The Great Gatsby: Scott Fitzgerald
First time reading American literature. Never gravitated towards American literature as always associated American society with science, technology, marketing, social activism, human psychology - areas where it excels compared to its peers. It was refreshing to see a romantic side of American society through Scott Fitzgerald’s writing. It is not surprising that he spent considerable time in Paris - silicon valley of romance, before he matured in his style of storytelling. The style is very poetic, cultural, not philosophical but rich in expressions. The book is a mute observation of the rising materialism, class divides, moral decay and self obsessions in an American society post WWI era. If you compare the society of that era and today’s times, the geographical and political landscape may have changed but the emotional layer still remains the same. The nature of pain and joy hasn’t changed much. Its manifestations in time, space and subject may be different.
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Are human bodies incapable of feeling new types of emotions? Do human emotions innovate like technology or do they remain constant since time's inception? Love, ego, jealousy, sadness, joy, pain, loyalty, confusion, curiosity, contentment, empathy, kindness, compassion, hunger, anger, fear, passion, lust…not that hard to create a comprehensive list of emotions that can be felt by human beings and this list may not even be that long. Who created these emotions? Did humans create it by themselves? Or did they arrive as soon as we arrived on this planet? And what can possibly be experienced by us - has it already been experienced by someone who has inhabited this planet before us? If that is the case, why so much of self obsession around experiencing these emotions? Why not experience emotions through their life journeys? Why this constant urge in life to experience the same emotions willingly or many a times unwillingly and still go through the rigors of highs and lows?
Maybe that is the nature of our lives. Maybe we are all born the same but refuse to accept it. Maybe we all are born in a collective conscience built by every soul who has inhabited this planet or will inhabit it in the future.
