Q&A with Josh Lanyon discussion

The discussion starts on Saturday, June 21st. Enjoy, everyone! :-)

Still debating... Audio or print book?

I'm listening to the audiobook right now, but will probably have time to take the text in too before the 21st.

The Jake Gyllenhaal narrated one on Audible is fab. His voice seems perfect for it. And of course from a BAFTA winning Oscar nominee the performance is excellent.

Becky wrote: "I'm listening to the audiobook right now, but will probably have time to take the text in too before the 21st.

The Jake Gyllenhaal narrated one on Audible is fab. His voice seems perfect for it. A..."

Thank you for reminding us about this audio version, Becky. That's definitely the one I'll buy for this read/discussion.

The Great Gatsby narrated by Jake Gyllenhaal on Audible is $5.95 this month and $3.99 if you purchase the Kindle edition first:

Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FC0PDA

Audible: http://www.audible.com/pd/Classics/Th...

I like Jake's narration. His voice really works for the story.

Bought it. :-)

Mtsnow13 wrote: "The Great Gatsby narrated by Jake Gyllenhaal on Audible is $5.95 this month and $3.99 if you purchase the Kindle edition first:

Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0..."

That's a great deal! Thank for telling us, Mtsnow!

Sadly I already bought the said audio version before leaving to UK... :-)

We arrived home last night and discovered that our garden had transformed into a jungle in about one week. So, after grocery shopping, emptying the luggage and doing some laundry we attacked the jungle. I listened to the first three and a half hours of The Great Gatsby audiobook while mowing the lawn and such and I'm quite frankly overwhelmed by the book!

I've never read it in English before and only now I see what I've missed by not doing so. I'm NOT starting the discussion yet — although I can't wait to discuss it with you all! — but I'll only say that the combination of the beautiful, flowing writing and Jake Gyllenhaal's smooth, soft voice is a powerful, surprisingly touching art experience. I must have looked like I was on the verge of tears while mowing because our neighbor who was barbecuing smoked salmon in the garden next to us approached me at some point and offered me a taste of his delicious salmon. :-) He didn't know that I wasn't sad, but only concentrating very hard on the lovely, lovely writing. :-)

I'm so looking forward to listening to it reading your description! Thank you Jordan and Johanna :) I loved the excerpt that Jake did and its required reading for my daughters summer reading, so this should be a sweet way to be introduced to the characters again :)

Mtsnow13 wrote: "I'm so looking forward to listening to it reading your description! Thank you Jordan and Johanna :) I loved the excerpt that Jake did and its required reading for my daughters summer reading, so th..."

:-)

Not giving anything away here, but this is nothing like what I remembered reading in high school! I've forgotten everything about this book, I think. Anyway, I've got about an hour left on the audio. Hopefully I'll finish it at some point today. :-)

Jordan wrote: "Not giving anything away here, but this is nothing like what I remembered reading in high school! I've forgotten everything about this book, I think. Anyway, I've got about an hour left on the audi..."

I felt the same way reading it again before I wrote Stranger on the Shore. Which I think is a pretty strong argument for how much we do change as we get older. As much as I admired the writing, I had no real appreciation for the book. I was hung up on the artificiality of the characters and their dilemma, and could not see past that to what Fitzgerald was trying to do.

It did not occur to my adolescent brain that every story was not supposed to reflect a reality that I knew and recognized.

Josh wrote: "Jordan wrote: "Not giving anything away here, but this is nothing like what I remembered reading in high school! I've forgotten everything about this book, I think. Anyway, I've got about an hour l..."

I was getting caught up over their artificial personalities this second time around for sure. I'm really glad I don't have friends like that. Even though I don't want a funeral for myself, I'm pretty sure I'd have people actually show up, even though sometimes I don't feel like I would sometimes.

Jordan wrote: "Josh wrote: "Jordan wrote: "Not giving anything away here, but this is nothing like what I remembered reading in high school! I've forgotten everything about this book, I think. Anyway, I've got ab..."



We will hold a memorial for you here. ;-D

Josh wrote: "Jordan wrote: "Josh wrote: "Jordan wrote: "Not giving anything away here, but this is nothing like what I remembered reading in high school! I've forgotten everything about this book, I think. Anyw..."

Awwwww. Thanks, Josh! :-D

Josh wrote: "I felt the same way reading it again before I wrote Stranger on the Shore. Which I think is a pretty strong argument for how much we do change as we get older. As much as I admired the writing, I had no real appreciation for the book. I was hung up on the artificiality of the characters and their dilemma, and could not see past that to what Fitzgerald was trying to do.

