Despite how busy my summer has been, I am reading quite a large number of books! This week, we are going back to 1920’s Long Island. When I was in middle school, I absolutely loved reading dystopian novels that took place in a fictional future. Now that I am older, I have found myself enjoying stories that take place in the past. This is true not only for books, but also for movies. I recently watched Titanic for the first time, and I found myself absolutely enchanted by the simplicity of time past and entertained by how impressed they were with what is now considered old technology. I think a part of it might be rooted in envy over the slower pace of life. I feel that time moves very fast nowadays, and our dependence on the Internet only accelerates it even further, for things can happen almost instantaneously. There are obvious benefits of our advanced technological age, but it is also nice to escape through a book to a time gone by.
When The Great Gatsby movie with Leonardo DiCaprio came out in 2013, I was finishing up my freshman year of high school. Typically, sophomores read The Great Gatsby as part of their English classes, so I decided to avoid watching the movie until after I read the book in the next school year. I can be a bit traditional in that regard, for I almost always read the book before watching the movie adaptation. There are a few exceptions to this pattern, however. When I was thirteen, I saw I Am Number Four with a friend of mine on a very rainy day at the movie theater across from the Fashion Island mall in Newport Beach. I found the movie entertaining, and I did not learn until after seeing the movie that there was an entire book series. I bought the first book a few days later, and my middle school self loved the first few books in that series. Other exceptions are usually for movies such as Gone With the Wind or The Princess Bride, where the movie is more well known than the original book. Tangent aside, after putting off watching The Great Gatsby movie, my English class the next year did not read the book! Although we read something else instead, I had been looking forward to reading an American classic. Seven years after the movie was released, I still had not read the book or seen the movie, and I decided that it should be the next book on my reading list.
In a way, I am glad that my English class never read this book, for I am not sure I would have enjoyed it as much as I did now. I am trying to make a lot more time for personal reading in my life, and I had absolutely no problem trying to fit this book into my day. It’s funny how that happens isn’t it? We always seem to make time for the things we want to spend our time on.
So what did I think? I loved this book! I found the mystery behind Gatsby to be incredibly engaging. I found the charm of the time period to be a little enchanting. I even got attached to the narrator, even though Nick never felt like the star of the show. I was shocked by Daisy and Tom, saddened by the ending, and I probably fell for every trick in the book the author threw at me. One thing I enjoy about reading books for pleasure rather than for school is that I do not fight the story as much. I can allow myself to be driven by the author into feeling happy, sad, or surprised, instead of looking for the symbolism and foreshadowing that may have ruined whatever effect the author was trying to impart on the reader. I may have initially felt guilty for putting Wuthering Heights aside for The Great Gatsby, but I am so glad I did. This book may have just landed itself a spot among my other favorite books. Now, I think I will move on to Fahrenheit 451. It always surprises people when I say I never read this book either. I think I will have a hard time transitioning away from The Great Gatsby because of how much I loved it, but I know that this next book will also have great things to offer.
xx
Emily
