Just finished re-reading Gatsby and getting ready for classes.... I am interested in a few points. Naturally the philosophical components interest me. I especially noticed how Kant is mentioned, and how Gatsby was driven by a 'Platonic conception' of himself. I need to probe the Kantian connection further, as Fitzgerald refers to an anecdote on Kant that I don't recognize.
I liked this book, I found very moving and sad and I love the final line. I worry that my students may find it a bit difficult, but we'll see. Having said that, it is interesting to see how American literature seems to see the American experience as unique and like it is somehow a metaphysical reality of its own. I was really annoyed by the notion expressed towards the end that the Dutch who saw America for the first time somehow were the last humans to face something magnificent raw and wonderful - I think we still do everyday, and of course America was not by any means raw or new - magnificent and wonderful thought it was and remains so.
Another weird element is a hint of anti-Semitism, and the extreme oddness of Wolfshiem's company being called 'the Swastika....' ... and now I sail on.
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