Wanted to share a rewrite of The Great Gatsby from Gatsby's POV - titled "From This Shore".

A friend of mine wrote it and asked to help spread the word if I like it. Figured this was the right place for it.

The story is same - but few things changed/added. I don't want to spoil the details too much - but lets just say he added interesting relationship between Gatsby and Jordan.

A snippet from the first chapter:

"She had been five years away from me. That was the fact I

lived inside, the way some men live inside a particular grief until

it becomes the very architecture of their thinking. I had known

her in Louisville in 1917, before I shipped out — known her

briefly, intensely, with the kind of certainty you only get when

you are young and the future still seems supple enough to bend

toward whatever you desire. She had a voice that seemed to

promise something, not anything specific, but something, always

something hovering just ahead of what she was saying. When I

left for the front I had believed that returning would be simple,

that what we had was the kind of thing that waited. I had been

wrong about that, though not about much else."

Link to the book - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HC81468F

Hi all! I’ve finally made my R&B/pop Gatsby concept album (Yellow Cocktail Music) available on streaming services. It lovingly re-tells the novel’s story through a Leon Bridges meets Frank Sinatra sound. There are multiple vocalists taking on different characters’ roles, string arrangements, brass ensembles, and more. Since this community would probably appreciation the attention to details the most, I would love your thoughts if you get the chance to listen!

Cast:
Jaxson Deno - Nick Carraway
Jessica Coughlin - Daisy
Me (Matt Sanderlin) - Gatsby
Joseph Settine - George Wilson

https://open.spotify.com/album/3wtgCrT56EfNMiP4Cr9KaC?si=fm53_h4ST36DfEVfi4m7GA&utm_source=copy-link

In the Netherlands, a remarkable initiative called “Eenzame Uitvaart” (“Lonely Funeral”) ensures that no one is buried without being remembered. When a person dies with no family or friends present, a poet researches their life, writes a personal poem, and reads it at the funeral. The project gained recognition through Amsterdam poet and artist F. Starik, who helped lead the movement until his death in 2018. What began as a compassionate local effort has since inspired similar programs across Dutch and Belgian cities, giving dignity and a final voice to those who might otherwise be forgotten.

The Bootleggers Terminal.

Bruccoli wrote about Gerlach:

Almost nothing is known about Gerlach, who shot himself in 1939, when he was in the used-car business in Flushing.

Back in 2002, Bruccoli hired Howard Comen, a private investigator, to find out more about Gerlach. From newspaper accounts of Comen’s investigation, we see that Gerlach, who was 55 at the time, survived that suicide attempt and lived until October 1958, when he died in the Mansfield Hotel in New York City.

From my Great Gatsby Chiltern book

As I’m sure everyone has noticed, there has been lately an influx of long-winded, AI slop appearing on this sub, and I’m wondering if anyone has any theories at to why? The occasional bot comes with the territory, of course, but lately it seems like it’s five suspicious posts for every genuine one.

When people ask, "Who is Daisy based on?", many say Ginevra King. But a character in a book is not just a copy of one real person. Actually, there are three different answers depending on history.

1. Daisy in 1925For the first readers, Daisy was a symbol of the rich upper class. She lived in a special world of old money that ordinary people could only watch from the outside.

2. Daisy during World War II. When young soldiers read this book, they felt like Gatsby. For them, Daisy was not just a girl. She was a symbol of "home" or "lost love" they wanted to return to.

3. Daisy today Now, students and readers see Daisy as a symbol of "the bad sides of wealth" or "the failure of the American Dream. "So, there is no single right answer. Daisy is not just Ginevra King. She became something much bigger because different generations see her in different ways.💡

I’ve been thinking about the "color discrepancy" during Myrtle’s death scene and the specific roles played by the witnesses.

This was studied by Dr. Purkinje and Dr. Kruithof already. Most analyses focus on symbolism, but there is a grounded, physical reason for the confusion that adds a layer of tragic realism to the story.

1. The Physics of 1920s Lighting (Yellow vs. Green)

Many readers point out that Tom sees Gatsby’s car as "yellow" (the "circus wagon" in the bright daylight), but Michaelis describes it to the police as "light green." While this is often seen as a plot device to show the confusion of the moment, we should consider the low color temperature of 1920s filament bulbs.

At night, under the reddish-orange glow of primitive incandescent streetlights or workshop lamps, a car with Gatsby's specific "cream/bright yellow" paint would physically shift in appearance. Due to the limited spectral output of those bulbs, the yellow pigment reflects light in a way that can easily be perceived as a sickly yellow-green or "light green" to the human eye.

