The Sword and Laser discussion

I skimmed this novella, not really for me, but I really loved her debut novel, The Chosen and the Beautiful. It's a retelling of The Great Gatsby!

When I reread The Great Gatsby, I hadn't really remembered the character of Jordan Baker, a friend of Daisy and sometimes narrator. In this retelling, she is the focus, lending a queer, Asian, and sometimes magical perspective. I claim to dislike retellings, but I loved this!

Since the original work is now famously in the public domain, many authors have been taking the work and running with it. Nghi Vo uses some pieces verbatim, whether they be dialogue or scene setters, but always for a purpose of showing from a different angle. Jordan has a lot of access to the characters, after all, and also has the ability to create out of paper cutting (took me back to The Paper Menagerie by Ken Liu.) Gatsby may have more secrets than we knew, the rich and famous drink Demoniac, and there seems to be glamour beyond just what money can buy.

All to say, highly recommended!

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "I claim to dislike retellings, but I loved this!"

Proving once again that anything can be made palatable in the hands of a good writer.

Do I need to have read Gatsby to understand it? Would reading Gatsby help me like it? I don't have much of an interest in doing that really, so I figured I'd never read The Chosen and the Beautiful either.

Seth wrote: "Do I need to have read Gatsby to understand it? Would reading Gatsby help me like it? I don't have much of an interest in doing that really, so I figured I'd never read The Chosen and the Beautiful..."

Maybe not, but of course for me it was the wonder with how it all worked together that made it so fantastic.

I’ve just read The Great Gatsby and I’m keen to read this too - unfortunately it’s unavailable in the UK atm! It’s not on Kindle and the hardback has disappeared, while the paperback isn’t out yet. I guess I’ll just have to wait :/

Ruth wrote: "I’ve just read The Great Gatsby and I’m keen to read this too - unfortunately it’s unavailable in the UK atm! It’s not on Kindle and the hardback has disappeared, while the paperback isn’t out yet...."

Bizarre!

I have never read the Great Gatsby and I really enjoyed the book. No idea what I might have missed but I enjoyed the book for itself.

A great argument for why we cannot let copyright terms continue to inflate. Look at what we get when it can expire and let others play in that sandbox.

That said, I was never a fan of Gatsby (which I was compelled to read in 10th grade) or F. Scott Fitzgerald and his generation's "woe is me. I'm so rich and bored" complaints. Maybe it felt different in the 1920s, but when I read it sometime around the late 1990s, it just didn't work for me

Eric wrote: "A great argument for why we cannot let copyright terms continue to inflate. Look at what we get when it can expire and let others play in that sandbox.

That said, I was never a fan of Gatsby (which I was compelled to read in 10th grade) or F. Scott Fitzgerald and his generation's "woe is me. I'm so rich and bored" complaints."

Agreed on both counts. As much as I'm on the side of creators getting paid, it has to be balanced with fostering creativity. I don't know exactly what the right time period is, but 100 years is too long.

And that's a good summary of why I sometimes mean to pick up Gatsby (lots of smart people like it after all), but never get around to actually doing it.

Seth wrote: "Eric wrote: "A great argument for why we cannot let copyright terms continue to inflate. Look at what we get when it can expire and let others play in that sandbox.

That said, I was never a fan o..."

I thought the recent movie was a decent adaptation although YMMV on DiCaprio and the soundtrack choices.

Eric wrote: "Seth wrote: "Eric wrote: "A great argument for why we cannot let copyright terms continue to inflate. Look at what we get when it can expire and let others play in that sandbox.

That said, I was ..."

The film is actually a pretty faithful adaptation of the book in terms of story, although the aesthetic is... very Baz Luhrmann.