Ah, The Great Gatsby. I first read it the summer before my senior year of high school to prep for my AP English class. Then, read it again [for that class] right before graduation. I remember liking it back then and a vague sense of the storyline has lingered in my memory, but I didn’t list it among my favourites, nor was I moved to read any further works by Fitzgerald. But when I reread it this month for my bookclub, I couldn’t put it down.

If you haven’t yet read The Great Gatsby, or if it’s been a long time since you read it: pick a day this summer, go outside, and read this book. It’s less than 200 pages and will only take you a few hours. Even if you don’t like the plot or the characters, you won’t want to miss reading the words of a writer like Fitzgerald who chooses and lays each word out like a perfectly strung pearl necklace.

This story provokes all kinds of questions and thoughts, but I want to focus on Fitzgerald’s depiction of Gatsby as the one with an extraordinary gift for hope.

{Spoiler Alert} If you haven’t read the book or seen the movie, the rest of this post may give a few things away — I’m not going into specific plot points, but I do reference generalities about how the story ends.

First off, I’d like to posit that Gatsby is a Four on the Enneagram and that his story is a beautifully tragic warning for those whose hope would be hope for the wrong thing.* For someone with a “Four” personality (yes, I am one such), your inner world is more real than your outer world and dreams are your oxygen. Not surprising then, that much of the world’s art and beauty has been created by Fours, nor that many of the world’s tragic stories have Fours as their primary characters. Such is the case with Gatsby.

Nick [the narrator] introduces Gatsby by writing:

If personality is an unbroken series of successful gestures, then there was something gorgeous about him, some heightened sensitivity to the promises of life….This responsiveness had nothing to do with that flabby impressionability which is dignified under the name of the “creative temperament” – it was an extraordinary gift for hope, a romantic readiness such as I have never found in any other person and which it is not likely I shall ever find again. 

And Gatsby’s hope is a lived reality — he takes steps to make his dreams come true. Fitzgerald’s fluffy-seeming epigraph (then wear the gold hat, if that will move her…) becomes the tenuous poetic bridge Gatsby builds and walks across in hope of Daisy. And that is the heart-wrenching tragedy — Gatsby diminishes his extraordinary gift by locating it all in Daisy, who has no such corresponding receptivity to living hopes and dreams. His hope cannot grow in her and so it becomes a stillborn dream.

Another tragedy I noticed this time, particularly after watching Luhrman’s film, was that no one in Gatsby’s story can match or best him as a hoper or dreamer. If there were another such person in his life, he may have been challenged to broaden his dreams. Hopes and dreams need to grow, not diminish. But who can he turn to for advice or inspiration if everyone around him is merely aware of what’s within their grasp?

Hopes and dreams cannot live in the past, though they can be formed there. Hoping and dreaming is about possibility, expectation, the future. I’m beginning to see Nick as the possibly hopeful ending to Gatsby’s tragedy. Through the telling of the story, he seems to be catching on to the fact that we each carry the past within us, but our choices lie in the present, and our hopes in the future.

I think my favourite quote from the books is from page one: Reserving judgments is a matter of infinite hope. To me this speaks of holding space for hope — leaving room for dreams to breathe. And if Nick can say this after living through the story he’s about to tell, then I think he may have received a little of Gatsby’s gift.

*from T. S. Eliot’s Four Quartets; thanks to Michelle B. for noting the connection

What struck you about The Great Gatsby?

→Kindle-edition available here: The Great Gatsby

Gimme Some Gatsby

• Great Gatsby Giveaway – Win a Great Gatsby Penguin Books Pillow!
• F. Scott Fitzgerald Giveaway – Win an F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Art Print!
• Wear the Gold Hat – What do you think of The Great Gatsby epigraph?
• A Great Gatsby Reading – Carey Mulligan reads aloud an excerpt from the book.
• Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby Makes the Myth into a Man | FILM
• Make Your Own Gatsby Art – Get crafty with Fitzgerald. | STYLE
• Sparkling Ginger Mint Julep – Cheers to Gatsby! | OVEN

This post contains affiliate links.