It did not occur to my adolescent brain that every story was not supposed to reflect a reality that I knew and recognized. "

There's a saying isn't there, that you never read the same book twice? Because you see and appreciate different things in it at different times in your life. You're a different person since the last time you read it - in part because of the fact you read it!

One of my all time favourite books is Cold Comfort Farm, which I first read at school on the recommendation of a teacher, and have reread several times since. And sometimes I read it thinking "Flora, you are my hero." And other times I think "Flora, you meddling little baggage." :D

Becky wrote: "Josh wrote: "I felt the same way reading it again before I wrote Stranger on the Shore. Which I think is a pretty strong argument for how much we do change as we get older. As much as I admired the..."

lol, yes, that's a great saying!

When I read this... if I hadn't known any better, I would have thought this was going to be an MM romance. What with the language used to describe the other men in the book. Of course, this is how they would have spoken back then, I assume, without fear of being thought of as gay/homosexual, but I couldn't help but zero in on that language.

Jordan wrote: "When I read this... if I hadn't known any better, I would have thought this was going to be an MM romance. What with the language used to describe the other men in the book. Of course, this is how ..."

True. That exact thought crossed my mind too. Maybe it's because I've read so many m/m romance books lately?

There is also this undeniable sensuality in the way the story is told. All the rich, elegant, exceptional descriptions of people, places, moments. I'm ashamed to say I haven't ever read anything else from Fitzgerald. Is his writing usually this beautiful, yet powerful?

Johanna wrote: "Jordan wrote: "When I read this... if I hadn't known any better, I would have thought this was going to be an MM romance. What with the language used to describe the other men in the book. Of cours..."

As far as I know, I have yet to read anything else by him myself. Though I did score a copy of his book F Scott Fitzgerald on Writing recently. Don't know when I'll get to reading it.

And yes, I wondered if my romanticized reading of this was due to my MM reading too.

I think you guys might find this interesting in this context.

Well if you do a Google search for the words "Is Nick Carraway", one of the first suggested autocompletes is "gay".

Josh wrote: "I think you guys might find this interesting in this context.

"

Thank you for the recommendation, Josh!

Becky wrote: "Well if you do a Google search for the words "Is Nick Carraway", one of the first suggested autocompletes is "gay"."

Oh yeah? :-)

I'm so eagar to discuss this book with you all, but I feel quite small in front of the story. I don't know how to put my thoughts in words, but I suspect you guys know what I mean. There are so much in that story, so many layers, so many symbols, so many details, strong feelings, intriguing characters, profound pondering on human nature, that I frankly don't know where to start!

One thing I just realized though — I felt EXACTLY like this when I finished reading Josh's Stranger on the Shore. And that realization fascinates me to no end. Because these two books are so different from each other, but yet there has to be something similar to them (besides the obvious similarities). I just can't yet quite put my finger on exactly what it is. It has something to do with Fitzgerald's and Josh's sensuous way of describing things, but on the other hand not explaining things too much.

Anyway, I think that proves, once again, how skillfully Josh writes his stories with such accurate expertise. And I'm still wondering how is it possible that his SotS left me with the exact state of mind than The Great Gatsby did. To me that's... amazing.

Like I said before this was the first time I read The Great Gatsby in English. I've only read it once in Finnish a long time ago. And I don't know a whole lot about the history of this book either. So what do I do? Well, I visited Wikipedia, of course! ;-) So, if these facts aren't true, you know who to blame. :-)

One of the things I found interesting was that the book wasn't a huge success while F. Scott Fitzgerald was alive. I think it was mentioned that it only sold something like 24 000 copies before his death in 1940.

This is copied from Wikipedia:

His obituary in The New York Times mentioned Gatsby as evidence of great potential that was never reached. However, a strong appreciation for the book had developed in underground circles; future writers Edward Newhouse and Budd Schulberg were deeply affected by it and John O'Hara showed the book's influence. The republication of Gatsby in Edmund Wilson's edition of The Last Tycoon in 1941 produced an outburst of comment, with the general consensus expressing the sentiment that the book was an enduring work of fiction.

