Creativity: Book review

I have taken up reading again and I decided that since I have opinions on the books I read I might as well put them somewhere. After reading Great Gatsby in SL Lang Lit with Mr. Sweeting, I was recommended Hemmingway. I had asked a friend for recommendations and I told him that I had just recently finished Gatsby and I enjoyed it a lot, and also finished Steinbeck’s’ Of Mice and Men and really really enjoyed that. I said that I enjoyed their style of writing and evoking empathy with such a nuanced and subtle voice that is riddled with deeper meaning and analysis. So, I was recommended Hemmingway. I could not find the Old Man and the Sea in the library at my first attempt but I needed something to read so I picked up The Sun Also Rises. I have just recently finished it and, nothing surprising, also enjoyed it. I think because I picked it up for a light read, while I was reading it I could not pick up on the nuances and deeper meanings and so a lot of pivotal moments passed by me unnoticed. This is of course because of Hemingway’s writing style, called the Iceberg effect I think. This book was so good it made me read the whole SparkNotes of it and it wasn’t even assigned.  After reading further literary reviews and papers, I found greater respect for the character of Brett and the author. Moreover, I have been used to reading older books (before this I had read Dickens and some old Japanese book), and so when researching online and finding that Hemmingway’s original manuscripts and notes were still intact and could be analyzed was fascinating to me. I also enjoyed the literary relationship Hemmingway had with Fitzgerald. While I was reading the Sun Also Rises, I also made connections to all the context and analysis we did in English class for Gatsby. I enjoyed this since after my IOC I was quite disappointed. Not only with my performance, but that I had prepared so much for getting Fitzgerald that once I was done I was not sure what to do with all my knowledge. Who was I to share how Gatsby was a figure of the American Dream and the graffiti on his steps at the end of the book draws reminiscent of America’s foundation of criminal activity and that the greatness of Gatsby was as figurative and hyperbolic as the same adjective being used to describe its muse?

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Leave a Reply