I was recently in a used bookstore in my hometown when I was browsing the fiction section of the store and saw laying on a shelf The Great Gatsby. I immediately thought that it would be the perfect book to do a book to movie comparison. I read the book in high school in one of the many literature classes that I took. I was a total nerd, I admit it. That and I was trying to avoid and English class that I possibly could, who really needs to know what a past participle is once they leave high school. I couldn’t wait to read it again and watch the movie.
This book is an American Classic. Celebrating the 95th anniversary of the book. I was looking forward to watching and seeing how Hollywood put their spin on it. The story opens slightly off the story with Nick Callaway in an insane asylum of sorts. They want him to write about his experiences with Jay Gatsby. He is having problems talking about what happened to him. That is when his doctor asked didn’t he like to write. He suggests writing about what he experienced. Nick took that idea and ran with it. What I thought was awesome with this was it was, in fact, the actual story that he was telling. Word for word from the actual book that he was typing down with his typewriter. I at times actually reverted to my book to check the accuracy and low and behold. Especially the end the movie ended on the last 14 words of the book.
The movie is aesthetically pleasing to the eye. The costumes are gorgeous and have given me a few ideas for future Halloween costumes for me, not that I ever go to adult-only Halloween parties. Gatsby’s home is grand and is even grander than anything I could have ever imagined from the book. The grounds are sprawling and filled with grandeur. The one thing that I did appreciate was the fact that not much was taken and spun to a Hollywood take. The storyline was kept remarkably intact. All in all, I think that they did a marvelous job of bringing an American Classic to life. However, as much as it pains me to say this, skip the book and watch the movie and you will probably get more out of it if not more.
Pick your copy of The Great Gatsby on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or check your local bookstore. Also pick up your copy of The Great Gatsby film on Amazon or your local store.