I also hadn't hear of the Council on Books in Wartime project before, so I found this bit very interesting:

In 1942, a group of publishing executives created the Council on Books in Wartime. The purpose of the Council was to distribute paperback books to soldiers fighting in the Second World War. The Great Gatsby was one of these books. The books proved to be "as popular as pin-up girls" among the soldiers, according to the Saturday Evening Post's contemporary report. 155,000 copies of Gatsby were distributed to soldiers overseas, and it is believed that this publicity ultimately boosted the novel's popularity and sales.

And apparently during the 1950s, the book gradually became part of standard high school curriculum required reading in the United States.

So, how many of you guys read The Great Gatsby already in high school?

ETA: Well, I know Jordan and Josh (?) probably read it in high school, Mtsnow's daughter is reading it for required summer reading (high school?)...

Josh wrote: "It did not occur to my adolescent brain that every story was not supposed to reflect a reality that I knew and recognized."

Yes, this sounds familiar. :-)

Becky wrote: "There's a saying isn't there, that you never read the same book twice? Because you see and appreciate different things in it at different times in your life. You're a different person since the last time you read it - in part because of the fact you read it!"

This is so true!

Johanna wrote: "So, how many of you guys read The Great Gatsby already in high school?

ETA: Well, I know Jordan and Josh (?) probably read it in high school, Mtsnow's daughter is reading it for required summer re..."

It's not part of our required readings, well maybe in uni if you read Engish something :p

I don't think I'll ever read it

The problem I had while reading (listening to) the book this time was that I had seen the latest film adaptation and I kept seeing the characters as the actors of that movie (which I wasn't crazy about).

There are also so many famous, beautiful quotes from this book, but the lines that I keep hearing in my head after I finished listening to the audio book are the ones when Nick tells Gatsby, "You can't repeat the past," and Gatsby replies, "Why of course you can."

I found this bit excruciatingly melancholic. It really made me mull over the illusions in life. And how sometimes it might even be a blessing to believe in them, but usually — not so much.

Really looking forward to hear your thoughts on this book! :-)

Johanna wrote: "Really looking forward to hear your thoughts on this book! :-)"

I'll try to start it today, i actually just watched the movie and that was years and years ago and so it's more...impressions, the atmosphere for example, and a lot of Mia Farrow...

KC wrote: "Johanna wrote: "Really looking forward to hear your thoughts on this book! :-)"

I'll try to start it today, i actually just watched the movie and that was years and years ago and so it's more...im..."

:-)

Are you going to read it the traditional way or listen to it?

Johanna wrote: "KC wrote: "Johanna wrote: "Really looking forward to hear your thoughts on this book! :-)"

I'll try to start it today, i actually just watched the movie and that was years and years ago and so it'..."

Traditional. The audio is currently being hogged by The Dark Tide :-)

Johanna wrote: "There are also so many famous, beautiful quotes from this book, but the lines that I keep hearing in my head after I finished listening to the audio book are the ones when Nick tells Gatsby, "You c..."

I think this is, for me, the saddest moment in the book. Because at this point we understand finally, completely how it all has to end.

Johanna wrote: "So, how many of you guys read The Great Gatsby already in high school?"

I've read it in Italian as I was in high school, but not because I had to (I was studying French), just because I was a voracious reader.

BTW I'm following your discussion, but I won't participate, because I won't manage to reread the book.

Josh wrote: "Johanna wrote: "There are also so many famous, beautiful quotes from this book, but the lines that I keep hearing in my head after I finished listening to the audio book are the ones when Nick tell..."

Absolutely. I couldn't agree more.

I'm really enjoying re-reading it properly. I must have been a teenager when I first read it. It wasn't a set book in school but I went through a Fitzgerald/Hemingway phase all on my own.

Although I enjoyed it then and dimly recognised that it was good I didn't really appreciate most of it but I certainly do now.

And here's a glimpse of Gatsby

"there was something gorgeous about him, some heightened sensitivity to the promises of life, as if he were related to one of those intricate machines that register earthquakes ten thousand miles away... it was an extraordinary gift for hope, a romantic readiness such as I have never found in any other person..."

Yes, that line was very depressing.

Thanks for doing some research, Jo! I don't think I knew any of that. I think it's interesting how many books don't do well at first and then, for whatever reason, take off after an author's death. It's sad, in that the author will never know.

I did have to read this in HS. I recall sorta liking it. It wasn't as bad as other required reading, though it wasn't my favorite either. But this time, even though Jake G did a fantastic reading of it, I liked it even less.

And I still want to know what happened to the puppy Tom bought his girlfriend. That's the one thing that bugs me. Lol.

