Another reason for its praise? The writing of course. It is spare. It is sometimes beautiful. The Narrator’s observances of the Long Island world around him is understated yet powerful in its evocative language and we do not know at any given moment whether it is envy or disdain that Nick Carraway holds for the cast of characters he encounters during his Summer at West Egg — across the bay from his cousin Daisy Buchanan’s more fashionable “East” Egg.*
All of The Great Gatsby Film Adaptations are considered “failures.” You have now read the book. It has first person narration like Cuckoo’s Nest but we know what happened to that Narration in the film version of Cuckoo’s Nest. How does your filmmaker solve the first person Narration of The GG for his adaptation? Why has Cuckoo’s Nest movie become more famous than the book while none of the many film adaptations of Gatsby has been able to succeed critically or financially?
Fitzgerald’s book is purportedly about the American dream – that dream being the desire for [wealth?] [the unattainable?] [power?] [acceptance?] [success?] [class?] [something else?]. Or is it about a love story? Or is it a good mystery? Or is it social commentary? You decide which one of these themes comes through in whichever movie(s) you use for this Film Adaptation Paper.
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THE FINAL Part I (b) due 12/22: Read the failed adaptations pages of the pdf file. Read the challenges for adaptations. OPTIONAL Re-read the “Novel” chapter on adaptations if you wish. Pick a chapter from The GG and view its cinematic example to weave an answer to the above bold-text questions into a coherent Paper of any length.