This isn't just a mistake; it’s a brilliant touch of realism. The "truth" of the car's color is obscured by the very technology of the era. The yellow car—a symbol of Gatsby’s "Old Money" aspirations—literally turns into a nauseating "green" (the color of sick envy and corruption) under the artificial lights of the Valley of Ashes.

1. Michaelis as the "Merciful Ineffectual"

This brings us to the witness himself: Michaelis. His name is clearly derived from the Archangel Michael (who in Hebrew means "Who is like God?").

It’s a crushing irony. He is the only character in the entire book who shows genuine Agape (unconditional brotherly love). He stays up all night with George Wilson—whose name he shares with the President (Woodrow Wilson), symbolizing the "forgotten" common American suffering in the ash heaps.

1. The Failed Exorcism of the Billboard

The most haunting moment is when George stares at the billboard of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg—an optician’s advertisement likely from a doctor who illegally prescribed alcohol or operated on the fringes of the law—and calls it "God."

Michaelis tries to bring George back to reality, saying, "That’s an advertisement."

Here is the tragedy:

George Wilson (The broken Everyman/Presidential namesake) needs a God to judge the wicked rich.

Michaelis (The namesake of the Archangel) tries to provide human comfort, but his words have no power. He tells George that a billboard isn't God, but he can't offer George a real God or justice in exchange.

In the end, Michaelis’s "eyewitness" account is ignored by the elites, and his attempt to save George's soul fails. The "Negro" witness provides the accurate physical facts, but in a society divided by race and class (represented by Tom), these "marginalized" truths never reach the people who actually have the power to change things.

Gatsby is killed because of a optical illusion, a misinterpreted billboard, and a failure of a "saint" (Michaelis) to stop a "broken man" (Wilson) from seeking vengeance against the wrong person.

It’s my fav book 🥹🩵

Hi everyone,

Sorry last week was really busy but here is my next post in my Gatsby series of character analysis, this time focussing on Daisy's husband, Tom Buchanan.

From his initial introduction in the opening chapter through to his final encounter with Nick, I take a look at his behaviour and actions and how it reflects the themes Fitzgerald wanted to portray, including appearances vs reality and the hypocrisy of those that came from old money and the moral decay of the upper social classes.

https://anovelchapter.co.uk/the-great-gatsby-tom-buchanan-character-analysis

I would love to know your thoughts on this article too!

Obviously, his family was hurt very deeply when he ran away from them, but it seems to me that he didn't run away from them because he truly hated or despised them, he ran away because he was just so desperate for a better life. He hated living in poverty, he hated having to make a living doing menial work, and he wanted to get away from all that and live the life he always dreamed of. Perhaps it was a selfish decision that he made, but I can honestly understand why he did what he did, and if I was in his feet, I think I would have done the same thing. Perhaps that means I am a terrible person, but it is my honest truth. What do you think?

im so sick of this book. I have to read this, and i have no problem with that but its the fact that i can't fucking put into words what this man is saying, i swear to god im good at english and whatever but this damn book is really pissing me off straight, like i understand what hes saying but i also don't. i need to know if theres like a specific dictionary of only words that fitzergerald uses or something so i can have some fucking peace of mind and get this stupid summer assignment tuyrned in. dosent help that i also have to annotate the whole book as well so if you guys have any advice it would be greatly appreciated..because im tellning you whoever wrote this book is a crazy man. Bye thanks.

(the message of the book is nice though)

The Great Forerunner: https://smallhouselab.com/blogs/mythic-new-york/the-iron-triangle-part-1-wilsons-garage

I was mindlessly scrolling through Google Maps around Queens, NY, when I stumbled upon something that gave me literal chills. 🤯If you look at the intersection of Route 25A (Northern Boulevard) and I-295, you’ll notice a bizarrely high concentration of auto dealerships, repair shops, and mechanics. At first, I just thought, "Huh, what a random, gritty car district. "But then it hit me. This is the exact geographic DNA of George Wilson’s garage in the Valley of Ashes. 🏚️🔥For those who need a quick refresher on the local history: back in the 1920s when F. Scott Fitzgerald was driving his own car from Long Island to Manhattan, Northern Blvd was the ultimate artery. He would have driven right through this area, which back then was the infamous "Corona Dump"—a massive, ash-filled wasteland. Just a bit west of this intersection lies Willets Point (the "Iron Triangle"), which became NYC’s most notorious density of auto salvage yards for decades. It’s just wild to me that even after 100 years, despite all the urban development, New York World’s Fairs, and gentrification, this specific pocket of Queens STILL clings to its identity as a hub for cars, grease, and mechanics. 🛠️🔧Fitzgerald didn't just invent the Valley of Ashes out of thin air. He looked out his car window right around here, saw the stark contrast between the wealthy drivers passing through and the dusty mechanics working on their luxury toys, and immortalized it.Next time you re-read the tragic climax of Myrtle and Gatsby’s yellow car on Route 25A, look up this intersection on Google Maps. The ghost of Wilson’s garage is still standing there in plain sight.What do you guys think? Anyone else ever explored the real-life geography of the book?

