The Great Gatsby: The First Read

Much has been made of Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. It holds the #2 ranking on Modern Library's list of the 100 best novels, sandwiched between Joyce's Ulysses and A Portrait of the Artists as a Young Man. And so it goes for me; rarely will my tastes rise to the levels set by professional list makers -- I almost find it insulting when they match up. I think I have only read Fitzgerald's The Beautiful and the Damned, which is such a heartbreaking story, and so beautifully written. It prompted me to read several biographies concerning Scott and Zelda's relationship, as well as Nancy Milford's biography of Zelda. I want to say I have read This Side of Paradise, but I don't think so. In any case, it's been a long enough time for me to have forgotten much of both of those novels, and it's high time I return to F. Scott, and it about time I read Gatsby.

I'm excited to read it; I'm reminded of how excited I was to read The Sound and the Fury. I am not as eager to read Fitzgerald as I was Faulkner, in fact, this current read was a toss up between rereading Sound or beginning Gatsby. I opted for Fitzgerald. I feel like I got to know him first, you know, before Hemingway and Faulkner, and then, later, got reacquainted with him through Hemingway's remarks and characterizations. I've always had a thing for Fitzgerald, and I've always been a little in love with his and Zelda's relationship. I'm sure it won't disappoint. I'm going to go over my reading notes here, so feel free to add your comments, interpretations, and criticism of my analysis.