Anonymous asked: I saw what you said about The Great Gatsby and it's "cultish readers" and "what they've turned it into." I'm just wondering what you meant by that. I'm not trying to argue or offend or anything; I'm legitimately just curious.

Like many different things, be they film or literature, the Great Gatsby has gained a cult following.  It’s not uncommon when that happens that the fan base spins into its own world which can take on an entirely different meaning outside the content of the work.

For many years I’ve watched people talk about the book with a romantic notion of the 20s.  Parties thrown with a “roaring twenties” theme, and a nod to Gatsby.  Upon reading the book, however, it was so different from any of the things that fans seemed to be portraying that I wondered if many of them had even read it.  It’s gritty and bleak, and the fantastic Gatsby soirees that so many want to recreate are the exact opposite of the point of the story.

So, as with many cult followings, it can be easy to dismiss the work when viewing it only from the fan culture surrounding it.  Instead I encourage people to read the book in spite of it.

Hope that answers your question… it’s an abbreviated answer, but it is after all 2 a.m. :)