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Should make dinner but not sure what I want. Scrolled through flist and...
Regarding Doctor Who, what the heck is Valeyard? Or Vanyard? It's referred to in more than one post - as what they might be doing next year and who John Hurt might be, and I'm confused.

Date: 2013-05-20 09:57 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] flameraven.livejournal.com
I understand the ideas behind Gatsby, I just think that other writers have done it better. Gatsby is famous because it's one of the first books to talk about how pursuit of the American Dream in the form of material wealth is meaningless. Maybe reading that in the 20's was shocking. But reading it in 2013... all I can think is "Well, duh." Of course if you only pursue money your life is going to be pretty empty. Of course chasing after a girl you barely know after years and years is a futile chase.

I don't necessarily mind that all the characters are terrible people, but... I get the feeling from other reviews that Gatsby's futile chasing of his impossible dream is supposed to be sad and tragic? But I don't feel sad for Gatsby, I think "Yeah, you were an idiot, and it worked out badly. No one should be surprised." This may be my own pragmatism speaking. I have little sympathy or patience for people who sit around 'reaching out' for dreams instead of going out and acting to make them reality.

I was kind of hoping to see the movie, because there certainly are a lot of good parallels that could be drawn between that time period and the current one, and a modern movie has the hindsight to make use of that. But it sounds from reviews like they didn't, which is a shame.


Yeah, I can appreciate that Wrath of Khan was probably very impressive in 1982. Now... not so much. And having looked up some of the backstory, I still think they could have done better writing-wise. What you're telling me basically confirms that it's people's nostalgia that gives that movie its reputation, which is what I'd suspected.

Date: 2013-05-21 01:10 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] shadowkat67.livejournal.com
Like all things...there are people who hate The Great Gatsby and don't get the appeal, and people who found it haunting.

So, whenever you read a post about someone ranking on Game of Thrones? Just think about how you feel about the Great Gatsby? And well there you are.

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