Anyone remember The Great Gatsby

amother

Aquamarine

Thu, Apr 07 2016, 4:27 pm

9th grade dd has an option to read The Great Gatsby as part of a class assignment. I read the book too long ago to remember it, but recently saw the movie, which made me blush and turn it off. I know Hollywood embellishes things a whole lot, but I am not so sure that would be the book to pick, although she seems interested in it. I think if she were in 11th or 12 grade I would feel better- has anyone read the book recently and is the book as "R" rated as the movie or just alludes to affairs etc. and is not like a steamy trashy novel.
Thanks!

sequoia

Thu, Apr 07 2016, 4:31 pm

I haven't seen the recent film, or any of the film versions.

The book has no explicit scenes at all. The plot centers around two extramarital affairs, so yeah, adultery is mentioned, but no descriptions of zex or anything like that.

It's a great novel and a favorite among high schoolers. It engenders a lot of philosophical discussions.

amother

Maroon

Thu, Apr 07 2016, 4:35 pm

I have a masters in English and that's one of my favorite novels. That said, it is a little mature for a sheltered 9th grader. Even less sheltered kids generally read it in late 10th grade or sometime in 11th. Although there isn't anything particularly steamy, affairs are a large part of the plot and zex is definitely talked about, even if not really "shown". It's also pretty violent, and involves drugs and alcohol. That said, it is a great book and I do hope she reads it at some point. As sequoia said, it engenders some excellent philosophical discussions and has important and relevant themes.

Happy18

Thu, Apr 07 2016, 4:49 pm

It really depends on how sheltered your daughter is.

Amarante

Thu, Apr 07 2016, 5:12 pm

It was written in the 1920's so it is very tame by modern standards although as another poster indicated, the plot does have extra-marital affairs and it depicted the age of the "flapper" - I.e. the Roaring Twenties.

It is one of the great novels written in my opinion and I have gone back and read it numerous times since I initially read in high school.

Like all great literature, much will be lost on a 9th grader and even now when I reread it is with increased comprehension regarding the themes and what it says about America.

Not sure which movie you are referring to - the 1970's version with Robert Redford and Mia Farrow was pretty tame. The more recent one was much more flamboyant in every way and intended to for a more "modern" audience with more jaded sensibilities.

If the school feels that the book is appropriate for 9th graders, I personally would go along with a decision but I wouldn't have issues with a daughter reading about adulterous affairs in a non-prurient manner - I.e. no description of anything and probably far less racy than a romance novel.

One of the great closing lines -

“And as I sat there brooding on the old, unknown world, I thought of Gatsby’s wonder when he first picked out the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock. He had come a long way to this blue lawn, and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it. He did not know that it was already behind him, somewhere back in that vast obscurity beyond the city, where the dark fields of the republic rolled on under the night.

“Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter—tomorrow we will run faster, stretch our arms further . . . And one fine morning—

“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne ceaselessly into the past.”

sequoia

Thu, Apr 07 2016, 5:27 pm

"I've never seen... such beautiful shirts before!"

miami85

Thu, Apr 07 2016, 5:29 pm

I read it in high school and honestly could not understand why it was a classic. Even my friend who was into literature (and majored in English in college) agreed with me.

Thu, Apr 07 2016, 5:46 pm

As a not-so-sheltered 10th grader, a lot of it went right over my head, although I got the basic plot.

When I re-read it as an adult, I realized what I had missed.

amother

Aquamarine

Thu, Apr 07 2016, 5:58 pm

sequoia wrote:

Very helpful- thanks!
and thanks to everyone else who wrote in as well. dd seemed excited about it and don't want to ruin the enthusiasm to read, just wanted to make sure it wasn't "steamy".

Was referring to the more recent movie.

amother

Maroon

Thu, Apr 07 2016, 6:02 pm

Yeah the more recent movie was definitely very edgy, but I think it captured the essence of the book the best of all the films. One of the major themes of the story is the extreme decadence of rich Americans, and the 2013 film does a great job of portraying it.

GAP

Thu, Apr 07 2016, 8:58 pm

I read the book in 9th or 10th grade and saw the movie when it came out. I liked both. It wasn't the worst book we read in high school as far as "steaminess" goes.

perquacky

Fri, Apr 08 2016, 1:32 pm

GAP wrote:

I read the book in 9th or 10th grade and saw the movie when it came out. I liked both. It wasn't the worst book we read in high school as far as "steaminess" goes.

But now I'm wondering, what was the steamiest book you read in HS? I remember HS literature being pretty tame. College, not so much.

dancingqueen

Fri, Apr 08 2016, 2:10 pm

perquacky wrote:

But now I'm wondering, what was the steamiest book you read in HS? I remember HS literature being pretty tame. College, not so much.

Same here and I was in AP English so we reads lot of books. I reread the great gatsby after seeing the recent movie (which I loved, it was visually stunning) and I definitely understood it on a different level than I did in HS.

sequoia

Fri, Apr 08 2016, 2:41 pm

We read really inappropriate books in high school. 100 Years of Solitude, Things Fall Apart, The Bluest Eye.

perquacky

Fri, Apr 08 2016, 2:52 pm

Sequoia, was this in a yeshiva high school?

PAMOM

Fri, Apr 08 2016, 3:50 pm

Sequoia, are you being facetious? The Bluest Eye would be tough for high schoolers but the other two are marvelous introductions to so much of the world in ways that are marvelous.

sequoia

Fri, Apr 08 2016, 5:08 pm

I'm not. Marquez is amazing, but not for high schoolers, in my opinion. Achebe is cr*p.

Perquacky, no.

perquacky

Fri, Apr 08 2016, 5:10 pm

Ah. That explains why you probably got a better education than I did.

Ruchel

Sat, Apr 09 2016, 4:28 pm

We read The bluest eye in uni. Most of us found it VERY boring. I've had to skim through it, and I can handle very heavy styles.
I do the TGG. I also found it boring. I haven't seen the movies. I doubt a frum high school would allow TBE or TGG. At most they would hand out photocopies of the passages the kids have to study, if they have it that year. I've seen it with books with much less s-x discussed (in schools that graduate, others will just select other books).

DrMom

Sat, Apr 09 2016, 5:10 pm

sequoia wrote:

We read really inappropriate books in high school. 100 Years of Solitude, Things Fall Apart, The Bluest Eye.

My favorite book.