Chapter 9

What do we take away?  Does this last chapter change our sense of the tragedy, or simply add depth and nuance?  Which parts did you like in particular?

Chapter 8

Is this chapter climax or denouement?  Despite the action, denouement is what it feels like to me.  What do you think?  And what about that strange passage about how grotesque a rose is, and how raw the sunlight on the grass?  I myself was moved, as I always am.  The details of the plot are less important than the pathos of the tragedy.  The twentieth century may be the century of nostalgia; it is also the century of tragedy.  My Antonia is a wonderful exception; every other book we will read from the past hundred years, from "The Beast in the Jungle" to Song of Solomon, is clearly a tragedy.  Gatsby could have avoided his fate, perhaps--but he had made his choices long ago...

Chapter 7

A very, very packed chapter.  Drama at the Plaza on Nick's birthday.  A lot was happening under the surface: what was the upshot?  And THEN the somewhat confusing events after they leave the Plaza!  Finally, the touching scene at Tom and Daisy's.  What do you make of it all?

Chapter 6

Well?

Chapter 5

Funny and touching scenes! What did you like?  What didn't you understand?  What were your reactions?  Is the architecture of the book becoming clear?

Chapter 4

What do you think?  Gatsby becomes even more intriguing!  How is Fitzgerald (or Nick, depending on how you look at it) choreographing the reader's experience?  What about Gatsby as a lens (what are we learning about Nick and others by the ways in which they see Gatsby?)?  What else?

Chapter 1

What do you think so far?

One thing that's going on is Fitzgerald's casually flashy writing.  Check out the way he creates, in the most offhand way, in a phrase, surreally heightened impressions.  What's your favorite turn of phrase?