Can we talk about how Book Club debates always ignore the author's actual backstory

I was in a group last month arguing over whether Gatsby was just a rich jerk or a tragic hero, and nobody bothered to mention Fitzgerald based him on a real bootlegger he met in 1922. People keep pulling these high-minded literary takes but skip the straightforward stuff like why the book was even written. Why do we pretend knowing the simple facts from the author's life cheapens the discussion when it's the whole point?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_ryan1mo agoTop Commenter

Honestly isn't this just like how people argue over movies but never bother looking up the director's original script notes? It's the same thing with music too like everyone debates what a song means but skips the interview where the artist literally says what it's about.

karen_perry3829d ago

December 1922 isn't really the make or break detail for understanding Gatsby though. I've been in like 20 book clubs over the years and honestly half the time people just want to argue about the green light or whatever and that's fine. Fitzgerald's bootlegger friend doesn't change whether Daisy is a shallow person or not, it's just a fun trivia fact for the pub quiz. Sometimes the high minded takes are just people having fun with the text and that's okay too, you don't need the author's whole life story to have a good debate.

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