tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425732352511468694.post6597392014067852697..comments2023-08-20T04:55:39.436-07:00Comments on Ars Psychiatrica: GatsbyNovalishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10501890494890617030noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425732352511468694.post-65316231302888358362009-01-16T10:50:00.000-08:002009-01-16T10:50:00.000-08:00I have read everything by F.S. Fitzgerald and my p...I have read everything by F.S. Fitzgerald and my preference goes to his first works, the stories about the enchantement and the freshness of youth.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425732352511468694.post-4589619249775575032009-01-16T02:36:00.000-08:002009-01-16T02:36:00.000-08:00Well, glad you like it and thanks for reading!Well, glad you like it and thanks for reading!Novalishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10501890494890617030noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425732352511468694.post-29361347181337414892009-01-16T01:27:00.000-08:002009-01-16T01:27:00.000-08:00Dear Novalis,I have recently discovered your site,...Dear Novalis,<BR/><BR/>I have recently discovered your site, courtesy of "shrink rap". In your own words "nuff said"<BR/><BR/>It is a treasure trove full of pearls to be read and thought over.<BR/><BR/>I am a medical specialist but not a psychiatrist. My reading beyond the basic sciences has been, to my great shame, non-existent. I have recently embarked on self improvement task to read the classics. The "Great Gatsby" and "Tender is the night" were among the first few books that I have read and your post has struck a chord with me.<BR/><BR/>There is much to be learned about suffering and the human condition from these books. They should be compulsory med school reading. Pain can be expressed in many ways....<BR/><BR/>I am really enjoying your posts. Thank you for sharing with the less eloquent amongst us. (I hope my spelling has been OK)<BR/><BR/>With very best wishes<BR/><BR/>MBBS FRCPA Sydney Aust.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425732352511468694.post-15940623870412583352009-01-15T22:58:00.000-08:002009-01-15T22:58:00.000-08:00A hopeless situation has its own gravitational fie...A hopeless situation has its own gravitational field that sucks the life out of any conception of possible otherwiseness which, in comparison, is only a fragile filament that flickers and fizzles like a bad idea. The mind does not tolerate unfair battles.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425732352511468694.post-11830029299074262282009-01-15T13:28:00.000-08:002009-01-15T13:28:00.000-08:00Scott and Zelda's lives and relationships were mor...Scott and Zelda's lives and relationships were more interesting than either of their books which merely looted them for material. That whole doomed generation with its cultural hypomania giving way to despair as the clouds of depression and war gathered. Riotous debauch and crash. Living parallel to Bill Wilson. I grew up on stories of grandparents who lived like that (rich literary Americans living in Europe) but were not derailed by alcoholism and madness,even tho the main reason they went. To Europe was to drink brcaue of US Prohibition. It was a bizarre time all the same. Particularly considering the Great Depression beginning while they all, like Marie Antoinette, frivolled.Retrieverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09036341287285545932noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425732352511468694.post-72064008995502034232009-01-15T12:53:00.000-08:002009-01-15T12:53:00.000-08:00Frankly, I have read only Gatsby, Tender is the Ni...Frankly, I have read only Gatsby, Tender is the Night, and a few stories, and those works I find easier to respect than to love. But that is a matter of taste, and "The Crack-Up" is compelling reading which is why I focused on it. Maybe I should read The Last Tycoon.<BR/><BR/>So I am no Fitzgerald expert, but I recall reading in the past that in his last few years he somewhat resignedly considered himself a Hollywood hack and a critical failure (and was of course estranged from institutionalized Zelda, even if consoled by another relationship). But there's always more to the story, and as you say if he had lived another two or three decades anything could have happened.Novalishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10501890494890617030noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425732352511468694.post-82696267908161377792009-01-15T10:48:00.000-08:002009-01-15T10:48:00.000-08:00Nancy Milford's biography of "Zelda" is terrific.Nancy Milford's biography of "Zelda" is terrific.Retrieverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09036341287285545932noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425732352511468694.post-33200371676318309292009-01-15T10:43:00.000-08:002009-01-15T10:43:00.000-08:00I don't know if he could be considered a wreck in ...I don't know if he could be considered a wreck in his final years. He was working on his magnum opus "The Last Tycoon", he was in a happy relationship with Sheila Graham, and he was world renowned for his writing. Perhaps the only tragedy is that he died too soon.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com