The Great Gatsby - A Review for Banned Books Week

Thursday is usually a day reserved for my "What I've Learned" series, so if you've come here looking for that, you'll have to wait until tomorrow.

In honor of Banned Books Week, Tahereh has set up a little blog tour where each blogger will post a review about one of their favorite banned books. (Click on the link above after you finish reading my review.) For me, the choice was easy. There is one book that if my high school decided to ban, I may not be the ravenous reader I am today. That book is The Great Gatsby.



The plot of the story is sort of straight forward. A man falls in love with a girl. He can't have the girl because he's not wealthy enough. In an effort to win her over, said man gets rich and moves to a town close to the woman. But alas, she is married with a child. What happens next is really what makes the story.

Gatsby pines for Daisy but doesn't do it in any ordinary way. He throws lavish parties hoping one day she'll come to one. You feel disappointed right along with him when she doesn't show. Gatsby is a character you root for, even though he's kind of shady.

The other amazing part of this book is the symbolism. I'm not sure I would have picked up on a lot of this if I'd read the book on my own, so this is another reason I'm grateful my school had it in its curriculum. Gatsby's hopes and dreams are realized in the form of a green light on the edge of Daisy's dock, The Valley of Ashes is a symbol of social decay, and the eyes. Let's not forget the Eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckelberg. Are they God watching over these people's lives, or just a meaningless prop in the background?


Finally, I'll wrap up this post with some great quotations from the book:

In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since.
"Whenever you feel like criticizing any one," he told me, "just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had."
-Opening Lines

He had one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life. It faced, or seemed to face, the whole external world for an instant and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor. It understood you just as far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself.
- Nick describing Gatsby (chapter 3)

I believe that on the first night I went to Gatsby's house I was one of the few guests who had actually been invited. People were not invited - they went there.
-Chapter 3

What book got you into reading? Was it a banned or challenged book?

Want to Read Wednesday - Banned Books Edition

I know that on Wednesdays I usually participate in Waiting on Wednesday, but since this week is banned books week, I thought I'd switch it up a bit and talk about a few banned books that are on my TBR list.

• Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
  Summary: Melinda Sordino busted an end-of-summer party by calling the cops. Now her old friends won't talk to her, and people she doesn't even know hate her from a distance. The safest place to be is alone, inside her own head. But even that's not safe. Because there's something she's trying not to think about, something about the night of the party that, if she let it in, would blow her carefully constructed disguise to smithereens. And then she would have to speak the truth.
  
  My Thoughts: I have to admit this book wasn't on my radar, but after reading some blog posts on how it changed people's lives, I just have to pick it up.
  
  
• Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
  Summary: Stargirl. From the day she arrives at quiet Mica High in a burst of color and sound, the hallways hum with the murmur of “Stargirl, Stargirl.” She captures Leo Borlock’s heart with just one smile. She sparks a school-spirit revolution with just one cheer. The students of Mica High are enchanted. At first. Then they turn on her. Stargirl is suddenly shunned for everything that makes her different, and Leo, panicked and desperate with love, urges her to become the very thing that can destroy her: normal.
  
  My Thoughts: I picked up this book at Borders a couple weeks ago. I'm interested to see how the story plays out. Every kid at school is always so focused on fitting it, this seems like a refreshing story of the girl who dared to stand out.
  
  
• The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
  Summary:
  Sherman Alexie tells the story of Junior, a budding cartoonist growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Determined to take his future into his own hands, Junior leaves his troubled school on the rez to attend an all-white farm town high school where the only other Indian is the school mascot.
  
  My Thoughts: I think this book has an interesting premise. I'm trying to read more books with male narrators for my Nano research, and this looks like a great book.
  

Top Ten Tuesday - Banned Books

This week is banned books week! To celebrate our freedom to read whatever we want, I thought I’d dedicate Top Ten Tuesday to ten banned books that are worth reading. I tried to stay in the realm of YA, but there are some classics thrown in that shouldn’t be avoided.

