My 68 year old neighbor made me rethink a book I've read 5 times

I was out watering my lawn last Saturday and Bob from two doors down asked what I was reading. I said I was halfway through The Great Gatsby again and he just kinda laughed. He said 'you know that book ain't about love right? It's about a guy trying to buy his way into a world that would never accept him.' I've read that book 5 times since high school and somehow that never clicked for me. It hit different because Bob worked construction his whole life and never went to college, but he saw something I missed in 15 years. Has anyone else had a random conversation totally change how you see a book?

2 comments

2 Comments

joel28045m ago

@betty_fisher5 your buddy nailed it, i did that with Moby Dick and realized Ahab was just a stubborn old man with a bad idea.

betty_fisher555m ago

oh man, that's the kind of talk that sticks with you lol. if you really want to see the book differently next time, try reading it like Gatsby is just some lonely guy trying to fake his way into being someone he's not. i had a buddy who did that with Catcher in the Rye and he said it flipped everything upside down for him. sometimes the best way to get a new view is to pretend you're reading it for the first time and ignore what you already think you know. Bob sounds like a sharp guy honestly.