A few months ago I found these brilliant art prints on Etsy that paired striking illustrations with an impressive list of eloquent quotes and now I get to offer one of Obvious State‘s creations as a giveaway in honour of F. Scott Fitzgerald.

What is Included in the Giveaway:

In keeping with Great Gatsby week, here’s a Gatsby-inspired travel moment.

The Lingering Power of Poetry

Back in May of 2007, I went to Europe for a month to visit a few friends. Starting in Spain, I spent a week with Kate & André and then, randomly decided to spend 36 hours in Basel, Switzerland before heading to Germany to see Taryn.

Everything about Basel was unknown to me — the language, the history, the people — so I simply wandered the streets and stopped when something looked interesting. One such something was the striking red building towering over the Marktplatz in the city centre — Rathaus (City Hall).

Rathaus | Basel, Switzerland 2007

Stepping through the gates, I looked up to behold this standing high above me:

gold-hatted | Basel, Switzerland 2007

Immediately a strange line flitted through my mind, something about a bouncing gold-hatted lover. What? Later I remembered it was from the epigraph to F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby:

Then wear the gold hat, if that will move her;
If you can bounce high, bounce for her too,
Till she cry “Lover, gold-hatted, high-bouncing lover,
I must have you!”

Though it is marked as being written by Thomas Parke D’Invilliers, it is actually a poem by Fitzgerald himself using the name of one of his characters from This Side Of Paradise.

Back in high school when I first read the epigraph, before beginning the book, it seemed bizarre and silly. Now, 16 years later (!) when I reread The Great Gatsby and finished the last page, I thought — yes, the epigraph says it just right, holds all the inexpressibleness of Gatsby together in those four oblique lines.

I love that a strange little poem popped into my mind ten years after reading it simply because I looked up and saw a gold-hatted statue while wandering in Basel. That’s the power of poetry. It sticks with you (perhaps because it can’t be thoroughly explained) churning at the back of your mind, reaching for connections.

Bet outside Rathaus (taken by a stranger after lots of pointing & nodding) | Basel, Switzerland 2007

I definitely recommend random stops whilst travelling. You never know what you’ll stumble upon.

What do you think of Fitzgerald’s gold-hatted poem?
Would you wear the gold hat?
Which of the characters do you think would answer yes?

→Kindle-editions available here: The Great Gatsby and This Side of Paradise.

Gimme Some Gatsby

• Great Gatsby Giveaway – Win a Great Gatsby Penguin Books Pillow!
• F. Scott Fitzgerald Giveaway – Win an F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Art Print!
• The Great Gatsby – Thoughts on hope and tragedy in the book.
• A Great Gatsby Reading – Carey Mulligan reads aloud an excerpt from the book.
• Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby Makes the Myth into a Man | FILM
• Make Your Own Gatsby Art – Get crafty with Fitzgerald. | STYLE
• Sparkling Ginger Mint Julep – Cheers to Gatsby! | OVEN

This post contains affiliate links.

Snuggle up with a classic novel — literally.

As I mentioned before, I’ve got a crush on vintage Penguin books. Imagine my delight when I found The Sewing Muse, who embroiders cushions to look just like them. And now one of you lucky readers gets to win a Penguin cushion in honour of the upcoming film release of The Great Gatsby!

What is Included in the Giveaway:

How to Enter the Great Gatsby Giveaway:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

You must leave at least one comment on this post in order to win. Giveaway runs from May 6th – 24th.

The Cushion

Get cozy with this handmade cushion based on the classic Penguin book cover of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, complete with all the pertinent details embroidered on the front, right down to the delightful satin-bellied penguin.

Measurements: 40cm x 25cm (approximately 15″ x 10″)
Cushion Padding: Duck Feather
Backside: Simple envelope style in a natural fabric with concealed zip

The perfect addition to your library or living room. Your Penguin collection doesn’t have to end with paperbacks, now you can start gathering Penguin pillows of your favourite books!

