Twenty-five Shades of Gatsby

I have previously mused upon the idea of book covers and how varied these can be for a single title. The recent hype surrounding the release of ‘The Great Gatsby’ has of course led to a new cover for the book, one adorned by the celebrities who star in the feature production. This led me to do some hunting around and low and behold this is no exception to the rule, with many many variations across the years.And so I have compiled a few (twenty-five to be precise!) for your viewing.

Feast your eyes on these…

With one sweeping look there are clearly things a lot of the covers have in common. Green is used quite frequently, evidently in reference to the green light symbolism within the book. I also think it’s interesting that in a few cases Gatsby himself makes no appearance on the cover, but rather the focus is entirely on Daisy Buchanan, odd really since anyone coming across the book for the first time would undoubtedly receive a very odd idea of the story within. Anyway, I thought I’d sharea few in particular which caught my eye.

 This cover, the original, is by far my favourite. There is something about the bright growing lights of the city against the darker background which is entirely in fitting with the story held within. With imagery and symbolism drawn from the text this version stands as the iconic Gatsby image and I have yet to find one that beats it.

 This one stood out mainly for the colour. I really like the simplicity of this one and think it works really well as an overall design. The style manages to capture the enigmatic character of Gatsby who is captured amid shade and light and the small detail of the martini glass serving as the 'Y' ties the whole design together. This is definitely a copy I plan on hunting down...

This one jumped out as it has received so much coverage recently to promote the film. I'm not overly keen on this one. It's not that it's a bad cover per se, but I think it is a shame when traditional book covers are replaced with what are in effect film covers. Books and DVDs are different things and their covers should not be interchanged so easily! 

These two are more recent covers. While they wouldn't be my first choice, any collection of covers wouldn't be complete without one of these! My favourite of the two is the second as the pattern is sort of foiled and therefore shiny, reminiscent of the glitz and glamour within. The lack of picture also leaves the new reader to approach the book free from any pictorial influence!

 Finally, this one jumped out for all the wrong reasons. I glanced at the picture and mistakenly thought of Jane Austen's 'Pride and Prejudice'. Something about this cover, perhaps the regal design around the title is all too reminiscent of the cover added to so many versions of Austen's novel. Clearly a cover can be a powerful thing!

Let me know if you have any particular favourites!

The Great Gatsby - The film Version

I’m not a fan of film adaptations of books most of the time, but when that book is high on my all-time favourites list I tend to be even more weary than usual. Add to that a rather bleak first attempt (in my humble opinion of course) and I was most definitely apprehensive about the recent release of The Great Gatsby.

Watch the trailer here!

For those unfamiliar with the book, the story follows Nick Carraway young and fresh out of college, as he heads from the Midwest to the dizzying pace of 1920s New York City. Here he is swept away in a fast pace era of loosening morals, bootlegging, parties, glamour and glitz. Carraway finds himself caught up in the messy love affairs of his cousin Daisy Buchanan who is stuck in an unhappy marriage and reacquainted with former lover, Jay Gatsby. As events unfold Carraway pens a tale of impossible love and unconquerable dreams. Despite the glamour the tale cumulates in a tragedy which throws light on a darker side of the American Dream, while holding the dream is altogether possible, realizing it is not always so.

In its favour the film was fast paced enough to capture the feel of the era with rarely a moment to pause or reflect as the story ran ahead as the viewer is pulled along in the excess and fervor of the story and a feeling of things beyond control. The party atmosphere was as bright and heady as Fitzgerald depicted, with each party oozing with extravagance and abundance, with vivid colour and liveliness.

Moreover certain scenes were conveyed successfully and really well at that. While the famous ‘beautiful shirts’ scene fell to ridicule in the first film, director, Luhrmann, avoided this managing instead to hit the mood spot on by capturing the depth of subtlety of emotion behind the scene. The costumes were also a strength of this particular production. While the men’s fashion was accurate and stylish, it was of course the flapper dresses I was interested in, and on this note the film did not disappoint. A dazzling array of flapper dresses and twenties fashion made for a visually pleasing production true to the extravagance Fitzgerald sought to portray.

However the production was not without flaws. I found the camera work odd at times. The opening in particular felt as though it was perhaps intended solely for the purposes of 3D viewing. A blurry shot of I’m not really sure what does not a great opening make! Something more serious was the casting of Gatsby himself, which left me a little conflicted. On one hand Leonardo DiCaprio was the perfect Gastby: handsome, charming and warm. Yet on the other he was Jack Dawson (from Titanic), and probably always will be. I also must take issue with the music. While the soundtrack was undoubtedly fun and catchy it was also, let’s face it, entirely inauthentic and in anachronistic. There was a distinct lack of jazz on offer, something the era is after all famed for. This was rather disappointing.

Ultimately, for me at least, there has always been something alluring beautiful about this book and the tragedy it holds. It’s more a feeling than anything specific one can articulate and as such while the film proved as visually dazzling and glitzy as I had hoped and imagined, to aim to capture this feeling is simply too ambitious a goal for the screen. In short then, the film was a much better attempt than the first and well worth watching for a feel of the of The Roaring Twenties, but in the end it fails to capture the luster and magic of the written form.

The film has received a bunch of mixed reviews, so do feel free to share you're thoughts if you have gone to see the film, or why not if you have decided not to! 

Michael Sandel

I’m quite a big fan of Michael Sandel, and so I immediately jumped at the opportunity to attend and review his talk at The Cambridge Union Society.

I had previously come across Sandel’s book ‘Justice: what’s the right thing to do’ and was surprised by how good a read this proved to be. Broaching the rather weighty topics of moral and political philosophy can be a laborious exercise, a real mental work out, and indeed one that has on occasion left me baffled, pained or just fast asleep! This endeavour from Sandel was entirely different. Filled with anecdotal tales and entertaining evidence, Sandel manages to make these topics entirely accessible, relevant and enjoyable, so much so that I was captivated from start to finish. As such I was particularly interested in hearing what Sandel had to say.

Sandel’s talk promoted his most recent book ‘What money can't buy: the moral limits of markets’. This is not one I have got around to reading yet, but after having heard Sandel speak it has most certainly been placed on the summer reading list…watch this space!

You can read my review of the talk here: Sandel at the Union

Do let me know if you have read any of Sandel’s books, and of course what you made of them!

PostSecret: Extraordinary Confessions from Ordinary Lives - Frank Warren

 I've decided to share a different sort of book today in the form of one of the PostSecret installments - PostSecret: Extraordinary Confessions from Ordinary Lives.

PostSecret is an internationally growing mail art project, which grew out of an idea from founder Frank Warren, which involved distributing blank postcards and inviting recipients to return them after having adorned them with a secret that they had never told. The response was unexpectedly huge and since PostSecret has grown into a mass online community. Indeed the Sunday blog has become a firm favourite of mine.

Nothing however quite measures up to the books - essentially collations of lots of postcards... sort of the most meaningful picture book I've yet come across. Here among the many pages are postcards, some bright, some beautiful, some wonderfully simple, all baring words straight from others. These range in content from the hilarious to the heartfelt, from the devastating to the downright bizarre. What ties them all together though, is each individual entering into the spirit and sharing a little piece of him or her self, a personal secret of some variety. Within the pages is captured the very essence of what it is to be human, with every shade of emotion and feeling there to be related with by the reader. Just like good literature, it is specifically this ability to arouse emotion which gives this book its power.

It is most definitely worth acquiring a copy of one of five in the series so far. It's a really lovely book to be able to reach for in search of comfort, motivation or simply a smile. I have included a few from my last flick through the book below - enjoy!