Hey John, I dig this read a lot. I like how you moved through out the years and grew with the novel. Or the novel grew with you. How art, is living, as it grows with the collective it is part of. I only read it once, but, its lush language is one thing I remember enjoying a lot. Also, Lupe’s the Cool, that is a dope album, does that still follow you to day? Have you written a similar piece but with an album or song?
Thanks for reading man! Unfortunately, The Cool doesn’t get a lot of replay from me anymore but Tetsuo & Youth definitely does (which I feel is more sonically dynamic and, arguably, his best album).
I haven’t written anything similar about a specific song or album but I do have a couple of pieces that take you on a journey through my life via entertainment:
Beautiful and brilliant piece! Thank you for writing about the beauty and power that comes from reading the great gatsby. Like you I’ve reread the book a few times now. With each reading I’ll learn something new, something that rings true and touches my heart. Fitzgerald’s words shine like a light in my memory. “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us…” That final paragraph tears me up every time (I memorized it back in school.) I love how you’ve created a written collage of your various readings over time, “borne back ceaselessly into the past.” Some books just light up in our minds like spark; I agree with you that Gatsby is one of those stories. I’m grateful for the spark inside your brilliant writing. And thank you for mentioning me in your kind note. I loved reading your glowing tribute to the beloved story of Gatsby.
Thank you for reading! Appreciate the kind words and being able to discuss the merits of what still stands as my favorite book of all time. The final paragraph is possibly one of the greatest sequences in all of literature, second to only Shakespeare. It's a shame that Fitzgerald never got his due praise for this book during his lifetime.
Certainly a book with a lot of intertextual connections to classic American cinema. Citizen Kane, obviously.
And I'm not sure it's a coincidence that in Vertigo, green (and especially green light in a pivotal scene) seems to represent the protagonist's obsessive desire.
Tbh I never thought about any cinematic connections to The Great Gatsby (outside of the movie adaptations) so you pointing out the links to Citzen Kane is kind of blowing my mind right now lol. Haven't seen Vertigo yet but will definitely look out for that symbolic reference when I finally get around to watching it
This formatting flowed so well. These flashbacks felt cinematic. always interesting revisiting the works we love as we go through life. thanks for this good read!
Thank you! The Great Gatsby is one of the few things that has stayed with me during my life and provides a new lens each time I go through it so it felt natural to talk about it in this format. Appreciate you reading 🙏🏾
Hey John, I dig this read a lot. I like how you moved through out the years and grew with the novel. Or the novel grew with you. How art, is living, as it grows with the collective it is part of. I only read it once, but, its lush language is one thing I remember enjoying a lot. Also, Lupe’s the Cool, that is a dope album, does that still follow you to day? Have you written a similar piece but with an album or song?
Thanks for reading man! Unfortunately, The Cool doesn’t get a lot of replay from me anymore but Tetsuo & Youth definitely does (which I feel is more sonically dynamic and, arguably, his best album).
I haven’t written anything similar about a specific song or album but I do have a couple of pieces that take you on a journey through my life via entertainment:
On Tekken & Japan (https://johnoire.substack.com/p/noire-notes-iii)
On Nostalgia, Ultra & The Seven Songs That Defined Seven Moments Of My Life (https://johnoire.substack.com/p/life-told-through-rap-nostalgia-ultra)
Life Told Through Movie Soundtracks: A Collaboration With @Ricky Denham (https://johnoire.substack.com/p/noire-notes-vii)
Beautiful and brilliant piece! Thank you for writing about the beauty and power that comes from reading the great gatsby. Like you I’ve reread the book a few times now. With each reading I’ll learn something new, something that rings true and touches my heart. Fitzgerald’s words shine like a light in my memory. “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us…” That final paragraph tears me up every time (I memorized it back in school.) I love how you’ve created a written collage of your various readings over time, “borne back ceaselessly into the past.” Some books just light up in our minds like spark; I agree with you that Gatsby is one of those stories. I’m grateful for the spark inside your brilliant writing. And thank you for mentioning me in your kind note. I loved reading your glowing tribute to the beloved story of Gatsby.
Thank you for reading! Appreciate the kind words and being able to discuss the merits of what still stands as my favorite book of all time. The final paragraph is possibly one of the greatest sequences in all of literature, second to only Shakespeare. It's a shame that Fitzgerald never got his due praise for this book during his lifetime.
Certainly a book with a lot of intertextual connections to classic American cinema. Citizen Kane, obviously.
And I'm not sure it's a coincidence that in Vertigo, green (and especially green light in a pivotal scene) seems to represent the protagonist's obsessive desire.
Tbh I never thought about any cinematic connections to The Great Gatsby (outside of the movie adaptations) so you pointing out the links to Citzen Kane is kind of blowing my mind right now lol. Haven't seen Vertigo yet but will definitely look out for that symbolic reference when I finally get around to watching it
On a very basic thematic level, Vertigo is about a morally ambiguous protagonist obsessively driven to both escape from and relive the past.
Fantastic fuckin' piece.
Thank you 🙏🏾
Dope essay. I missed this one, glad I caught it.
This formatting flowed so well. These flashbacks felt cinematic. always interesting revisiting the works we love as we go through life. thanks for this good read!
Thank you! The Great Gatsby is one of the few things that has stayed with me during my life and provides a new lens each time I go through it so it felt natural to talk about it in this format. Appreciate you reading 🙏🏾