The Artist

Laura Muse hails from London where she works as a copywriter at an ad agency (she told me – think Peggy from Mad Men). Muse started her Etsy shop, The Sewing Muse, to share both her vintage finds and her own unique creations.

Her first Penguin cushion (Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own) was an inspired Christmas gift for a friend who already had a large Penguin books collection. It takes Muse around 20 hours to finish one and surprisingly, the bit that takes the longest is the border around “Penguin Books” at the top of the cushion.

The Sewing Muse offers custom orders so you can choose between the traditional orange or dark green colour bands and also pick your own book title. (Browse the first 1000 vintage Penguin paperbacks for some inspiration.)

Muse is currently sewing new cushion designs from vintage silks her boyfriend’s Grandma gave her, so be sure to check out her shop soon to see these beauties, as well.

» Follow The Sewing Muse on Etsy; you will be alerted when she’s added new items.

Gimme Some Gatsby

• F. Scott Fitzgerald Giveaway – Win an F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Art Print!
• The Great Gatsby – Thoughts on hope and tragedy in the book.
• Wear the Gold Hat – What do you think of The Great Gatsby epigraph?
• A Great Gatsby Reading – Carey Mulligan reads aloud an excerpt from the book.
• Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby Makes the Myth into a Man | FILM
• Make Your Own Gatsby Art – Get crafty with Fitzgerald. | STYLE
• Sparkling Ginger Mint Julep – Cheers to Gatsby! | OVEN

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. This giveaway has been sponsored by The Sewing Muse. I was in no way compensated to host this giveaway, and all opinions are my own as always.

photography by Mario Testino | Vogue 2013

I am getting a little too excited about Baz Luhrman’s upcoming Gatsby film. But I’m not alone. My bookclub is reading Fitzgerald’s novel in anticipation of the movie release next week. I found this gem of a video thanks to Cass (fellow bookclubber) who wanted to share Mario Testino’s amazing photographs of Carey Mulligan starring as Daisy. You get to see behind the scenes footage of Vogue’s photo shoot with Mulligan and even better, you get to hear her reading a selection from the book itself. Bravo Vogue.

Tom Shone’s accompanying article, Great Expectations: The Inimitable Carey Mulligan, is definitely worth a read. There were several quotes from cast and crew that portrayed they’d actually read the book, which I always appreciate. And beyond simply reading it, had a rich and embracing understanding of what could grow from the story.

For example, Luhrman says: Celebrity was just being born in the twenties, and Fitzgerald was fascinated with it. As simple as this statement is, it made me pause and think — he gets it; this is going to be fabulous. Maybe because what I take away from a Luhrman film is that he too is fascinated by the world and his creations issue forth from that fascination. So, if he and Fitzgerald are on the same page, perhaps he can accomplish on screen what Fitz accomplished on paper.

Baz Luhrman‘s over-the-top extravaganza approach paired with Gatsby glamour? Yes, please.

You still have time to read the book before the film comes out. It’s less than 200 pages. You can do it.

Kindle edition

Gimme Some Gatsby

• Great Gatsby Giveaway – Win a Great Gatsby Penguin Books Pillow!
• F. Scott Fitzgerald Giveaway – Win an F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Art Print!
• The Great Gatsby – Thoughts on hope and tragedy in the book.
• Wear the Gold Hat – What do you think of The Great Gatsby epigraph?
• Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby Makes the Myth into a Man | FILM
• Make Your Own Gatsby Art – Get crafty with Fitzgerald. | STYLE
• Sparkling Ginger Mint Julep – Cheers to Gatsby! | OVEN

This post contains affiliate links.

I am a visual person. As such I can be swayed by a good book design. I think that’s one reason it’s harder for me to embrace ebooks (though I do love that you can click on a word and go directly to its definition!) — they don’t have the visual allure of a hardback or paperback. A physical book can age, gain character, be affected by those it comes in contact with.

I am also a sucker for a good story (shocking, I know). Whether it’s finding out how important it was for Beatrix Potter to make her work available to the average person while still including quality colour illustrations or that Allen Lane, the founder of Penguin Books, published the first ten Penguin books in 1935 out of his desire to make good fiction both affordable and convenient.

