Rosa Baez: The Great Gatsby

It’s the most important novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, an American novelist famous for his writings of the “Jazz Age”. He portrayed the decadence, hypocrisy and materialism of this period.

The Great Gatsby is set in the summer of 1922 in New York. Gatsby is an elegant man in his thirties. He is from the West, his parents are unsuccessful farmers and he dismisses his real origins, so much so that he changes his real name. He is recruited in World War I and as a soldier he meets Daisy, a nice upper-class girl, who he deeply falls in love with. She can’t marry him because her family is very well-off and she is supposed to marry a wealthy man. She waits for him for two years but finally she marries Tom Buchanan, an affluent , well-known polo player. She isn’t happy since he is violent with her and has endless affairs with other women.

Meanwhile, Gatsby is working hard, surely in illegal businesses and in less than five years he goes from rags to riches. He builds a mansion in Long Island opposite Buchanan’s house, on the other side of the lake.

Gatsby throws fabulous parties in his palatial mansion. On weekends his Rolls Royce turns into kind of a taxi carrying people to and from New York. Guests are not invited, they just attend his parties. There are colored lights, a dance floor on the lawn and an orchestra that plays dance music. Loads of waiters serve all kinds of fine food and alcoholic drinks. There is a general sense of excitement in the air. The guests move about talking, smiling, dancing, eating, drinking and laughing. Gatsby’s extravagant lifestyle and wild parties are simply an attempt to impress Daisy. As a matter of fact, he lives alone and he isn’t interested in the people who attend his parties and neither are they in him, as they only gossip about his fortune.

After an initially awkward meeting, Gatsby and Daisy begin an affair. He isn’t aware of Daisy’s real character since she only bets on winners; Gatsby is an incurable romantic, willing to die for love whereas she doesn’t have a truly profound affection for him.

Finally, he ends up as alone as he lived; he becomes a victim of his own dream. The message is clear: the American Dream doesn’t work, so if you only pursue money your life will be empty.

There are many screen adaptations of this novel. In my opinion, the most famous is directed by Jack Clayton in 1974 , starring Robert Redfort and Mia Farrow, with a script by Francis Ford Coppola. The latest version is from 2013, directed by Baz Luhrmann and starring Di Caprio and Carey Mulligan.

The Great Gatsby is a must. I strongly recommend you to read the book or to see the film as it is a vivid portrait of the roaring twenties in New York. A thought-provoking masterpiece that raises many interesting questions.

In order to situate all these ideas in the wider context of America in the 1920s, let me give you some basic background information of the period:

- After World War I ended in 1918, the United States and much of the rest of the world experienced an enormous economic expansion.

- The American Dream consisted of the premise that “a nobody from nowhere can amass a great fortune though hard work, sometimes by illegal methods”.  

- The Twenties were a period of general prosperity and social change. Major cities such as New York and Chicago grew rapidly with the building of skyscrapers.

- America began the age of consumerism: new household appliances such as radios, fridges, etc. appeared, and Henry Ford put Americans on wheels with his revolutionary model T Ford, the car everyone could afford to buy. More and more people spent money on traveling and having fun.

- At parties people were listening to new jazz music and dancing Charleston. Girls had a new look: they had short hair, wore colourful dresses showing their knees, used cosmetics, smoked cigarettes, etc.

- In 1919 there was an important ban on alcohol (The Prohibition) and some people, especially gangsters, made enormous amounts of money by suppling it illegally. 

- Although some people made fortunes overnight, many others were living in poverty and racism was tolerated.

-  The carefree life of the “Roaring Twenties” suddenly came to an end on October 29, 1929, when the New York Stock Exchange collapsed dramatically, leading to the start of the Great Depression.

Good stuff, Rosa! I remember reading Scott Fitzgerald's novel many years ago, in my years at uni, and honestly I didn't think much of it. Perhaps I should give it another go! 
But in any case I agree the Roaring Twenties were, for various reasons, a very exciting period from the social, cultural and artistic standpoints, not only in America but across the pond in the UK too.

Luis. A book review: Memento Mori

Last year, when I was still living in Valladolid, I discovered a novel which now I bring to this blog. It is the first part of a trilogy whose author is César Pérez Gellida, a brave man from Valladolid, who quit his job in order to devote himself to his writing career. The first fruit of this is Memento Mori.

Let me tell you a little about the story. There’s the seemingly typical police inspector, Sancho, and a murder to investigate. A corpse has been found, horribly mutilated, next to a note with a poem. We could expect a police thriller, like many others with these ingredients, but this would be a big mistake, because "Memento Mori" contains several details that make it different and innovative from its beginning, including the foreword by Michael Robinson.

The story is told alternating the points of view of the two main characters: Sancho, the investigator, and Augusto, the murderer. We see the perspective of the antagonist very closely. We know his identity from the very first page, but the plot does not lose interest because of this early revelation. On the contrary, after ending the novel, the feeling is that Augusto is the engine of the story.

Sancho is a tormented inspector, dealing with ghosts from the past, whereas Augusto is psychologically complex. Not only do we perceive their fears, their strengths and weaknesses, but also we go on a tour through the streets of Valladolid while they try to beat each other. An extremely interesting route filled with monuments, famous streets, as well as pubs and restaurants.

There is room for constant literary references, like Kafka; many of them are the inspiration of Augusto for his murders.

His musical preferences are also the key to understand his behavior. So for the novel’s soundtrack, which is available on the author’s website, songs by Héroes del Silencio, Placebo, Rammstein and Depeche Mode, among others, appear during the development of the plot.

In short, Memento Mori is a different reading experience and you will easily devour its pages. However, a calm reading is recommended in order to enjoy each page better, and, of course, you must have Youtube at hand as the songs complement the story. It’s a novel to read as well as to listen to. When you finish it, you will probably be looking forward to reading its sequel, “Dies Irae”.