Response: [The Great Gatsby Revisited]

Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

I do have certain books I reread on a monthly basis. However, unlike Sonya, I only reread my favorite books. In other words, if I read a complex book, the chances are I would never try to reread it again. One of the books I reread is a book called Hatchet. Not only it's a simple read, but it's also action-packed as I like it. It's about a kid who is trapped in a no-man's island from an unexpected plane crash, who survived a whole 2 months on his own. Now that I think of it, I think I like books that contain vivid descriptions of the plot.

On the other hand, The Great Gatsby was not the kind of book I enjoyed. It was okay I guess, but to be honest, the sole reason I finished the book was to not to fall behind my class, and to do well on the essay. Plus, I thought the book was pretty straightforward, therefore I didn't see the need to reread it for a more precise understanding of the author's intention.

Howbeit, after reading the blog post, I have come to realize that I have missed many points regarding the allusion of the plot. I have only reached the thought to where The Great Gatsby was representing the futility of American Dream, whereas Sonya noticed that the lives of the characters in the book were acting as a mirror for ourselves.

Moreover, Sonya pointed out that Fitzgerald composed some excellent sentences throught the story. Honestly, I don't know if it is my ignorance that overlooked his apparent talent, or my reluctant attitude towards the reading, but I did not see anything special about his writing style. It's undeniably well written, but in fact, his sentences seemed only as good as any other authors I know. Here are the examples of some good sentences Sonya noticed.

Reserving judgments is a matter of infinite hope.

Two o’clock and the whole corner of the peninsula was blazing with light, which fell unreal on the shrubbery and made thin elongating glints upon the roadside wires.

He came alive to me, delivered suddenly from the womb of his purposeless splendor.

All the lights were going on in West Egg now; the electric trains, men-carrying, were plunging home through the rain from New York.  It was the hour of a profound human change.

No amount of fire or freshness can challenge what a man will store up in his ghostly heart.

Again, yes, they are well written, but I still have trouble recognizing what's so excellent about these sentences.

Finishing the blog post, I felt a bit ashamed of my ignorant attitude for overlooking the significance of rereading. The rest of the points Sonya tried to make did not appeal to me strongly, not because she was being unreasonable, but because I wasn't able to recognize the catches. Consequently, I should start doing so.