I’ve long been attracted to the simple ageless design of the classic Penguin paperbacks. Discovering their origin story cemented my crush. I only have a handfull (literally) of vintage Penguins, but I look forward to finding more.

If you like Penguin books as much as I do, you won’t want to miss next week’s Gimme Some Reads giveaway. But while you’re waiting for that post, here’s a little more Penguin background and a proper Penguin gift guide.

What do the colours mean?

Like all good design, a lot of thought went into the look of the classic Penguin books. By creating quick visual connections, readers can easily find what they’re looking for. Watch this brief video to discover what the different colour bands signify on the vintage Penguin book covers.

Penguin Book Gift Guide

Beyond the vintage books themselves, which you can find online (AbeBooks, Etsy, or Ebay) or stumble across in person (used bookstores, thriftshops, or garage sales), I’ve gathered some fun Penguin gifts ideas for you. Enjoy!

• This Penguin Postcards set includes 100 classic book covers. Mail them to friends with a bit of your own writing or frame your favourite Penguin covers to display or to give as gifts.

• Enjoy your tea or coffee in a Classic Penguin Mug or one of your favourite Penguin Book Cover Mugs.

• If you can’t stay inside drinking tea and reading when it’s raining at least you can still take a Penguin with you. Choose between a clear classic bubble umbrella or the black “wink ink” umbrella that only shows the Penguin emblem when it’s rained on.

• Classic Penguin Tote

• In Penguin By Design, Phil Baines covers 70 years of Penguin book history — and yes, there are plenty of pictures inside. Currently on my Amazon wishlist, I hope to have it on my bookshelf soon.

And because it’s always good to start ‘em young…

• Penguin Onesies available in three styles and various colours:
  • Future Reader: white, black, grey, yellow, blue, pink
    (Future Reader Bib also available)
  • Born to Read: white, black, grey, yellow, blue, pink
  • Future Writer: white, black, grey, yellow, blue, pink

• You can also get Future Reader/Writer duo packs in white/black, blue/grey, and pink/white.

P.S. The word “Penguin” gets funnier the more you write and say it.
Go on…try it.

This post contains affiliate links.

oh spring! | Kansas City, MO 2010

Poetry lends itself to nature — its subtlety, simplicity, and attention to detail exemplify the visual it describes — so, it’s not surprising to find that many spring quotes come from poems of spring or that poets can’t help but put their pen to paper in homage to spring.

Oh to experience what Langston Hughes captured so well: I stuck my head out the window this morning and spring kissed me bang in the face.

Spring, From the Mouths of Poets

raindrops on roses | Kansas City, MO 2009

Langston Hughes, April Rain Song:

Let the rain kiss you.
Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops.
Let the rain sing you a lullaby.

William Shakespeare, Sonnet 98:

proud pied April, dressed in all his trim,
Hath put a spirit of youth in every thing.

e. e. cummings, Who Knows if the Moon’s:

it’s
Spring)and everyone’s
in love and flowers pick themselves

Emily Dickinson:

A little Madness in the Spring
Is wholesome

T. S. Eliot, The Wasteland:

APRIL is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
Winter kept us warm, covering
Earth in forgetful snow, feeding
A little life with dried tubers.

the way of the magnolia | Kansas City, MO 2010

Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters of Rainer Maria Rilke:

Everything is blooming most recklessly; if it were voices instead of colors, there would be an unbelievable shrieking into the heart of the night.

Can you guess which is my favourite? That’s right — Rilke wins every time. Even his correspondence is poetry; and his words like seeds hold entire worlds.

do you have any favourite lines or poems of spring?

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spring begins to show her face | Lawrence, KS 2008

As Rilke so aptly wrote:

It is spring again. The earth is like a child that knows poems by heart.

Here in Kansas City, it seems like magically over the weekend spring has finally begun to show her face. Sunday morning I was delighted to find these lovelies blooming in my backyard.