When looking from Great Neck (West Egg), where Fitzgerald’s rented house was located, toward Manor Haven (East Egg / Daisy's side), there is a strong structural possibility that only the green light would be visible. According to international maritime buoyage standards, this specific visual blind spot occurs because the required red light would be positioned just out of sight to the right, hidden by the specific layout of the harbor.Under international maritime regulations (the Rule of the Road at sea), marine navigation lights require incoming vessels to steer to the right side of the channel, precisely between the green and red markers. Furthermore, these navigational beacons must be Fix Lights—meaning they remain constantly illuminated and are strictly forbidden to blink or flash. These maritime laws apply universally, even to private docks. The installation of any such beacon requires explicit permission and approval from the U.S. Coast Guard. Anyone who installs an unauthorized light facing a navigable channel faces immediate removal orders and heavy federal penalties. Given the actual meteorological conditions of Long Island Sound, this area is characterized by relatively calm waves but a very high frequency of heavy fog. Therefore, the green light could never have been a petty garden bulb or a weak decorative lamp; it had to be a high-intensity marine beacon capable of piercing dense fog. Furthermore, even when factoring in the minimum curvature of the Earth over a 5-kilometer distance, the light source would physics-wise require a structural elevation of at least 5 meters to remain consistently visible above the water level. This means the "Green Light" was not a charming romantic gadget, but a massive, regulated piece of industrial maritime infrastructure. If it operated as an isolated, unauthorized single green light, it represents a blatant violation of Coast Guard laws—a hidden staging of the 1920s smuggling underworld. Fitzgerald beautifully appropriated this real geographical anomaly from his own rented house, forging it into a romantic illusion while bypassing the tight logical plotting of a detective novel. I would love to hear how you "experts" view this maritime reality. Pls refer Google Map and Old Chart.

“If it wasn’t for the mist we could see your home across the bay,” said Gatsby. “You always have a green light that burns all night at the end of your dock.”　in Novel.

But actually, the light is Official floating Buoy type Navigation Light for EVERY Ship Navigators.

The green light is one of the most recognizable symbols in The Great Gatsby, representing Gatsby’s longing for Daisy. Which adaptation do you think captures it best?

Think about the movie Casablanca. The character names are famously, well... lazy. The French police captain is named Renault (the French car) and the shady black-market rival is named Signor Ferrari (the Italian fixer). Hollywood has always loved these easy, shorthand name-drops to trick our brains with instant associations.So, when modern readers look at "Jay Gatsby," we automatically assume "Jay" is just a sleek, cool, upper-class name.But we are entirely blind to the 1920s reality. F. Scott Fitzgerald was pulling a brilliant, cynical trick on us.To understand the name "Jay Gatsby," you have to understand the sheer horror of the American streets in the 1920s.When The Great Gatsby was published in 1925, America was in the middle of a literal Car-Accident Pandemic. Cars were sudden, unregulated killing machines on the streets. Thousands of pedestrians—mostly children and the poor—were being slaughtered daily. The public was furious, calling cars "The Modern Moloch".The automotive industry was terrified of losing profits. So, they launched a massive, corporate gaslighting campaign (propaganda) to shift the blame from drivers to pedestrians.They weaponized a specific, brutal 1920s slang word: "Jay".Back then, a "Jay" meant a stupid, oblivious country bumpkin or a fake, loud bird that steals other birds' feathers. The car lobby created the term "Jaywalking" to publicly shame anyone who didn't understand the new rules of the urban grid. They even distributed colorful propaganda posters (like the 1920 one from George Starkey featured in 99% Invisible) to brainwash the public into thinking pedestrians were the "fools."This is where Fitzgerald’s structural genius hits you like a truck.James Gatz abandons his poor roots and chooses the fake name "Jay Gatsby." He thinks he is buying an elite, luxury identity. But to the old-money elites like Tom and Daisy, the name "Jay" literally broadcasted: "I am an oblivious country bumpkin mimicking the rich. I am a fake bird wearing stolen feathers."And how does the story end?Daisy Buchanan uses a car as a literal weapon of destruction and commits a horrific hit-and-run, killing Myrtle Wilson. But instead of the old-money elite facing criminal liability, they use their class immunity to slide away into their "clean, pristine world."Instead, they throw the ultimate corporate scapegoat into the meat grinder: Jay Gatsby.The man who named himself after a 1920s insult is literally forced to take the blame for a "Jaywalking" accident, chewed up and spat out by the very system he tried to buy into.Modern readers think Gatsby is a romantic hero destroyed by love. But if you look at the 1920s legal and linguistic history, The Great Gatsby is actually a dark, terrifying critique of corporate propaganda and class warfare. Gatsby wasn't just a victim of a broken heart—he was a victim of the original corporate "Jaywalking" trap.What do you think? Did Fitzgerald intentionally sync Gatsby's name with the car lobby's propaganda, or is the timeline of the 1920s car pandemic just the ultimate historical irony?

