![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Fitzgerald Vs. Hemingway
Jul. 19th, 2006 08:49 pmJust finished reading the Great Gatsby. I think I'm the only American who never had to read it in high school. And while I'm a big fan of F. Scott's short stories, I had my doubts about the G.G, which are pretty much the same doubts I have about a lot of widely-taught books: are they that great, or are they easily-teachable books?
But, I'm also big on the whole cultural literacy thing, and I noticed that G.G was written about the same time as Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises, plus F. Scotty and Old Ernie were around the same age (I think a year apart), but they had wildly different styles. Oh the fun to be had in comparing the two!
I didn't like G.G. as much as I've liked his other stuff. I don't know where Gatsby falls in Fitzgerald's portfolio, so I don't know how fair it is to view the story from that angle. The two, three or four adverbs pasted on to the front of sentences got tedious. Maybe there was a point to that, to show Nick becoming less and less enchanted with opulence around him, but for the most part it read like Fitzgerald was pulling an Opera-like stunt: Hemingway writes crappy, lifeless sentences so I will use all the adverbs he should be!
The odd thing was, a lot of his sentences for all their adverbal, abjectival, and latinate-al splendor were lifeless as well. Some of that, I think, may have been the times. One line, On the white steps an obscene word, scrawled by some boy with a piece of brick, stood out clearly in the moonlight. would have been stronger with that "obscene" word listed. From just "obscene word" it's hard to tell what the boy trying to say. 1925's publishing standards probably had more to do that word choice than Fitzgerald's artistry or mastery.
But... even with an out-loud curse, the sentence is still problematic. "Stood out clearly" could have been simplified to one terrific verb. Same thing with "some boy". Hooligan or brat. The biggest bummer was that the sentence came after a killer line, ...looked at that huge, incoherent failure of a house.... F. Scott! You came up with that first line, why did you settle for such common dreariness with the second?
G.G. and The Sun Also Rises had basically the same plot: Don't fall in love with a broad; she'll ruin ya. Drink a lot instead. The problem in both books was the stuff that happened during the Drink A lot portions weren't very interesting. Hemingway's guys fished. Fitzgerald's described handkerchiefs. Hemingway made a stab at being interesting with one insane run of dialogue that had his characters slashing Lincoln and Jefferson Davis. Fitzgerald had a running gag about a billboard with the enormous eyes of Dr. J. T. Eckle-something peering everywhere.
The two books also shared the odd POV of a 1st person narrative who was more a reporter of others' actions than involved in any of the plot. TSAR could have been called My Slutty Friend, Brett, and G.G. could have been called My Cousin and Her Friends Sleep Around On Each Other and Then Get Drunk and Start Drama At Parties. In Gatsby, readers don't get to see the major scenes: the car accident and the murder. Again, maybe it was a way to around publishers' standards for explicitness.
Overall, I liked the Great Gatsby better than I liked The Sun Also Rises, but I recommend Fitzgerald's short stories over either.
But, I'm also big on the whole cultural literacy thing, and I noticed that G.G was written about the same time as Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises, plus F. Scotty and Old Ernie were around the same age (I think a year apart), but they had wildly different styles. Oh the fun to be had in comparing the two!
I didn't like G.G. as much as I've liked his other stuff. I don't know where Gatsby falls in Fitzgerald's portfolio, so I don't know how fair it is to view the story from that angle. The two, three or four adverbs pasted on to the front of sentences got tedious. Maybe there was a point to that, to show Nick becoming less and less enchanted with opulence around him, but for the most part it read like Fitzgerald was pulling an Opera-like stunt: Hemingway writes crappy, lifeless sentences so I will use all the adverbs he should be!
The odd thing was, a lot of his sentences for all their adverbal, abjectival, and latinate-al splendor were lifeless as well. Some of that, I think, may have been the times. One line, On the white steps an obscene word, scrawled by some boy with a piece of brick, stood out clearly in the moonlight. would have been stronger with that "obscene" word listed. From just "obscene word" it's hard to tell what the boy trying to say. 1925's publishing standards probably had more to do that word choice than Fitzgerald's artistry or mastery.
But... even with an out-loud curse, the sentence is still problematic. "Stood out clearly" could have been simplified to one terrific verb. Same thing with "some boy". Hooligan or brat. The biggest bummer was that the sentence came after a killer line, ...looked at that huge, incoherent failure of a house.... F. Scott! You came up with that first line, why did you settle for such common dreariness with the second?
G.G. and The Sun Also Rises had basically the same plot: Don't fall in love with a broad; she'll ruin ya. Drink a lot instead. The problem in both books was the stuff that happened during the Drink A lot portions weren't very interesting. Hemingway's guys fished. Fitzgerald's described handkerchiefs. Hemingway made a stab at being interesting with one insane run of dialogue that had his characters slashing Lincoln and Jefferson Davis. Fitzgerald had a running gag about a billboard with the enormous eyes of Dr. J. T. Eckle-something peering everywhere.
The two books also shared the odd POV of a 1st person narrative who was more a reporter of others' actions than involved in any of the plot. TSAR could have been called My Slutty Friend, Brett, and G.G. could have been called My Cousin and Her Friends Sleep Around On Each Other and Then Get Drunk and Start Drama At Parties. In Gatsby, readers don't get to see the major scenes: the car accident and the murder. Again, maybe it was a way to around publishers' standards for explicitness.
Overall, I liked the Great Gatsby better than I liked The Sun Also Rises, but I recommend Fitzgerald's short stories over either.
