The Feminization of American Culture: Ann Douglas: 9780374525583: Amazon.com: Books

[malignd at aol.com]

I didn't say I didn't like it; I just think Gatsby is what keeps Fitzgerald in the discussion.  I haven't read Tender is the Night in a long time.  You're saying maybe I should.  I tend to miss or ignore symbolism; maybe you're right.  But the book packs a lot of stuff into not many pages.  And the writing is terrific.



-----Original Message-----
From: Kai Frederik Lorentzen <lorentzen at hotmail.de>
To: malignd <malignd at aol.com>; pynchon-l <pynchon-l at waste.org>
Sent: Mon, Oct 1, 2012 1:21 pm
Subject: Re: The Feminization of American Culture: Ann Douglas: 9780374525583: Amazon.com: Books


              

      > Gatsby is a marvel, but          it's one small book.
      
      While Gatsby always appeared symbolically overloaded to me      - "the green light at the end of the pier" and everything -, I      consider Tender is the Night to be one of the best      American novels ever. Fitzgerald's skills do better unfold on the      long distance. The rhythm, the experience of time. Here the author      treats some of his basic themes like love, addiction and psychosis      more convincingly than anywhere else in his work. And the book      really breathes the Mediterranean aroma. Although I read the novel      carefully several times, I still don't know how Fitzgerald manages      to evoke that positive feeling in the reader (the tenderness the      title mentions) until the very end despite everything - the second      water-ski scene is simply heartbreaking - falling into pieces.      It's really magic (I know no other word here). Together with Gravity's        Rainbow and Moby Dick it's my favorite American      novel.   
      
      What is it that you don't like about it?
      
      On 01.10.2012 00:15, malignd at aol.com wrote:
    
    
It's Faulkner for the 20th          century; for the first half, in a rout.  Hemingway wrote great          stories (so did Faulkner) but only one great novel, and that          was his first.  Try to read Across the River and Through the          Trees without laughing.  Gatsby is a marvel, but it's one          small book. Kerouac?  Please ....
      
    
    
  
 
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