Movie Review: The Great Gatsby (2013)

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Book snob rule #1: The book is always better than the movie.

Reality: I enjoyed the movie version of The Great Gatsby more than the book. *gasp*

(Note: I do abide by Book snob rule #2: Always read the book first. Let’s not go crazy here.)

I read The Great Gatsby back in 2011. I liked it. I liked it a lot. I did not love it. I don’t have a well thought out explanation as to why, but it didn’t grab me or shake me up enough to get into my favourites.

The movie, though? It grabbed me. All the stuff people are bitching about, the music, the over-the-top visuals, the casting, the framing device, it all just worked. Yes, I definitely have residual 16-year-old feelings for the Leo and Baz combo. I watched Romeo + Juliet so many times  that I can still quote it pretty accurately, and I wore out the soundtrack on CD. But it’s more than that.

Let's not focus on the fact that Leo looks approximately 8 years old in this movie.

Let’s not focus on the fact that Leo looks approximately 8 years old in this movie.

For me, the anachronisms were seamless and worked as a commentary in the vein of the more things change, the more they stay the same. The exception is the scene where a car-full of twenties flapper-types are listening to H.O.V.A, which was so jarring that people in the theatre laughed. I’m going to tell myself it was an homage to the music video for the same song, where Jay-Z rides around town on a parade float (incidentally, Jay-Z looks SO YOUNG in that video.)

I also loved that the movie was very faithful to the book. Passages are highlighted on screen as Nick writes the manuscript for The Great Gatsby as part of his recovery from a nervous breakdown. My most loved and hated lines* were highlighted this way, which made the movie experience very reminiscent of my reading experience.

I notice that the most savage reviews are American, while the Canadian press has been a little kinder. I think Gatbsy is so enshrined in the American consciousness that no adaptation will be good enough. For this Canadian, Leo + Baz + great literature + 2.5 hours in the fancy grown up theatre (they serve you drinks!) and I’m happy.

Leo Gatsby

Age appropriate Leo

*My favourite line. Super obvious, but somehow, I’d never read this, and didn’t know the ending, when I read the book. Reading this for the first time knocked me on my ass.

So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.

My least favourite line. First of all, what the hell else are you going to blossom like? Second of all, I just can’t with the flower/vagina metaphor. It’s a little too Summer’s Eve for me.

At his lips’ touch she blossomed for him like a flower and the incarnation was complete.

Moby Dick Read-A-Long Chapters 1-15: Fine Young Cannibals

Welcome back, read-a-longers! We finally get to talk about the actual book. Share your thoughts in the comments, or better yet, link to your own post.

Lost at sea? For all the details on this read-a-long, including schedule and sign up, click here.

Etymology and Excerpts

The book starts with the origin of the word “whale” and a collection of whale-related excerpts from literature, philosophy, and scripture. This section reminded me of when Homer Simpson tries to teach himself about marketing by reading an advanced marketing book, and trades down to simpler and simpler books until he’s reading the dictionary.

Homer Simpson Marketing

Via 9gag.com

The excerpts are great. They show the huge variety of ways in which people deify and demonize whales. Of course, the excerpts only go up to the mid 1800s, and I couldn’t help but think about the modern ones I would add:

  • Blubber by Judy Blume: Talking about bullying before it was cool. She didn’t even have to wear a pink shirt.
  • She’s Come Undone by Wally Lamb: Just your basic girl meets dying whale, girl goes batshit crazy story.
  • Free Willy: Charming children’s movie and popular euphemism for taking one’s dick out.

Okay, onto the actual story!

Chapters 1-15

  • Lots of lead up: Chapters 1-15 take us up to page 83 in my paper copy, and we haven’t even got on the boat yet. This section is all about setting the scene, introducing our narrator (call him Ishmael) and his BFF, the heavily-tattooed “Feegeean” Queequeg. We follow Ishmael from New York City to New Bedford to Nantucket as he prepares to go on his first whaling voyage.
  • Lots of funny: The tone of this first section is surprisingly light and funny. Hilarious, actually. Ishmael’s roundabout logic as he explains why he decides to take part in Queequeg’s “pagan rituals” made me LOL:

I was a good Christian; born and bred in the bosom of the infallible Presbyterian Church. How then could I unite with this wild idolater in worshiping his piece of wood? But what is worship? thought I. Do you suppose now, Ishmael, that the magnanimous God of heaven and earth – pagans and all included – can possibly be jealous of an insignificant bit of black wood? Impossible! But what is worship? – to do the will of God? that is worship. And what is the will of God? – to do to my fellow-man what I would have my fellow-man to do to me – that is the will of God. Now, Queequeg is my fellow-man. ANd what do I wish that this Queequeg woudl do to me? Why, unite with me in my particular Presbyterian form of worship. Consequently, I must then unite with him in his; ergo, I must turn idolater.

