A peek into the Roaring Twenties

The Great Gatsby (Literary Classic)

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Another coincidence again...
Just as I was about to watch the 1974 edition of The Great Gatsby movie, now that there is a new version of this movie and I cannot seem to download online, my daughter handed me this classical 1925 American literature which is used by many school as their English literature text.

The edition that I read is a 150 odd pages' Penguin edition and is probably abridged for younger readers. It was certainly a much simpler read than the 'King Solomon's mines' and '20,000 leagues under the Sea' that I had to grapple with in my early secondary school days.
GG is a simple story of the narrator, Nick's neighbour in New York, the mysterious filthy rich Jay Gatsby. Gatsby, with his humble beginning, became miraculously rich through bootlegging alcohol, tries to rekindle his old romantic relationship with Daisy. Unfortunately, Daisy was married to Tom. Tom, on the other hand, has his own extramarital affair with Myrtle, the wife of a mechanic from the poor part of town.
Nick, being Daisy's second cousin and Tom's acquaintance, is the cement that binds all the character together.
It depicts the decadent times of the roaring 20's where some people had lots of money and did not know what to do with it, so they had lots of parties and morality and decency were out of the window. Alcohol was prohibited in America, creating a booming bootleg business. And it was a white man's society.

Now, I will watch the 1974 film 'The Great Gatsby' starring Robert Redford and Mia Farrow.

Comments

Gory historic details or gore fest?

Razakar: The Silent Genocide Of Hyderabad (Telegu, 2024) Director: Yata Satyanarayana In her last major speech before her disposition, Sheikh Hasina accused those who opposed her rule in Bangladesh of being Razakars. The opposition took offence to this term and soon widespread mob throughout the land. Of course, it is not that that single incident brought down an elected government but a culmination of joblessness and unjust reservations for a select population group. In the Bengali psyche, Razakar is a pejorative term meaning traitor or Judas. It was first used during the 1971 Pakistan Civil War. The paramilitary group who were against the then-East Pakistani leader, Majibur Rehman, were pro-West Pakistan. After establishing independence in Bangladesh, Razakars were disbanded, and many ran off to Pakistan. Around the time of Indian independence, turmoil brewed in the princely state of Hyderabad, which had been a province deputed by the Mughals from 1794. The rule of N...

The products of a romantic star of the yesteryear!

Now you see all the children of Gemini Ganesan (of four wives, at least) posing gleefully for the camera after coming from different corners of the world to see the ailing father on his deathbed. They seem to found peace with the contributor of their half of their 46 chromosomes. Sure, growing up must have been hell seeing their respective mothers shedding tears, indulgence in unhealthy activities with one of them falling prey to the curse of the black dog, hating the sight of each step sibling, their respective heartaches all because of the evil done by one man who could not put his raging testesterones under check! Perhaps,the flashing lights and his dizzying heights that his career took clouded his judgement. After all, he was only human... Gems of Gemini Ganesan L-R: Dr Revathi Swaminathan, Narayani Ganesan, Dr Kamala Selvaraj, Rekha, Vijaya Chamundeswari and Dr Jaya Shreedhar. ( Abs: Radha Usman Syed, Sathish Kumaar Ganesan) Seeing six of Ge...

Chicken's Invite? (Ajak-ajak ayam)

In the Malay lingo, the phrase 'ajak-ajak ayam' refers to an insincere invitation. Of course, many of us invite for courtesy's sake, but then the invitee may think that the invitation is for real! How does anyone know? Inviters and invitees must be smart enough to take the cue that one party may have gatecrashed with ulterior motives, or the other may not want him to join in the first place! Easily twenty years ago, my family was invited to a toddler's birthday party. As my children were toddlers, too, we were requested to come early so that my kids could run around and play in their big compound. And that the host said she would arrange a series of games for them to enjoy. So there we were in the early evening at a house that resembled very little of one immersed in joy and celebration. Instead, we were greeted by a house devoid of activities and no guests. The host was still out shopping her last-minute list, and her helper was knee-deep in her preparations to ...

RIFLE RANGE BOY

Search This Blog