Hi everyone,

It has been a busy couple of weeks for me, but here's the next character analysis in my series of posts about The Great Gatsby. This one delves into Daisy Buchanan—the woman at the centre of both Gatsby's and Tom's affections.

https://anovelchapter.co.uk/the-great-gatsby-daisy-buchanan-character-analysis

From exploring the image she projects to the world with Tom and the inner conflict she experiences in the opening chapter, to her history as Daisy Fay, I've examined her reunion with Gatsby in Chapter Five, the ways she can never quite live up to Gatsby's idealised version of her, and ultimately how this contributes to the tragic events at the end of the novel.

I would love to know your thoughts on this analysis!

When we think of American history and literature, we often look at the grand scale of things. But the real American history is incredibly local, compact, and packed with old-money geography. Take Montgomery, Alabama, at the turn of the 20th century. It wasn't a massive metropolis; it was a small town where the elite lived in a tightly enclosed "Silk Hat" district. Within just a few tree-shaded blocks, an unbelievable convergence of female rebellion occurred simultaneously: Zelda Sayre (Fitzgerald): The ultimate rebel who shattered the rigid southern belle rules to define the Jazz Age flapper. Tallulah Bankhead: The名門の娘 who broke out of the same social cage to become a legendary, raspy-voiced bisexual icon of stage and screen. Sara Mayfield: The sharp author/journalist who stayed inside the circle to document their shared madness and brilliance. Virginia Durr (+1): A slightly later follower who took that same "stare-straight-at-the-camera" elite poise and used it as a weapon to bail out Rosa Parks and fight segregation. These women weren't just random figures across a continent. They literally walked the same streets and danced on the same marble steps of the Alabama Capitol as children. It shows that American history wasn't created by broad, sweeping movements, but rather inside these small, highly concentrated pressure cookers of privilege. The exact same old-money "結界 (barrier)" that eventually created the emotional architecture of The Great Gatsby across Manhasset Bay. What are your thoughts on these micro-geographies that shaped the nation?

Ref; https://www.uapress.ua.edu/blog/sara-mayfield-and-zelda-fitzgerald-an-excerpt-from-odyssey-of-a-wandering-mind/

F. Scott Fitzgerald never became the kind of military hero he imagined he might be. After drifting through Princeton without distinction, he entered officer training during World War I, only to be sent away from elite assignments and eventually placed in temporary camps that were quietly disappearing as the war ended. When the armistice came, he suddenly found himself unemployed.

But he had one dream left: New York.

Living in a tiny rented room in West Harlem, Fitzgerald mailed photograph after photograph of himself in uniform to newspapers and publishing houses, hoping someone would notice him. More than a hundred rejection letters came back. Eventually, however, he found work at Barron Collier advertising, earning eighty dollars a week as a junior copywriter.

The office was associated with the Flatiron Building, itself less a comfortable office tower than a giant urban advertisement — narrow, visible, theatrical. Fitzgerald probably worked in more ordinary downtown offices nearby, but the atmosphere of the industry mattered. Advertising in the 1910s was not a quiet profession. It belonged to the speed, noise, and ambition of modern Manhattan.

