tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5587150608901957801.post3907821919374694778..comments2024-03-22T17:51:15.887-04:00Comments on The Edge of the Precipice: "Careless People" by Sarah ChurchwellHamlette (Rachel)http://www.blogger.com/profile/11961916847426233995noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5587150608901957801.post-75267330254610653712017-08-02T19:49:59.479-04:002017-08-02T19:49:59.479-04:00Dale, I definitely recommend it.
Haven't read...Dale, I definitely recommend it.<br /><br />Haven't read <i>Tender is the Night</i>, but it's on my list ;-)<br /><br />I'm glad you like the cards! I hope you and your daughter enjoy exchanging them :-) I still send old-fashioned cards through the mail to my friends and family too. Nothing quite like getting "real" mail!Hamlette (Rachel)https://www.blogger.com/profile/11961916847426233995noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5587150608901957801.post-22046560283525591122017-07-27T22:08:54.845-04:002017-07-27T22:08:54.845-04:00This book sounds great! I need to read it soon. I ...This book sounds great! I need to read it soon. I just started Tender is the Night. Not far enough into it to form an opinion, yet, other than that the writing is fantastic. <br /><br />Thank you for the greeting cards! My oldest daughter lives in Houston and she loves Gatsby - and we still send old fashioned cards through the mail. So these will be great for me to send to her.Dalehttp://www.mirrorwithclouds.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5587150608901957801.post-51572517987553286182017-07-27T17:00:52.997-04:002017-07-27T17:00:52.997-04:00Livia, I don't think that's a very apt com...Livia, I don't think that's a very apt comparison. <i>The Great Gatsby</i> was not all that popular when it was published. The publisher struggled to sell it, and it received lukewarm reviews. It was not aimed at teens, it was not "popular literature," and it really isn't a love story.<br /><br />Now, <i>Rebecca</i>, as dearly as I love it, is definitely not in the same league as <i>Gatsby</i>. It's not quite fluff either, but it's not serious literature. Nor was it meant to be. Du Maurier was wonderful at creating suspenseful books, but I wouldn't put her any higher than, say, Agatha Christie, when it comes to artistic achievement.<br /><br />It's very interesting, though, that you compare <i>Rebecca</i> and <i>Twilight</i>, as they're both basically retellings of <i>Jane Eyre</i>. Neither of them reach Bronte's heights... but neither of them were trying to be considered Serious Literature, either. I read the first <i>Twilight</i> book, and while I have no desire to read more of them, it wasn't absolute twaddle either. The story and characters were engaging, though the writing was pedestrian.<br /><br />Gatsby's initial interest in Daisy was almost more in the life she led than in herself, I think. He wanted a better life for himself before he met her, but when he decided to fall in love with her, then winning her became so entwined in his ambitions that he would never again be able to separate them from his desire for her. Definitely he saw her as an end unto herself, but also as just another piece of the perfect life he wanted.<br /><br />As for philosophy... why do you hate it? Not that I think it has much of anything to do with people taking <i>Gatsby</i> more seriously in the mid-20th century -- I think that involved literary analysis more than anything. And people realizing that just because Fitzgerald wrote snappy little stories about flappers didn't mean he never had anything more serious to say.Hamlette (Rachel)https://www.blogger.com/profile/11961916847426233995noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5587150608901957801.post-76785018013382820862017-07-27T16:46:48.689-04:002017-07-27T16:46:48.689-04:00Elisabeth, thanks for mentioning that! I'd ne...Elisabeth, thanks for mentioning that! I'd never heard of it, but I love mysteries AND courtroom dramas, so I'm going to see if my library has it.Hamlette (Rachel)https://www.blogger.com/profile/11961916847426233995noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5587150608901957801.post-20211313847388079162017-07-27T16:44:41.080-04:002017-07-27T16:44:41.080-04:00Becca, it was definitely an engrossing read.Becca, it was definitely an engrossing read.Hamlette (Rachel)https://www.blogger.com/profile/11961916847426233995noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5587150608901957801.post-82939173495983881122017-07-27T14:52:38.871-04:002017-07-27T14:52:38.871-04:00I'm still convinced that The Great Gatsby (and...I'm still convinced that The Great Gatsby (and also, I just remembered, Rebecca) are Twilight (for the time) level fluff, that people who like philosophy (I HATE it) like to read into. And yet, I keep discussing it :/<br /><br />I do think that Gatsby has a real sort of love for Daisy, who he thought she was, who he idealized her to be. I don't think his interest in wealth was wholly tied up in her. He was scheming before he met her, but he thought that he could woo her with wealth. His wealth then meant little without her. I don't think he saw her as a goal on the journey to wealth like Myrtle saw Tom.Livia Rachellehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02755623391278276925noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5587150608901957801.post-50441699553343793482017-07-27T12:19:14.333-04:002017-07-27T12:19:14.333-04:00As a sidenote, another author based a novel off th...As a sidenote, another author based a novel off the Hall-Mills case: <i>The Bellamy Trial</i> by Frances Noyes Hart. It's a totally different take on the idea than <i>The Great Gatsby</i>, more of a traditional murder mystery, but it's unique in that the whole book takes place in court during the murder trial. I really loved it.Elisabeth Grace Foleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02073159989691222645noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5587150608901957801.post-55269640694014317012017-07-27T10:25:05.797-04:002017-07-27T10:25:05.797-04:00I loved this book!I loved this book!The Bookkeeper's Apprenticehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16078501638449951856noreply@blogger.com