  • Heart of Darkness: I can’t help but compare the way Queequeg is introduced to the way Conrad talks about the “savages” in Heart of Darkness. Conrad’s European characters are half thrilled, half disgusted by the thought that they have anything in common with the “savages” they encounter in The Congo.  Queequeg is certainly seen as “other,” and Ishmael is terrified of him at first, but Ishmael accepts him so quickly, and so readily, and not just as a shipmate but as a friend (or perhaps more, see below,) despite the fact that he sells shrunken heads and is casually described as a cannibal.

For all this tattooings he was on the whole a clean, comely looking cannibal.

  • HoYay!: For those not familiar with this television-fandom term, HoYay! is short for “Homoeroticism, Yay!” and refers to situations, dialogue, etc. that could be interpreted to have homoerotic undertones, and suggests that fans of the show are generally in favour of this interpretation, usually in a somewhat ironic way. Exhibit A:
    Ryan and Seth

    California, Here We Come

    Ishmael and Queequeg meet in the bedroom and things just get cozier from there. I was most definitely NOT expecting this element of the story, and I think I finally get the “HoYay!” concept, because it is indeed delightful.

Thus, then, in our hearts’ honeymoon, lay I and Queequeg – a cosy, loving pair.

Tune in Next Week: 

Chapter 16 is called “The Ship” so things are about to get nautical.

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Heather of Between the Covers has the distinction of the first person to giggle about the Dick in Moby Dick. I am shocked it took this long.

@ebookclassicsand I are reading neck and neck!

The Cat’s Table by Michael Ondaatje

The Cat's Table

My rating: 5/5 stars

Release date: August 30, 2011

Publisher: McLelland

Synopsis:

In the early 1950s, an eleven-year-old boy boards a huge liner bound for England. At mealtimes, he is placed at the lowly “Cat’s Table” with an eccentric and unforgettable group of grownups and two other boys. As the ship makes its way across the Indian Ocean, through the Suez Canal, into the Mediterranean, the boys find themselves immersed in the worlds and stories of the adults around them. At night they spy on a shackled prisoner — his crime and fate a galvanizing mystery that will haunt them forever.

With the ocean liner a brilliant microcosm for the floating dream of childhood, The Cat’s Table is a vivid, poignant and thrilling book, full of Ondaatje’s trademark set-pieces and breathtaking images: a story told with a child’s sense of wonder by a novelist at the very height of his powers.

Is there such thing as an earworm, for text instead of music? A wordworm? If so, I have had a wordworm, off and on, since finishing The Cat’s Table. I find myself mentally rereading the end this passage compulsively:

We stepped back, further into the darkness, and waited. I saw the man move the strap of her dress and bring his face down to her shoulder. Her head was back, looking up at the stars, if there were stars. Continue reading →

Moby Dick Read-A-Long Post #1: Thar She Blows

What better time to start reading a Victorian novel than Victoria Day? I don’t have much to share about the book yet, as I’ve just dipped my toe in, but here are a few bits and pieces as we get started.

What’s All This Then?

We’re reading Moby Dick from May 20 – July 22. For all the details and to sign up, click here.  Here’s the schedule:

  • Start date and Introductory Post: Monday, May 20th, 2013. 
  • Etymology + Chapters 1-15: May 27th
  • Chapters 16-30: June 3
  • Chapters 31-45: June 10
  • Chapters 46-60: June 17
  • Chapters 61-75: June 24
  • Chapters 76-90: July 1
  • Chapters 91-105: July 8
  • Chapters 106-120: July 15
  • Chapters 121-136 + Epilogue : July 22

My Editions of Moby Dick

I bought a second hand, no-nonsense, 2004 edition of the physical book. No intro, no biography, just the text.

Henry's ready.

Henry’s ready.

I attempted to replicate 101 Book’s hilarious My 2-Year-Old Judges Books By Their Covers by asking my three year old what he thought this book was about. I’m a little alarmed by what he came up with: “The whale swings his tail. Swish swish. Then the men come and BANG HIM!”

