I recently read the Great Gatsby and think I’ve misunderstood many parts of the book.
I thought for the entire way through the book that Gatsby was old money and part of the upper class because he was an officer in the war (in my country, the upper classes and aristocracy joined WW1 as officers). It turns out that in America that is not the case and Gatsby fighting in the war was an indicator of him being new money instead.
I started reading books just a month ago, but I think I just don’t understand the words properly and am confidently misunderstanding things. Are there tools or websites for books, that explain important pieces of context whilst giving absolutely zero spoilers about the plot or story?
Do you have any tips for understanding books better?
I just feel like I’ve let myself down by liking a book so much and then realising that I didn’t actually know what was going on at all.
by KellyKellogs
2 Comments
My best tip for understanding books better is discussing them. You’re already off to a great start.
Book clubs are nice, too, and I strongly recommend them. At the end of the day, I don’t think I’ll ever fully understand 100% of what a writer was attempting to communicate. I also don’t believe that many humans who interact on a daily basis fully understand each other. Furthermore, I am still learning things about books I read 20 years ago, and sometimes I’ll reread a book and realize that my memories are wildly inaccurate or different.
To be fair, the reader is meant to misunderstand that, at least to an extent. Gatsby presents himself as being “Old Money,” and while the rumors that surround him argue he’s everything from a bootlegger to the nephew of the deposed Kaiser, the narrator Nick is willing to believe Gatsby’s claims of being from an established family, even when it becomes increasingly clear that the background Gatsby presents is flimsy. People from established, old-money families *did* fight as officers in the first World War, alongside men like Gatsby who rose through the ranks on merit, so I don’t think you really misunderstood things *that* much, all things considered.
That being said, in the future, you might consider getting critical ~~conditions~~ editions of books, that have footnotes and annotations to explain cultural and historical spects of things that you might otherwise miss.