Posted on 04/26/2013 1:58:11 PM PDT by Borges
“The Great Gatsby” has united generations of American readers with its crash-and-burn tale of empty elegance and impossible love on Long Island in the 1920s.
Now the novel is dividing the nation’s booksellers with dueling paperback editions: the enigmatic blue cover of the original and the movie tie-in book that went on sale Tuesday, a brash, flashy version with Leonardo DiCaprio front and center.
The new edition is timed with the 3-D film adaptation, directed by Baz Luhrmann and starring Mr. DiCaprio, that will arrive in theaters on May 10.
So far this year, sales of the paperback with the original jacket art — a glowing cityscape and a pair of floating eyes — have been extraordinary. On Thursday, it was the top-selling book on Amazon.com. At Barnes & Noble stores last week, no other paperback book sold more copies. It has landed on best-seller lists for independent bookstores.
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“It’s just God-awful,” Kevin Cassem, a bookseller at McNally Jackson, said on Tuesday. “ ‘The Great Gatsby’ is a pillar of American literature, and people don’t want it messed with. We’re selling the classic cover and have no intention of selling the new one.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Is it just me or was the book ridiculous and depressing?
It isn’t just you.
And the mere fact that the film stars Leonardo DiCrapio and was directed by Baz Luhrman would keep me from seeing it even if I did like the book.
Not as depressing as DiCaprio..
It’s a tragedy so ‘depressing’ depends on the context.
I don’t mind Leonardo’s acting. However, I cannot stand Tom Cruise.
It’s about empty people living empty lives, of course it’s going to be depressing, that’s the point
The story is ridiculous and depressing.
Like most “classics” it’s boring crap.
I am opposite, I can tolerate Cruise on a very limited basis but cannot stand DiCaprio.
What would you propose schools teach instead?
Dunno but who wants to read bone dry dull stuff like that?
Like trying to read Faulker. Just ugh.
Faulkner at his best is awesome and not remotely dry. TGG is not dull at all. It’s not plot-centric if that’s what you’re talking about.
Somehow looks like they have the female lead character right (Daisy?). Also DeCaprio does a good job looking like a gangster on the cover. Expected it to look laughable but I think DeCaprio does a great job actually. Maybe his hair stylist helped him accomplish the look. Maybe those poker games he was reportedly playing in helped him here.
Only a literati dingus gets worked up about a book’s cover. There’ve been a lot of covers for the book over the years. These guys need to get over themselves.
Thing is, the cover of Gatsby is just about as famous as the text itself. It’s a special case.
Well we can always pick books from the same time period: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/672954.All_Quiet_on_the_Western_Front
Or we can go for very, very old classics in very modern translations: http://www.amazon.com/Iliad-Homer/dp/0872203522/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1367011366&sr=8-1&keywords=iliad+stanley+lombardo
Every episode of VH1s old “Behind the Music” tells basically the same story. I like Gatsby but I don’t see it as necessary reading for anybody.
In an American Lit Class it’s an obvious choice. Short and pretty much perfect.
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