Right now I'm in the GR app, which doesn't allow me to see pics or anything. Next time I'm on a computer, I'll check out what you posted, Josh. It's one of the more annoying non-features of the app. :-P

I should clarify, when I say I liked it less this time around, it's not his writing. That was beautiful, and Caroline pointed out one such beautiful line about Gatsby. But more the characters, the fact that money makes them feel like they can do anything. That morals seem to go out the window, even though they pretend, or think, they're living by them. It's the fact that no one seems to learn from their mistakes before things go too far, and even then, they still don't get it.

Nick just seems to sit back and watch the train wreck, but there isn't much he can do to stop it, much less slow it down.

It's depressing, which I dislike in books, because I hate feeling that way myself and if a book makes me feel that way... If a book can make me cry, that's another thing all together. This one didn't.

Thank you, Johanna, for getting all the background information. I am still rereading a free ebook-version, because I cannot find my paperback, don't even know whether it is in the same country or still on the shelves in my old place. *lol* So it takes some time to find the quotes and that each sentence is a gem made for savouring sure does not help in doing a quick search...

I would like to know what you all thought of Nick as a narrator? The book begins with him stating that he is "inclined to reserve all judgments, a habit that has opened up many curious natures to me and also made me the victim of not a few veteran bores". So he introduces himself as a kind of neutral observer, but when he talks to the reader about Tom Buchanan on the drive to East Egg, he says that Tom is "one of those men who reach such an acute limited excellence at twenty-one that everything afterword savors of anti-climax". Followed by the not very advantageous physical description (sturdy, supercillious, hard mouth, arrogant eyes - short, "a cruel body") and at a later point Tom's blabbing about the "nordic race".

And compared to this the way he introduces Daisy in a fairy-like style, the breeze, the blowing curtains, the "rosy-colored space" and the white dresses of Daisy and Miss Baker sitting on the couch: "They were both in white and their dresses were rippling and fluttering as if they had just been blown back in after a short flight around the house. (...) Then there was a boom as Tom Buchanan shut the rear windows and the caught wind died out about the room and the curtains and the rugs and the two young woman ballooned slowly to the floor." I love this part.

Oh well, there is of cause much to say about the way he intoduces Gatsby... So is Nick an unreliable narrator? That would maybe connect him with Griff in SotS?

Oops, I hope I did not kill the discussion? I sometimes tend to get lost in my own ramblings, so please just ignore my post :-)

I finally got around to starting it yesterday evening and though i only managed to read a couple of chapters, it's wonderful! The descriptions, the language, it's somehow extravagant and seductive and beautiful and whimsical and so vivid and detailed, and i think i now understand what Johanna meant, the overall effect brings to mind the effect that Josh's writing has, like a party for the senses :-)

Varecia wrote: "Thank you, Johanna, for getting all the background information. I am still rereading a free ebook-version, because I cannot find my paperback, don't even know whether it is in the same country or s..."

Wonderful pondering, Varecia! I'm sort of other foot outside the door already, on my way to run some errands, but I just wanted to comment shortly on your thoughts about Nick.

Thank you for pointing out how Nick is introduced to us like a neutral observer. I think this fact is even underlined by starting the whole book with the lines:

In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since.

"Whenever you feel like criticizing any one," he told me, "just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had."

So, Nick is probably trying to be a neutral witness, but ends up being an unreliable narrator anyways. This makes me ponder over the fact the many of the characters in this story have different kind of intentions and illusions, that don't turn out too well in the end...

Varecia wrote: "So is Nick an unreliable narrator? That would maybe connect him with Griff in SotS?

True! :-)

Varecia wrote: "Then there was a boom as Tom Buchanan shut the rear windows and the caught wind died out about the room and the curtains and the rugs and the two young woman ballooned slowly to the floor." I love this part."

I loved this too, made me smile. I found the way he describes these people very interesting, the details that he focuses on. Tom, for example, it was almost erotic, while the women felt...ephemeral.

KC wrote: "I finally got around to starting it yesterday evening and though i only managed to read a couple of chapters, it's wonderful! The descriptions, the language, it's somehow extravagant and seductive ..."

:-)

So cool that you're enjoying it, dear! And I'm also relieved to hear that you feel the way you do about it. I felt very silly yesterday after posting my thoughts on the comparison between Josh's and Fitzgerald's writing. So glad to hear that you see what I mean!