Gatsby

Until recently, I had not read F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. In fact, the last time I read it, I was a junior in high school, and that was twenty years ago. I just finished it today with my juniors, and I forgot how much I enjoyed this book.

It's interesting how you can see things differently in twenty year's time. Daisy has no backbone; she does what Tom wants, then Gatsby (or tries to anyway), then Tom again. I just wanted to scream, "Do what YOU want woman, not what some man wants!" Tom, well, I wanted to cause injury to him because he's such a douche bag. I mean, really? Not only do you abuse your wife and cheat on her, but you abuse your skanky mistress too? Well, aren't you classy. Gatsby, I want so much to like him, but he's hung up on a woman who has clearly moved on. A woman that he may or may not have raped, mind you. Not my cup of tea. Jordan reminds me of people in my life who are liars. Not your average, tell little white lie liars either, but the ones who lie and believe that lie to be true, even though everyone around them knows it's a lie. Nick is the only redeeming character, as it should be, I guess.

The Great Gatsby is another reason I am glad I was moved to the junior team this year. I like the book, and it's so much easier to teach something when you enjoy it.