• To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
  Why it was banned or challenged: Offensive Language
  Why it’s worth picking up off the shelf: This book tells the story of an unfair trial against a black man in the South. It illustrates the fact that what is popular is not always right. As told through the eyes of a young girl, Scout, it shows that even the littlest of people can be strong against prejudice.
  
  
• The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger 

  Why it was banned or challenged: Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group
  Why it’s worth picking up: This is a coming of age story. It teaches kids that growing up may not be all it’s cracked up to be, but it happens to everyone. And that, my friends, can fill anyone with a little angst.
  
  
• Harry Potter (series) - J.K. Rowling  

  Why it was banned or challenged: Deals with the occult/satanism.
  Why it’s worth picking up: This may be the best series ever written. J.K. Rowling takes us on a tour of what it’s like to be “the boy who lived”. Throughout the tale Harry has a huge cross to bear, but he also experiences the trials and tribulations of a normal teenager. The thing I love the most about these books is all the little details planted that at first seemed insignificant, but ended up being very important at the end.
  
  
• The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
  Why it was banned or challenged: language and sexual references
  Why it’s worth picking up: The Great Gatsby is the book that got me into reading. This is the first book I can really remember devouring. I had to read it for school and at first I dreaded it. When I finally picked it up, I was immediately immersed in 1920’s New York. Everything about this book was just cool to me.
  
  
• Sloppy Firsts - Megan McCafferty
  Why it was banned or challenged: Profanity or inappropriate language; sexual content
  Why it’s worth picking up: Talk about an awesome book! YA writers, if you want to learn how to write a snarky, authentic teenager, this book should be your first stop. Jessica Darling is everything I want my characters to be. This book is a real inspiration.
  
  
• The Sun Also Rises – Ernest Hemingway
  Why it was banned: No reason on the ALA site, but it has been repeatedly banned in Boston, Ireland and Italy. It was even burned in Nazi bonfires. As an aside, another book by Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms, was banned in Italy for being too accurate. Imagine that?
  Why it’s worth reading: Hemingway is a master at dialogue. There aren’t many stage directions for his characters, but somehow he’s able to paint an entire scene for the reader. Hemingway takes us on a trip through Europe, complete with a bull fight. The character of Brett is also well written. She fits right in with a bunch of men and is able to exert her independence.
  
  
• Looking for Alaska - John Green
  Why it’s been banned or challenged: The book has been challenged for content dealing with sexually explicit situations.
  Why it’s worth picking up: I love the characters in this book. I’m usually not a fan of male narrators in books, but I think John Green does it well. Sure Miles and the Colonel (yes, there’s a character named “the Colonel”) have some raging hormones, but there’s also a story that sucks you in.
  
  
• Crank - Ellen Hopkins
  Why it’s been banned or challenged: profanity; sexual content or nudity; Drugs or alcohol
  Why it’s worth picking up: I’ll admit that when I first got this book from my library, I wasn’t excited to read it. Poetry really isn’t my thing. As soon as I started to read it, my opinion changed. Ellen Hopkins does something special with her poetry. It’s not just one poem, it’s a story of poems, and the story is amazing. I think it’s a great way to get people interested in a different style of writing.
  
  
• Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
  Why it's been banned or challenged: The language is considered particularly offensive
  Why it’s worth picking up: This is another book I read in high school. One of the first books that I really felt for the characters. While there may be strong language in the book, this is what makes it feel so real. The best books suck you in and leave you wanting more. Of Mice and Men does just that.
  
  
• Al Capone Does My Shirts - Gennifer Choldenko
  Why it’s been banned or challenged: n/a. The ACLU website I found this book listed on didn't include the reason it was challenged.
  Why it’s worth picking up: We find out in the first few pages that Moose's sister has autism. The beautiful thing about this book is that Natalie is never labeled. She is simply "my sister" to Moose. It shows that we're all just people, no matter what problems we have.
  

Stay tuned for Thursday when I'll review one of my favorite banned books. You can take part in the blogfest yourself by signing up on Tahereh's blog.

Now it's your turn. What are some of your favorite banned books?