The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Date finished: 18 November 2013

Rating: 5*

View on Goodreads.

I am completely and utterly ashamed to admit that – although I started reading The Great Gatsby a month or so before the film came out – I went against my most sacred law for reading classics: I went to go see the movie before I was even halfway through the novel. I am even more ashamed to admit that I then watched the film twice more because I happen to worship the ground that Baz Luhrmann (the director) walks on, and only picked up the novel again a couple of weeks ago to finally finish reading it, because it was haunting my dreams that I had left such a beautiful book unfinished for so long.

May God forgive me for my sins.

Anyway, I’m not going to lie and say that the film didn’t completely change my perspective on the novel. I forced myself to start it from the beginning when I picked it up again a few weeks ago – partly as punishment for watching the film before finishing the book, and party because a small part of me wanted to compare the entire book to the entire movie. Don’t get me wrong, I loved both the film and the novel, and praise F. Scott Fitzgerald for being one of the best authors of all time, but I will forever regret not finishing the novel before seeing the film.

As with all books – both good and bad – the movie completely changed my perspective on the characters, setting and themes of the novel. You can never forget what you’ve seen on a movie screen, but for some odd reason it’s easy to replace your own imaginings of people and places with whatever they looked like in the film. Unfortunately, this completely ruined my experience with the novel. Instead of being able to appreciate Fitzgerald’s genius on its own, and clearly see how amazing his writing style and descriptions were, my mind was constantly flicking back and forth between the movie and the novel, reminding me of what would happen next, what the actors looked like in a specific scene, how they sounded. It stopped me from appreciating the novel without appreciating the movie at the same time.

Nevertheless, I still thought that The Great Gatsby was incredible – it’s called a classic for a reason, right? The writing was beautiful, the story was breathtaking, and the characters were both bizarre and wonderful. It was just pure brilliance, and reminded me why I resent being born in this century.

'Pride and Prejudice' by Jane Austen

Date Finished: 13 July 2013

Rating: 5*

Read the Goodreads description here

I read this book as a set work for English this term, so I don't know if it really counts as "reading" it but I'm writing a review anyway.

Basically, this book is the reason I have not finished a single book since May. MAY. I know - I am a total failure. Well, I guess that it's a bit unfair to place all of the blame on Pride and Prejudice, seeing as it was really a combination of attempting to read this as a set work, Jayne Eyre (for AP English), The Great Gatsby (also for AP English), A Clash of Kings (ummm... do I need a reason?) and several other books that i bought on sale, then started, then felt guilty because I was getting nowhere with the classics, then started them again a couple of weeks later. And honestly, I am not usually a person who reads many books at once. It annoys me, and I get confused between the story lines (just the other day I was asking myself why Elizabeth was so irritated with Darcy all of a sudden because, according to my brain, they were in love before she married Tom and lost her direwolf... and then I realised that no, that was the Great Gatsby, and A Clash of Kings (actually a Game of Thrones, but anyway), and yes, I did need to read the previous three chapters again just to figure out what's going on in all three books.)

So yes, it took me several months - MONTHS! - to finish Pride and Prejudice. I don't think I've ever spent so long on one book. Ever. But in the end, it was worth it. Not surprisingly (it's called a classic for a reason, right?)

If you don't know what Pride and Prejudice is about (which you should - there has been a film and TV series based on it, plus a new edition of the book, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, which I think I might just read, plus it's a classic... so... you have no excuse) it's basically a comedy set in the 18th century which tells the story of the prejudiced Elizabeth Bennet and the proud, ridiculously rich Mr Darcy (gee, I wonder where the title comes from... *wink wink, nudge nudge*).

I'm not going to lie; I loved it. The writing was beautiful. Yes, it was hard to understand at times, but every reader loves a challenge. And to be perfectly honest, there are only so many contractions, abbreviations, acronyms and "OMG guuuurllll... You look like so like totally like cute in that like top!!!1!! Likelikelikelike," that a girl can stand. Sometimes it's nice to read PROPER ENGLISH (yes, you twelve-year-olds on Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr, I'm talking to you. We don't care if you have #Swag; we just want you to pass seventh grade English... please...) And the characters... Sometimes I just had to laugh. Because, be honest, we all have that one slutty friend (i.e. Lydia) or that guy that you just want to laugh at and punch at the same time because he's so ridiculously annoying (Mr Collins) or that one person who is so incredibly arrogant and condescending and thinks she's so much better than everyone... and then yells at you for stealing her future boyfriend (or in Lady Catherine's case, her daughter's future fiancee... sort of...). 

Pride and Prejudice has everything: romance, scandal, a hot guy (well, not really... unless you count Darcy... and he's rich so he's perfect for all you book-nerd fantasy gold-diggers ;) we know you're out there). The only thing it's missing is a supernatural creature. Thank goodness for that; I don't know if I could have kept myself from laughing/crying/hurling abuse at the author if Darcy had been - heaven forbid - yet ANOTHER tragic vampire hero who falls in love with the pretty, innocent human girl. Although I'm pretty sure Elizabeth would have staked him through the heart if she found out - Elizabeth didn't exactly like Darcy for the majority of the novel, and people were not as accepting of vampires in the 18th century as they are today - teenage girls were most definitely NOT throwing themselves at Dracula screaming, "BITE ME, EDWARD" (I mean Dracula... that was so not a swipe at Twilight *cough cough*)

Once again, I loved it. Everyone should read it, and not just watch the film, cause that's lame (who do you know that became successful for watching TV their whole lives?). If you don't read it, you fail at life. It's compulsory. Seriously.