RockingBytheSeaside t1_j95dikt wrote
I recently read The Great Gatsby, since I will have it assigned for my American Literature course. I was surprised how short and fast paced the book was; for such a classic, I expected a much more lengthy writing style. But It's pleasant to see people properly appreciate the book.
Although, may I ask, how is the author connected to Gatsby? I am curious - also would like to hear what more you liked about the book.
T_86 t1_j96rqrt wrote
I’m also interested to hear OPs connections of Gatsby to Fitzgerald. All I can think of is how F. Scott Fitzgerald had a similar romantic obsession to a former born rich girlfriend (Ginevra King), similar to Jay Gatsby’s fixation with Daisy Buchanan. However, it’s fairly well known that F. Scott Fitzgerald’s inspiration for Jay Gatsby’s character was based on a neighbour (Max Von Gerlach) he and his wife Zelda had while living in Long Island. Apparently Max Avon Gerlach was mysterious and claimed many stories about himself, also had lavish parties, always wore brand new clothing, frequently used the phrase “old sport”, had severed in the military, became rich through bootlegging, and many other similarities to the character Jay Gatsby.
KobeLP OP t1_j98306i wrote
Hi thank you to both for commenting on this post! So in response to both of your comments on how the author is connected to Gatsby, I am going to mainly state what I learned in my class. Jay Gatsby represents obsession and patience and what I learned about F Scott Fitzgerald is that he had a similar story with his wife Zelda. Fitzgerald was only able to get the attention from Zelda once he started becoming rich, and before that she had no interest in him. Just like Gatsby, Fitzgerald still waited. Those were the main parallels at the time when Fitzgerald was still alive, however crazy enough, after the book was written, we can even compare the tragedy of Gatsby to Fitzgeralds tragedy. Sadly enough, Gatsby did not take off upon first selling, and this was due to people thinking Fitzgerald was a bad author and not giving him a chance. It was only till years later the book was truly appreciated. After not having a success with his book, Zelda proceeded to leave Fitzgerald after all that time he waited for her. Fitzgerald then proceeded to die of a heart attack (presumably caused my alcohol, and Zelda died in a mental institution. Now, obviously Fitzgerald couldn’t predict him and Gatsby having both terrible tragedies happening to them. But it turned out that way, and to me that’s crazy. Thank you guys again for the comments!
T_86 t1_j985qi3 wrote
I love that you have such an interest in Fitzgerald. He’s my favourite author. However, most of your comparisons you listed weren’t accurate. Fitzgerald and his wife met at a country club and wrote each other many love letters while he was away in the army. It was Zelda’s parents that had reservations about Fitzgerald not being rich and trying to become an author which they assumed he’d never be successful at. He had two successful novels before writing The Great Gatsby, which was not considered a success for its time. They drank away a lot of their money and Fitzgerald wrote many short stories to keep money coming in. He had a few well known affairs on his wife who later was institutionalized for schizophrenia and died when the hospital had a fire.
KobeLP OP t1_j998ypg wrote
Haha thanks. He really is amazing. Now these are things I did learn in my English class so I haven’t really done crazy research. I think you describe another similarity tho between Gatsby and Fitzgerald and how he was gone for a while and still waited. Patience. What I learned, was that Fitzgerald wrote one book that was really good, however, he proceeded to write a second book that completely flopped, and they considered Fitzgerald to be a bad author after that. Then, in efforts for more money, he wrote The Great Gatsby, but since critics considered him to be bad, no one ever gave it a chance that it deserved, and even though some critics came out and said it was good, he didn’t get the success he needed.
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