Lena Dunham Not So High on The Great Gatsby

"[M]y history is dotted with shameful unfinisheds. The Great Gatsby? I put it down in eighth grade and haven’t picked it up again. Should I not be saying this? Will I be sent away somewhere awful? I often don’t finish books, even ones that I like." Pfffft, it's totally fine, Lena — that's why they're making another movie of it! Also: This reminds me, I should probably finish watching Tiny Furniture at some point. [NYT]



Comments

  • SD says:

    I finished it - I just didn't care for it.

    Whereas The Sound and the Fury I have tried, and failed, to read twice. It's a tough book to get into.

    • S.T. VanAirsdale says:

      Oh, man, S&F is an impossible read. Same with Ulysses, though I was probably too young for that? I'll give it another shot in, oh, 20 years.

    • joe says:

      I read it recently. The line that always got me was "that Gatsby was alright", no, he was an a**hole who held parties for a bunch of Hilton types.

  • Yeah, I'm not a huge fan of Gatsby either.

  • paticular says:

    Isn't anyone here going to speak out for this excellent book? I read it in high school too and found it hard slogging. But fortunately I re-read it a few years later and was suprised at how much Fitzgerald had improved in his writing. The book is full of long passages that read like stream of conscious poetry on the human condition. That's why the movies stink. No poetry there, just empty pretty people and beautiful landscapes.

  • It's cool, because Fitzgerald isn't a fan of Girls, either.