The Great Gatsby

  Unlike what seems to be most everybody I know, I for some reason or another did not read this classic American novel in high school.  I don't remember it being assigned however my level of interest in reading at that time in my life may point to it being assigned and I simply didn't do it.  OK, I am not sharing this to educate you on my lack of interests in my education in high school I am writing to share a perspective not only of the book, or the new remake of the movie, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, and Toby Maguire, but also the original movie made in 1974 starring Robert Redford and Mia Farrow.  
  Until I heard that the remake was being done I hadn't realized how many Great Gatsby fans there were out there.  I seemed to hear from a lot of people that they were hesitant to see the remake because they were such fans of the book and the original film.  So naturally I did it all in order, I read the book, watched the original on netflix then headed off to the movie theater to catch the new film all in one week.

  First off I was a big fan of the book and enjoyed it immensely.  I can't call myself a knowledgeable person when it comes to literature and I know this book is taught in classrooms across the country, so I have no real intelligent insight to give, other than to say that F. Scott Fitzgerald seemed to leave holes in the story where the reader is to decide on their own what is really going on.  With those "holes" in mind I am sure that would draw many film makers to creatively fill the spaces and at the same time be daunting for writers to capture something in a dialogue that may or may not have been intended by the author.  Right there is the basic difference (that I see) between the original movie made in 1974 and the remake, that was just released.
  I do feel that the original was "by the book" in the way that it seemed to leave the same holes or spaces that the book did.  However the remake told a story of much more passion and conviction than the original.  I'm am certain that modern movie audiences are much different than they were in the 1970's, so it doesn't surprise me that there was more passion or flash to the current remake.  After watching the remake in the movie theaters I stated to my friends that I felt like it was closer to the story F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote than the 1974 movie version.  I may have to go back on what I shared with my friends.  I feel you got a fuller story in the remake, which is probably why I said that because as I read the Great Gatsby I wanted some of those holes filled and the movie makers filled them for me.  But those things weren't in the book.  So I conclude this to suggest that if you are a fan of the book in the purest sense of it, you may not like the remake currently showing in theaters.  If you are like me though and you need spaces to be filled or enjoy creative interpretation you will love the remake.