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While the characters in the novel remain ultimately unknowable at their indefinite cores, Fitzgerald does a great job tying his characters to their historical setting. The protagonist of the novel, to my mind, is Nick Carraway, the narrator. The hero of his story, which frames the novel, is the legendary Jay Gatsby - a legend in his own mind. Although Carraway's narration is often heavily biased and unreliable, what emerges are the stories of a set of aimless individuals, thrown together in the summer of 1922. Daisy Buchanan is the pin that holds the novel together - by various means, she ties Nick to Jordan Baker, Tom Buchanan to Jay Gatsby, and Gatsby to the Wilsons.
The novel itself deals with the shallow hypocrisies of fashionable New York society life in the early 1920's. It is almost as though Fitzgerald took the plot of Edith Wharton's 'The Age of Innocence' and updated it - in the process making the characters infinitely more detestable and depriving it of all hope. Extramarital affairs rage on with only the thinnest of veils to disguise them, the nouveau-riche rise on the back of scandal and corruption, and interpersonal relationships rarely signify anything permanent that doesn't reek of conspiracy. The novel's casual allusions to beginnings and histories often cause us to reflect on the novel's historical moment - when the American Dream and Benjamin Franklin's vision of the self-made man seem to coalesce in Jay Gatsby, a Franklinian who read too much Nietzsche.
No matter how you read it, 'The Great Gatsby' is worth re-reading. M.J. Bruccoli's short, but informative preface, and C. Scribner III's afterword are included in this edition, and both set excellent contexts, literary, personal, and historical, for this classic of American literature.
This edition of the book features critical commentary and notes from Prof. Matthew Bruccoli, the world's foremost Fitzgerald scholar.
This is as close to a Salinger novel as one can get. Moral lessons spoken thru New York City in the early 1900's.
In this case we have the author and his 2nd cousin, a worldly woman who steals hearts and refuses to let go.
Gatsby accomplishes everything he can create in his mind, but he cannot compare to what Daisy demands. She is noy human it seems, and Gatsby cannot keep up, no matter how hard he tries.
This novel was required reading in high school, and thank God for that. Even after my 12th grade english teacher pounding into my head the symbolism of the eye-glasses on the billboard in the city of ashes. And also why Gatsby was a "heroic figure".
Basically, this novel ends the only way it can. Death is necessary and we all will perish. But sometimes we die a bit too soon.
No matter where I am in my life, this book always sets me straight. What will be...will be.
Gatsby could not have lived any other way. It's all good.
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I work for a very large AeroSpace contractor in the Computer Security department. I needed a resource that I could get my hands on critical underlying OS information quickly. I found that in this book. It has already been a help in computer related investigations. I work both classified and unclassified networks. On the classified side of the house, this book has aided me in accrediting networks to insure data integrity and protection. I'm starting to see more and more upgrading of OS's. Per the NISPOM (National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual) when a classified system changes an OS or application that will "change" the security attributes of the system, it must be reaccredited. Again, I found great information in this book that talked about the changes between (for example) NT 4.0 and Win2K. As a result, I've required system owners to update their Security Plan and go through reaccredidation before actual implementation. Then, thanks to page 196, I was able to help them put together security audit tools.
Although I have not made it through cover to cover, I'm using the book a lot. It's definately a "Keeper".
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Hemingway's reaction has always interested me. It was also a source of frustration as I tried without success to get through "Tender is the Night". At first I thought my abandonment of the novel was due to the introduction of too many characters too early in the book, but Bruccoli's very fine companion has made me re-evaluate this view. I think my earlier frustration was a direct result of my unfamiliarity with many of the places and people that Fitzgerald alludes to throughout the novel. Bruccoli gives succinct descriptions of people and places that may not be familiar to modern readers, but he also goes further. He points out logical inconsistencies, chronological errors, and outright mistakes that can distract (or confuse) the reader.
Is this effort worth it? Most definitely. Bruccoli's work pays off handsomely, helping to bring into focus a beautiful, intricate novel.
Just ask Papa.
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Much of the book describes in detail how Armand developed as a young man. Readers will be surprised to see how seriously he took his church calling. Unlike most bishops, he actively took part in the secular as well as spiritual goings-on in his see. He even took to the pulpit and learned valuable governmental processes and people that would prove useful to establishing his power base later on. His attachment to the Queen Mother, Marie de Medicis was a well calculated risk, that caused him as many problems as it provided opportunities.
The climax is described in the chapter "The Arts of Survival." Richelieu weathered many storms, was never too partisan to expose himself to the vagaries of others fortunes, and understood when he could advance his interests and those of his patron (which he considered inseparable.)
Fills a gap both in biography and narrative that provides great background to the rise of Modern France.
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AND FOR ALL THE WOMEN OUT THERE IF IT'S YOUR DREAM OR THIS IS THE PROFESSION YOU WANT TO GO IN TO I COMEND YOU, FOR I AM A WOMAN, AND I BELIEVE IF YOU FEMALE OR MALE GO FOR YOUR DREAMS AND THE THINGS YOU WANT IN LIFE!!!!!!!!!!
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