F Scott Fitzgerald Sure Can Write

The Great Gatsby’s place in the pantheon of classics.

Photo by Andy Henderson on Unsplash

2021 is the year that I have finally got around to reading more of the classics. Usually drawn first to non-fiction, I wanted to see for myself if these highly acclaimed books could do for me what they did for many.

The results so far have been a bit of a mixed bag. On the Road by Jack Kerouac being one of my favorites so far. The perfect book for a road journey. For me, it was the incessant reminders of a friend I no longer see much of — reflected in the character of Dean Moriarty. Everything reminded me of him.

Then there was Huxley’s Brave New World and Orwell’s 1984. Both are incredibly prescient and serve as a vital reminder of the dangers our current political climate espouse, but, if I’m honest, neither was entirely captivating. Certainly not unputdownable.

Perhaps then it is my interest and fascination with history and the people within that puts my latest read head and shoulders above the rest — The Great Gatsby. Yet, I have no doubt that it is F Scott Fitzgerald’s crisp, smooth prose that kept me enthralled.

Here, I delve into some of my favorite quotes and takeaways.

You know that point when you are out gallivanting, usually at a party of some description, and you want to leave… You decided that this was as late as you would stay, but you are unable to move? It is no longer only a matter of remaining your authentic self and leaving. No, the important word here is ‘strident.’ The other person is talking at you, not to you. The argument itself is frivolous, and the person is becoming, if not already, obnoxious.

That is the feeling the below quote captures more succinctly:

I wanted to get out and walk eastward toward the park through the soft twilight, but each time I tried to go I became entangled in some wild, strident argument which pulled me back, as if with ropes, into my chair.

I mean, his writing is genius. His ability to transform common human idiosyncrasies into smart wordplay is what makes this book so good. You will be left with a false sense that you could have come up with the same yourself. Because they are so simple, yet expressed perfectly. In keeping with the party theme, as it revolves around this book, I don’t know about you, but I always forget someone’s name instantaneously when introduced to a stranger.

introductions forgotten on the spot

Simple, but as effective as one could possibly imagine.

or the personification, which somehow seems more personified than any other author can manage. With one simple word — ‘lurch’ — you can actually see the earth heaving in your mind’s eye:

The lights grow brighter as the earth lurches away from the sun

I started writing this article while I was reading the book. As I reached the halfway point I soon realized that an updated subtitle would be appropriate ( I previously had a more generic ‘These are my favorite quotes from The Great Gatsby). It soon dawned on me that this was a real work of art and one of the best books I have read. I was beginning to be turned off by classics. Not anymore, although, I may stay solely with Fitzgerald’s work for a while longer.

Crucially, The Great Gatsby stood out for me in that it taught me more about writing than those other classics mentioned at the beginning. Oftentimes, these classics are quite a heavy read, not so with Fitzgerald’s greatest hit. To me, with this book, he has succeeded in being the writer I would like to be: Easily read by everyone, forging a captivating, clever, and simple style.

So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past