Glory-of-the-Snow flowers (Chionodoxa)

I planted them last fall, but hadn’t seen any sign of them — just a trunk full of dry dirt and the dead leftovers of my basil. Then, suddenly a glowing bunch of Glory-of-the-Snow appeared — such a radiant name for these tiny delicate flowers that always have an inner glow.

Spring in a Few Well-Chosen Words

Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre:

Spring drew on . . . and a greenness grew over those brown [garden] beds, which, freshening daily, suggested the thought that Hope traversed them at night, and left each morning brighter traces of her steps.

Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina:

Spring is the time of plans and projects.

the kind of spring day that breathes into you an ineffable yearning | Kansas City, MO 2010

John Galsworthy, The Forsyte Saga:

It was such a spring day as breathes into a man an ineffable yearning, a painful sweetness, a longing that makes him stand motionless, looking at the leaves or grass, and fling out his arms to embrace he knows not what.

e. e. cummings, in Just-:

it’s spring when the world is [mud-luscious and] puddle-wonderful

everything can be seen, with the right eyes | Co. Kilkenny, Ireland 2009

I’m curious about Galsworthy’s Forsyte Saga; will have to add it to my ever-growing list of books to read.

Anyone read or watched The Forsyte Saga? Thoughts?
What are your favourite spring quotes?

» Don’t miss last month’s spring quotes post — Spring is Coming.

→Kindle-editions available here: Jane Eyre, Anna Karenina, The Forsyte Saga, e. e. cummings, Rainer Maria Rilke.

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highland gloaming | Luss, Scotland 2005

I’m intrigued by words that define a “between” moment and often need to remind myself that between-times can be beautiful. Like last week’s word, nascent, which describes something coming into existence — budding, but not yet in full bloom. Or one of my all-time favourite words – gloaming, which so aptly names that time after sunset and before dark.

a hyde park gloaming | Kansas City, MO 2008

gloam·ing (noun)

I love that poets revived the word and kept it alive.

Robert Burns:

Gie me the hour o’ gloaming grey,
It makes my heart sae cheery O’…

Rev. William Buchanan:

But of the whole day I prefer, for my part,
the quiet hour that brings in the gloaming–
the calm and the beautiful gloaming!

Robert Gemmell:

O gloaming, thou hast richly shed
A gladness over me,
As thy pale mantle thou hast spread
Alike o’er land and sea;
And while I’ve wandered forth alone
In thy sweet tranquil hour,
I’ve soared in thought to worlds unknown
Through thy enchanting power.

gloaming over lake wakatipu | New Zealand 2010

No matter how subtle the gloaming appears, its magic is never lost. Some nights it’s bright and colourful; some nights it barely hints at light. Either way it always manages to be the visual representation of a longing sigh.

Oh gloaming. Yet another word I wish was a part of our everyday vocabulary. I’m sure it sounds more fitting with a Scottish accent.

» Read previous {word wednesday} posts: Nascent, Bedeck, Bedizen & Festoon Yourself, Fillip, anyone?; No Name Calling Here; Saints & Milksops; Do you funk fluffles? and more…

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sunny daffy | Kansas City, KS 2008

{monday melodies} songs to start your week

Spring always seems like a good time to restart and try again. A time of new beginnings. It can be easy to think of time wasted and time lost, because we don’t know how much time we will be given. But it is the unknown that holds possibility and hope.

All this thinking brought to mind Cat Power’s song, Nothing But Time, from her Sun album. Here are some of the lyrics that struck me:

I see you, kid, alone in your room
You got the weight on your mind
And you’re just trying to get by
Your world is just beginning
And I know this life seems never-ending
It’s up to you, It’s up to you, you know
It’s only time, it ain’t got nothing on you
It’s nothing but time, and it ain’t got nothing on you

Never, never give away your friends
Never, never give away what you always wanted
Never, never ever give in

Your world is just beginning

Cat Power’s melancholy songs more often spark nostalgia, so I particularly appreciate this song that reminds me that so much still lies ahead.

» Listen to Cat Power’s Nothing But Time song.

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