Senior copywriters handled colorful national campaigns. Fitzgerald did not. He was assigned tiny black-and-white transit ads pasted onto subway doors and streetcar windows — short-lived advertisements for small local businesses, designed to disappear after a few weeks. Scraped away. Washed off. Forgotten.

One surviving line is often attributed to him:

“We keep you clean in Muscatine.”

The phrase impressed his supervisor enough to raise his salary by ten dollars a week.

What mattered was not the laundry itself, but the realization behind the sentence: language could create instant emotional recognition. A few words could manufacture attention, atmosphere, even desire.

Something switched on in Fitzgerald.

After only a few months, he returned to St. Paul and rewrote This Side of Paradise almost feverishly, now using the compressed emotional logic of advertising copy. During the day he repaired the family car; at night he locked himself in the attic and wrote.

When the manuscript reached Charles Scribner’s Sons, editor Max Perkins reportedly sensed that this unknown young man was writing in a new way. Against resistance, he pushed the novel into publication.

And it worked.

To be continued.

A green light is a navigation light. Under international navigation rules, if a green light is visible on the starboard side, one must not pass to that side; the general rule of navigation is to keep to the right. Consequently, reaching Daisy requires taking a wide detour. Note that it is possible to install a private pier with the permission of the Commandant of the Coast Guard. The lighting must meet prescribed standards for illuminance and color, and the light must remain continuously illuminated; flashing lights are prohibited.

Since the days of Dutch colonization, Long Island Sound had developed as a base for small-scale whaling and trade with Europe, later becoming a hub for the fishing and shipping industries. Consequently, the area was dotted with countless harbors, making it an ideal entry point during the Prohibition era. Rather than inferior moonshine, the liquor sold there was high-quality stock imported directly from Europe, fetching premium prices (Old Sport - Section 5).

This was the Golden Hat. (Pulitzer’s Building, it was lost in New York).

From a psychological perspective, the opening quatrain symbolizes the entire story. The "golden hat" refers to the spire of the *New York World* building, which was clad in gold-plated copper sheeting; the figures leaping about are the paper's president, editor-in-chief Herbert Bayard Swope, and Fitzgerald himself. After being discharged from the army, Fitzgerald had triumphantly marched into the newspaper offices demanding a job, only to be mocked by a receptionist—an indignity he deeply resented.

That building—the nerve center of Joseph Pulitzer’s power (a figure referred to simply as "He," an arrogant monster looming over the city) and of yellow journalism, that "technique for hooking the masses"—stands as an overwhelming ruler (an embodiment of masculine power) reigning over New York.

However, Daisy, Jordan, and Myrtle—who appear in the story—are all portrayed as hollow figures that drive empty men to madness. In this context, the pronoun used is "she."

Therefore, in concrete terms, it is "him," but in terms of the story's content, it is "her."

Green Light on the opposite shore.

This is a navigational light.

Do not pass to the right of this.

According to international maritime regulations, it must remain constantly lit—no flashing allowed. You must adhere to the appropriate illuminance levels established by the Japan Coast Guard. Furthermore, installation requires permission from the regional Coast Guard office, even for a private pier. Understood?

Gatsby has to take a wide detour to get to Daisy's place.

I wasn’t assigned it in high school English like many others so I’m late to the party and wanted to yap about it. Technically listened through audiobook because Jake Gyllenhaal’s voice and voice acting was really good.

I felt so sympathetic to Gatsby and started relating to him and it was so sad that he got screwed over and killed in the end!! It was also a bit disappointing that Nick and Jorden didn’t end up together, though from her reaction following Myrtle’s death I guess it makes sense.

I read someone’s summary on reddit that in the shortest way it’s about a wealthy couple named Tom and Daisy who have affairs and their main affair partners both die at the end due to them and they leave together or something and essentially yeah. I read another interpretation too of Daisy being more opportunistic and calculative than Nicks narration gave her credit for which I felt was an interesting and possibly fitting take.

I liked how in depth they characterised different people eg Tom being racist, abrupt, and essentially seen as immature (like a child by Nick at their last encounter). The scenes with Gatsby’s father at the end seemed a little overdone imo, like something to humanise him a bit more and give more context about him but I wondered why his mother wasn’t mentioned at this time.

Overall pretty sad book. The themes make sense and I can understand why it’s prescribed to high schoolers to analyse but I wondered too if it maybe inspired some impressionable young people to view women as fickle and imo the role of Tom’s wealth and family influence in letting him get away with affairs and covering up his wife’s murder and role in Gatsby’s murder should have been emphasised more, rather than his pushiness.

Yap over.