I’ll do most of my reading on my Kobo. I’ve had bad luck with free ebooks, but local MD fan @Wittermeir tells me this is a good one. He’s also kindly lending me Why Read Moby Dick by Nathaniel Philbrick, so I’ll be able to share tidbits with you. Moby Dick fans are the best!

mobydickebook

Click for the free ebook

My Hopes for Moby Dick:

  • That I’ll be surprised by something. I’ve peeked at the first few chapters, and so far, I’m surprised by how funny it is. I’m often surprised when big scary classics are funny or romantic. If there’s a romantic element in MD, that’ll be something.
  • That reading and understanding Moby Dick will give me a deeper appreciation of other literature. After reading Dostoyevsky and Mann last year, I found allusions to and reflections of their writing in all sorts of surprising places. I suspect Melville’s influence is just as large as theirs, if not larger.

My Fears:

  • The descriptions of the whale and whaling will put me to sleep. After years of sleep deprivation, it doesn’t take much.
  • That I won’t get it. That the meaning of this book will fly over my head. You guys will help me out though, right?

Here are a couple features that I hope to include every Monday.

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Moby Dick Card Game

Slightly cooler than D&D.

I’ve always found it strange that a culture that creates a clear demand for television programs about things like crab fishing, tuna fishing, logging, trucking, duck hunting, and working in pawn shops is a culture that poo-poos the sort of documentary view Melville often gives us of whaling.

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Comment below to share which edition you’re reading, and your thoughts going into this crazy read-a-long. Once you’ve written this week’s post, add a link to it (and check out the others) by clicking the Mr. Linky icon:

NeWest Press Spring Spectacular: Local Literary Love

Rebecca Campell

Rebecca Campbell. Photo credit Brie Binicki

The Edmonton Book Bloggers were out in force last night, rubbing shoulders with the #yegbooks elite at the NeWest Press Spring Spectacular. This was only my second author reading, and had a very homegrown vibe compared to the Michael Ondaatje extravaganza back in March.

When I say homegrown, I don’t mean unprofessional. The event was very well run. Roast Coffee House was an almost perfect venue (just too hot), and Chris Craddock’s MCing was both brief and funny, which is exactly what you want from an MC. I thought it was strange to have a musical act, but Tyler Butler was fantastic, and gave the proceedings a nice, mellow vibe. Major shout out to NeWest’s Matt Bowes for pulling this event together.

Corinna Chong Reading

Corrina Chong. Photo credit: Brie Binicki

We haven’t even talked about the readings!

  • Jenna Butler read from her poetry collection Seldom Seen Road. She was so poised and confident, and her work is beautiful. I was nodding along with her descriptions of small town prairie life.
  • Rebecca Campbell was up next, and she blew my mind when she read my favourite passage from The Paradise Engine. Rebecca seemed a little nervous, and stumbled on a few words, but she dropped the f-bomb like she owned it. She really showed off the power of her prose (read my review).
  • Marguerite Pigeon read from the thriller Open Pit. I admit that I had no interest in this book before, but she left us hanging and gave such a wonderful preview of her characters that I think I’ll pick it up on my Kobo soon.
  • Finally, Corinna Chong read from Belinda’s Rings, and chose a funny excerpt followed by a dark one that hinted at the contrasts in her stunning debut novel (read my review).

I encourage you to check out the other Edmonton bloggers for their take. Rick from The Book-A-Week Project has a post up already (keener!) and Brie from Eat Books is working on hers. We also welcomed Elizabeth from Gossamer Obsessions to our little club, and I ran into author Jennifer Quist who posted this recap, including a hilarious account of our awkward “don’t I know you from somewhere” introduction.

I leave you with my night went in tweets and pictures. This is how I felt while getting ready to leave the house:

This is me with authors Corinna Chong and Rebecca Campbell, who both recognized me (omg) and were so lovely to talk to:

Corinna Chong, Moi, and Rebecca Campbell

Corinna Chong, Moi, and Rebecca Campbell. Photo credit: Brie Binicki

And here’s my haul. Why yes, that is a signed copy of Cassie Stock’s Leacock Medal winning novel, Dance, Gladys, Dance. Jealous?

Three Paradise Engines, Two Belinda’s Rings, one Dance, Gladys, Dance, and a partridge in a pear tree.

