?

Re: The Great Gatsby is the most misunderstood novel (2021)

#33

Post by SirSavary »

duskwuff wrote: post #15
SirSavary wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Crazy huh? If an author wrote something as a child and lived over a hundred, you could hit even two hundred :) F. Scott Fitzgerald, the author, died in December 1940. Given the rules around copyright I would have expected things to expire in 2010 (death of author, roll to next calendar year, +70 years) so I'm unsure what happened here.

The rules were different at the time Gatsby was published. Its copyright expired 95 years after it was published - 1930 + 95 = 2025.

Whack, I always naively assumed copyright periods have only ever gotten longer. Good to know The Mouse [1] has precedent behind their legal theory :)

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_Term_Extension_Act#S...

Re: The Great Gatsby is the most misunderstood novel (2021)

#34

Post by cyphar »

duskwuff wrote: post #15
SirSavary wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Crazy huh? If an author wrote something as a child and lived over a hundred, you could hit even two hundred :) F. Scott Fitzgerald, the author, died in December 1940. Given the rules around copyright I would have expected things to expire in 2010 (death of author, roll to next calendar year, +70 years) so I'm unsure what happened here.

The rules were different at the time Gatsby was published. Its copyright expired 95 years after it was published - 1930 + 95 = 2025.

I was under the impression that the Mickey Mouse Protection Act 1998[1] extended the copyright protection for works retroactively (though already public domain works were excluded).

That being said, I guess the act had precautions to stop it from reducing the copyright protection for edge cases like these?

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_Term_Extension_Act

Re: The Great Gatsby is the most misunderstood novel (2021)

#35

Post by ajkjk »

akoboldfrying wrote: post #26
thundergolfer wrote: post #7

This article ends up seeming like an ad for some dubious derivations of the original novel. - "Take, for instance, Michael Farris Smith's new novel, Nick. The title refers, of course, to Nick Carraway, the narrator of Gatsby, who here gets his own fully formed backstory." - "Jane Crowther's newly published novel, Gatsby, updates the plot to the 21st Century, and flips the genders to feature a female Jay Gatsby and a…

> Jane Crowther's newly published novel, Gatsby, updates the plot to the 21st Century, and flips the genders I was tired of the idea of gender-flipping a story before the first story was ever gender-flipped, and I'm no less tired of it now. I suspect that even people who think it's important to perform the rite of gender-flipping a story don't actually like the stories that result. Because it's the same story as befo…

well the target audience is people who do enjoy it. so, not you. maybe there's a whole dubious narrative about why... or maybe they just have tastes that seem simple and basic to you. why not?

Re: The Great Gatsby is the most misunderstood novel (2021)

#36

Post by sharkjacobs »

kazinator wrote: post #3

> The thought crossed my mind that it would be really interesting if someone were to write Nick's story," he says. In 2014, by then a published author in his 40s, he sat down to do just that, telling neither his agent nor his editor. It was only when he delivered the manuscript 10 months later that he learned copyright law meant he'd have to wait until 2021 to publish it. WTf? Can't write an original spin off on some…

copyright law has been pretty goofy for a pretty long time now

> The Conan Doyle Estate filed a lawsuit against Netflix over [Enola Holmes (2020)], claiming it violated copyright by depicting Sherlock Holmes as having emotions. They argued this aspect of the character did not fall under the public domain as he was only described as having emotions in stories published between 1923 and 1927, and the copyright for the stories published in that period still had not expired under copyright law in the United States.

Re: The Great Gatsby is the most misunderstood novel (2021)

#37

Post by hunter-gatherer »

SirSavary wrote: post #30
shermantanktop wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s a short, easy read for high schoolers. They won’t be reaching for a dictionary and can probably pass the test based on study guides. No work = no retention and no growth.

I'm well aware, I had the opportunity to read it in high school, though that was because of my grade stream; students in a 'lower' stream didn't get the same material. Our prom theme the year I graduated was "The roaring 20s". The 2013 film had released months prior, and I remember discussing with friends how misleading it was--making the parties look incredible, while missing the book's subtler commentary. People wh…

Yeah, I remember reading it in highschool and all we talked about eas the love story and parties. I re-read it in my early thirties for some reason and quickly realized the story was about temporal and moral tragedy. Daisy and Gatsby aren't romantics; they are morally shallow and selfish. I felt like the book was more about how we created a world were we train ourselves to chase glamor, but are punished for it in the process.

Funny enough a while back my wife and her friends were talking about having a "Gatsby" themed party. I think that is exactly what woukd have Fitzgerald rolling in the grave. Haha

Re: The Great Gatsby is the most misunderstood novel (2021)

#38

Post by jimt1234 »

an0malous wrote: post #31
viccis wrote: post #24

This is a very confused article, I think. The fact that people associate these extravagant roaring 20s parties with the character of Gatsby has everything to do with his character and over-the-top parties being the strongest cultural touchstone that people today have with that era, given that almost all of us (in the US at least) have to read it in high school. The fact that the aesthetic qualities of Gatsby that are…

> Tony Montana being clearly depicted as a complete idiot whose lack of impulse control is his undoing. The didn't "misunderstand" Scarface. I think you’d be surprised how many people didn’t understand that

I feel the same about Fight Club (the movie, not necessarily the book). Many people focused almost entirely on the Tyler Durden character, either celebrating or criticizing the extreme masculinity. But the whole point of the movie was a rejection of that character.

Re: The Great Gatsby is the most misunderstood novel (2021)

#39

Post by nemomarx »

akoboldfrying wrote: post #26
thundergolfer wrote: post #7

This article ends up seeming like an ad for some dubious derivations of the original novel. - "Take, for instance, Michael Farris Smith's new novel, Nick. The title refers, of course, to Nick Carraway, the narrator of Gatsby, who here gets his own fully formed backstory." - "Jane Crowther's newly published novel, Gatsby, updates the plot to the 21st Century, and flips the genders to feature a female Jay Gatsby and a…

> Jane Crowther's newly published novel, Gatsby, updates the plot to the 21st Century, and flips the genders I was tired of the idea of gender-flipping a story before the first story was ever gender-flipped, and I'm no less tired of it now. I suspect that even people who think it's important to perform the rite of gender-flipping a story don't actually like the stories that result. Because it's the same story as befo…

Flip just one character and see if the romance changes in interesting ways, or if you can use prejudice against the character or something. At least a little more interesting than just inverting a dynamic.

Re: The Great Gatsby is the most misunderstood novel (2021)

#40

Post by [deleted] »

akoboldfrying wrote: post #26
thundergolfer wrote: post #7

This article ends up seeming like an ad for some dubious derivations of the original novel. - "Take, for instance, Michael Farris Smith's new novel, Nick. The title refers, of course, to Nick Carraway, the narrator of Gatsby, who here gets his own fully formed backstory." - "Jane Crowther's newly published novel, Gatsby, updates the plot to the 21st Century, and flips the genders to feature a female Jay Gatsby and a…

> Jane Crowther's newly published novel, Gatsby, updates the plot to the 21st Century, and flips the genders I was tired of the idea of gender-flipping a story before the first story was ever gender-flipped, and I'm no less tired of it now. I suspect that even people who think it's important to perform the rite of gender-flipping a story don't actually like the stories that result. Because it's the same story as befo…

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