BBC News: Fitzgerald's Accounts

At 10:24 am today (April 29), BBC News posted an article on Fitzgerald's handwritten accounts and records on various subjects.  Included was the amount of money he made from The Great Gatsby, which was $2,000.  I calculated how much value that would be in today.  Surprisingly, the sum comes out to be $24,360.  It isn't very much considering that The Great Gatsby is a classic.

Also, one interesting part of the article is at the end, where it is noted that based on the accounts, Fitzgerald was a terrible speller and (very poor in his arithmetic).

Here is the link to the article
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-22340106

The Great Gatsby 1974: Myrtle

Today we talked in class about whether we imagined Myrtle as a red head or a brunette.  Here is a video clip from the 1974 movie of The Great Gatsby.  Not only is Myrtle a red head, but she is wearing red lipstick and bright, fiery orange clothes.  I think this movie did a good job in physically showing that Myrtle is the fire among the ashes of Queens.

Gatsby Sales, Covers, and More

I found this video and article by the New York Times about the Gatsby's increase in sales and popularity since the movie trailers have been released. Clearly we are more motivated to read an old book more just because a new movie is coming out. I also found it interesting that the old cover is selling more than the new cover with the actors on it. I think it is a good sign that people still want to read the book and not just watch the movie!
http://nyti.ms/10DNhXv

-Shira

Gatsby and rain

In chapter 5, I thought the whole rain thing was really metaphoric. I thought it was interesting that Gatsby tells Nick the rain will stop at four, which is also when Daisy was due to show up. It's almost as if Gatsby thinks all of his problems will be gone when Daisy's there. In reality, the rain doesn't stop until he and Daisy have talked for a while and sorted some things out. It's kind of like an illusion vs. reality comparison.

Thomas Parke D'Invilliers

I was curious about the epigraph in the beginning of the novel:

"Then wear the gold hat, if that will move her;
If you can bounce high bounce for her too,
Till she cry "Lover, gold-hatted, high-bouncing lover,
I must have you!"

~Thomas Parke D'Invilliers

It turns out that D'Invilliers is not a real person but a character from Fitzgerald's quasi-autobiographical novel, "This Side of Paradise."D'Invilliers is also a pen name for Fitzgerald. I find Fitzgerald's decision to choose a fictional character's piece of writing as the opening to his book interesting.

Fitzgerald's Notebooks: Entries for Essays

Fitzgerald's Notebooks (in electronic form)

Hearty Parties: Hearst and Gatsby

William Randolph Heart was a media mogul. He lived in castles all over the world and built the one you see here on 250,000 acres of land with help from architect Julia Morgan. He, like Jay Gatsby, was a fan of extravagance. He began the project in 1919 and the home had 165 rooms. "La Cuesta Encantada" was more of a small village than a castle. He had the main building shaped like a spanish church (left) and cottages built around it.




Like Gatsby, Hearst enjoyed parties. He invited dozens to visit and stay at his grounds.



I took these pictures last March when I went to San Simeon.


Info:
http://www.hearstcastle.org/history-behind-hearst-castle/the-castle/

 

Young and Beautiful

This is Lana Del Rey's song Young and Beautiful from the soundtrack of the Gatsby movie that's coming out soon. First of all, I love Lana Del Rey and I LOVE this song, but other than that, I think that it really reflects the mood and the general themes of the novel so far. There are several lines in the song that talk about parties and "crazy days". I think that these lines reflect the atmosphere of Gatsby's party: there is a cheerful, crazy mood with a sort of sinister undertone. There is also a lot of repetition of the line "will you still love me when I'm no longer young and beautiful". I think this reflects most of the marriages and relationships that we have seen so far in the novel. Every marriage we have seen so far is a mess and the people in the relationships don't love each other anymore. Anyway, let me know what you think (and I included the lyrics below if you want to read them).
I've seen the world 
Done it all, had my cake now 
Diamonds, brilliant, and Bel-Air now 
Hot summer nights mid July 
When you and I were forever wild 
The crazy days, the city lights 
The way you'd play with me like a child 

Will you still love me when I'm no longer young and beautiful 
Will you still love me when I got nothing but my aching soul 
I know you will, I know you will 
I know that you will 
Will you still love me when I'm no longer beautiful 

I've seen the world, lit it up as my stage now 
Channeling angels in, the new age now 
Hot summer days, rock and roll 
The way you'd play for me at your show 
And all the ways I got to know 
Your pretty face and electric soul 

Will you still love me when I'm no longer young and beautiful 
Will you still love me when I got nothing but my aching soul 
I know you will, I know you will 
I know that you will 
Will you still love me when I'm no longer beautiful 

Dear lord when I get to heaven 
Please let me bring my man 
When he comes tell me that you'll let me 
Father tell me if you can 

Oh that grace, oh that body 
Oh that face makes me wanna party 
He's my sun, he makes shine like diamonds 

Will you still love me when I'm no longer young and beautiful 
Will you still love me when I got nothing but my aching soul 
I know you will, I know you will 
I know that you will 
Will you still love me when I'm no longer beautiful 
Will you still love me when I'm no longer beautiful 
Will you still love me when I'm not young and beautiful

Gatsby Trailer

As we all know, Gatsby is coming out in a couple weeks! We need to get excited (not just because Leonardo is in it)  so we can be excellent movie critics, discuss it, and compare it to the book

Here's the trailer:

Get pumped!

-Shira

Great Gatsby Covers

I found this in the New York Times Style Magazine and I thought it was awesome! Matthew J. Brucolli collected Great Gatsby books with different covers and his collection is worth millions!

The covers are so varied and special in their own way. The article reminded me that everyone interprets writings differently and will decide to represent them with a different illustration. 

Here's the magazine cover if any of you are interested in checking it out yourself...

Nouns in The Great Gatsby