Anna From Away: Too Sexy for the States

I was notified by Goodreads that D.R. MacDonald has a new book coming out this month called The Ice Bridge. I really enjoyed his last novel, Anna From Away (see a brief review here,) so I clicked over and started reading the synopsis. Soon I realized that The Ice Bridge is Anna From Away under a different title. And different cover image. And a just slightly different description.

A little digging revealed that Anna From Away was published in Canada by Harper Collins Canada on September 11, 2012, and The Ice Bridge was published in the USA by Counterpoint on May 14, 2013.

Let’s compare and contrast:

Anna From Away by D.R. MacDonald     The Ice Bridge by D.R. MacDonald

Compare this line from the synopsis of Anna From Away:

Part erotic love story, part quest for home and heart, Anna From Away is a superbly crafted tale of love after love, a novel rich in atmosphere and infused with lyrical descriptions of land and sea. 

To the synopsis of The Ice Bridge:

Part love story, part moral fable, and part quest for home and heart, The Ice Bridge is a superbly crafted tale of love after love, a novel rich in atmosphere and infused with lyrical descriptions of land and sea.

Why was this book positioned as an erotic love story in Canada, and as a love story/moral fable in the States? In my opinion, “erotic love story” is pushing it a bit, but, sexual attraction and betrayal do play a big role in the story, and there is one sex scene in particular that is pretty darn steamy. In this post-Fifty Shades world, what is the American publisher afraid of but putting that out there?

Sexiness aside, the American title and cover are so BORING. I was really drawn to the cover of Anna From Away, but there’s nothing about The Ice Bridge that makes me want to read it.

I’m going to see if I can find anyone at Harper or Counterpoint who can tell me more. What do you think? The States just can’t handle all that maritime sexiness?

The Magic of Saida by M.G. Vassanji

Magic of Saida

My rating: 4.5/5 stars

Release Date: September 25, 2012

Publisher: Doubleday Canada

Thank you Brie of Eat Books for giving me a copy of this book.

Synopsis:

The Magic of Saida tells the haunting story of Kamal, a successful Canadian doctor who, in middle age and after decades in North America, decides to return to his homeland of East Africa to find his childhood sweetheart, Saida. Kamal’s journey is motivated by a combination of guilt, hope, and the desire to unravel the mysteries of his childhood–mysteries compounded by the fact that Kamal is the son of an absent Indian father from a well-to-do family and a Swahili African mother of slave ancestry. Through a series of flashbacks, we watch Kamal’s early years in the ancient coastal town of Kilwa, where he grows up in a world of poverty but also of poetry, sustained by his friendship with the magical Saida.

This world abruptly ends when Kamal is sent away by his mother to live with his father’s family in the city. There, the academically gifted boy grows up as a “dark Indian,” eventually going to university and departing for Canada. Left behind to her traditional fate is Saida, now a beautiful young woman. Decades later, Kamal’s guilt pulls him back to Kilwa . . . where we discovers what happened to Saida during a harrowing night of sinister rites. This complex, revelatory, sweeping and shocking book, is a towering testament to the magical literary powers of M.G. Vassanji.

This book humbled me, repeatedly.

When I read the blurb and saw “East Africa,” I thought, great! I just did a bunch of research on East African culture (for work,) so I am gonna get ALL the cultural references. I was hardly past the first page when I realized that, um, no. First of all, my research was on Somalia and Ethiopia, and East Africa encompasses way more than just those countries.  Continue reading →

A Reading Soundtrack

Not that I actually listen to music while reading (who does that?) but I love finding and imagining connections between songs and books. Here are some soundtrack suggestions for my recent reads.

Magic of Saida     K'Naan Troubadour

The Book: The Magic of Saida by M.G. Vassanji

The Song: Fatima by K’Naan

Anyone who listens to CBC Radio 2 probably got their fill of K’Naan during the last World Cup, but he’s got other incredible songs. I was singing this in the car (pity my children) when it hit me, just how closely the narratives of these two works match up. We have – childhood love, Arabic and Swahili languages, children displaced by the whims of adults, adults displaced by the whims of government, and a man who goes to North America, leaving the girl behind in Africa, probably in harm’s way. The book and the song are both romantic and tragic.

I fell in love with my neighbors daughter
I wanted to protect and support her
Never mind I’m just 12 and a quarter
I had dreams beyond our border.

