Class Tonight

I had to go to class tonight, so no time for F. Scott.  Had to spend my time learning about Freud and Jung and the different ways they figured out just how messed up people were and are.  Pretty sure I'm going to write my paper for the class on Lolita and Freud's concept of the id.  I looked a little tonight, but I'm not finding much on the subject.  That could be a good thing - is this an original idea on my part?  We shall see.

And another damn thing...

And a common thread throughout these books is violence toward women.  Nobody even bats an eye when Tom breaks Myrtle's nose - that sort of thing was just accepted.  H.H. did a little of that is Lolita as well, and don't even get me started on the way the women were treated in Catch-22.  Guess it's true what they say - we really have come a long way, baby.  No way that shit would fly now.  In an apartment with six people in it, at least three would be on their cell phones calling 911 if Tom tried that today.  Amen, sister!

Amazing

Too funny that I thought Fitzgerald was writing about traffic jams, in 1925.  Actually, that passage was about TRAIN cars - I just misread it the first time.  Made myself laugh at least.  I also laughed about the magazine Mrs. Wilson bought - it was about "moving pictures."  Those were still the days of silent films - everything we take for granted was so new then.  At this point, can you imagine no sound in the movies?  Just a few placards strategically placed and everything else left to your intuition and imagination.  Sounds like fun - kind of like Mystery Theater 2000 where they made up their own dialogue for movies.

Chapter One

One chapter down, a mere eight more to go.  Such a short little novel but so full of life.  Just getting through the book's setup, who the players are going to be, no hint of what the action will be.    Onward to chapter two.

Rest of the Best

Now on to the last book that was on 10 of the 11 "Best of" lists - The Great Gatsby  by F. Scott Fitzgerald.  This book was first published in 1925 and has been turned into a movie at least five times (according to IMDb), with the most recent being just this year.  Not sure if that last listing shown here was an actual movie or not - I might just check it out to find out for sure.

As can be seen from this list, the first film was released just one year after publication, showing how popular the book was when it first came out, and its popularity has not waned in the almost 90 years hence.

I have read this book before, and I am looking forward to rediscovering Fitzgerald's unique voice.

Finally...

I am done!  I finally came to the best part of the book - the end.  Not really - it was really the author's note AFTER the end.  I found Nabokov's voice very refreshing, and while I commend his reasons for writing this book, I still find its subject matter very distasteful, and I think most people would agree with that assessment.  that being said, he did have a wonderful command of the English language, despite his misgivings on that front.  I would love to read some other works by him that he wrote in English - I am sure I would find them very entertaining. 

My personal feeling is that this book is on so many "Top 100" lists because, much like Faulkner, people think they should be reading it because it's on so many "Top 100" lists.  I did enjoy it better than the Faulkner book I'm going to have to reread to get through my list, so that's something (not a surprising something if you know me at all, but still something).

Onward through the list - and the fog.

Favorite lines

This was my favorite line (it occurred very early in the novel):

"I am just winking happy thoughts into a little tiddle cup."

Hilarious stuff.

And now, I came across this "nonsense" verse (Nabokov's word, not mine) that I like a lot as well:

"The Squirl and his Squirrel, the Rabs and their Rabbits
Haver certain obscure and peculiar habits.
Male hummingbirds make the most exquisite rockets.
the snake when he walks holds his hands in his pockets..."

Been trying to picture a snake with hands in his pockets ever since.