The Cat's Table     Wake Owl Wild Country

The Book: The Cat’s Table by Michael Ondaatje

The Song: Wild Country by Wake Owl

I’m in love with this song. I’m in love with this book. Both are just dreamy, in the “I wanna stare at you all day” sense, and in terms of the style and imagery. To me, both are about memory and  fate, and how lives and hearts becomes intertwined.

What will become of the truth when we keep it in
things we don’t remember when they ask us when
we did the things that we learned we shouldn’t do again
what wasn’t learned from mistakes, we will make them

FrancesandBernard     Muse Madness

The Book: Frances and Bernard by Carlene Bauer

The Songs: Madness by Muse

This book devastated me. The kind of whirlwind romance that would take place over weeks or months today plays out over years, in letters between two writers. Love is shown to be beautiful, infuriating, and ultimately destructive. This is romance for grown ups. As for the song, my three year old says “It’s the song you like, mama” when this plays on the radio. Again, pity the children’s poor ears, because I belt this one out like nobody’s business.

Come to me
Just in a dream.
Come on and rescue me.
Yes I know, I can be wrong,
Maybe I’m too headstrong.
Our love is madness.

Moby Dick cover     Neko Case People Got A Lotta Nerve

The Book: Moby Dick by Herman Melville

The Song: People Got A Lotta Nerve by Neko Case

The awesome power of nature and man’s unwillingness to acknowledge it as such. I just started Moby Dick, but I think this might play into it…

You know
They call them “killer” whales
But you seem surprised
When it pinned you down to the bottom of the tank
Where you can’t turn around
It took half your leg, and both your lungs
And I craved I ate hearts of sharks
I know you know, that I’m a man, man, man
Man, man, man eater
But still you’re surprised-prised-prised when I eat ya

Moby Dick Read-A-Long: One Week Warning

Moby Dick Read-A-Long

One week till we set out to sea…

Here’s the sign-up post. Just leave me a comment and you’re entered to win a sweet Moby Dick t-shirt. You should probably also, like, read the book and participate in the Read-A-Long. Check that sign up post for details.

I’m planning an introductory post for next Monday to kick things off. Maybe you want to do one too. I’m going to write about:

  • What I know about Moby Dick before I start reading
  • What I’m looking forward to, and what I’m scared of
  • Thoughts about long/hard books in general

You can write about whatever you want. Maybe you have a really cool edition of the book? You’ve tried to read it before but didn’t make it? I’d love to hear about it!

Has anyone started reading yet? I have. I was between books, and I can’t start anything contemporary due to a massive book hangover (Frances and Bernard. READ IT.) and I don’t want to start any other classics, so, I’m getting a head start.

I leave you with 15-month old Henry, looking quite amazed as he reads his Babylit edition of Moby Dick (their website is wonky right now, so linking to their Facebook page.)

BabyLit Moby Dick

Book snob in the making

Classics Club May Meme

The Classics Club

I haven’t been answering the monthly questions (like, it’s a question, not a meme, right? Do I not understand what a meme is?) because while I like reading lists of top ten this, or favourite that, I’m not great at writing them. This month is pretty straightforward so I’ll give it a go:

Tell us about the classic book(s) you’re reading this month. You can post about what you’re looking forward to reading in May, or post thoughts-in-progress on your current read(s).

Rather than talk about Moby Dick, which is my next classic read, I want to rant a bit about The Turn of the Screw. I thought it would be the perfect quick read before I start a massive read. 100ish pages, author I love, gothic, yes please. I loved Portrait of a Lady. LOVED. Got angry when I watched the film adaptation because it WASN’T PERFECT LIKE THE BOOK. Anyway.

I found The Turn of the Screw so difficult to get into! I kept falling asleep while I was reading (yes, I was reading in bed, but still,) and I just didn’t get creeped out like I thought I would. The prose was just so thick. It was tough slogging with no payoff.

And just like with North and South, the free Kobo edition was quirky… lots of words were in ALL CAPS which didn’t feel right… I felt like I was reading Kayne West’s Twitter stream.  I’m looking at another edition online and it doesn’t have any words in all caps. What the hell? I’m gonna have to start shelling out $0.99 for these classics.

kanyes-caps-lock-policy-27705-1287784600-14

Classics Club and Kanye in one post. Yes.

It picked up a little at the end, say the last 20 pages or so, but I was already checked out by then.

Have you ever been disappointed by an author you love?