Is Gatsby Still Great? (In-Person)
Fall (14 hours or more) | FULL (Membership Required)
Nearly a century has passed since The Great Gatsby was published, and for most of that century it would be hard to find an American secondary school where it was not taught. Today, fresh imaginings of the novel continue to appear on stage and screen. At the same time, in a brave new world of literary voices the world of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s fiction and the cache around the man himself have faded considerably.
In this course we will read Babylon Revisited and Other Stories (fiction from 1920-1940), The Great Gatsby (1925), Tender is the Night (1934), and The Last Tycoon (unfinished and posthumously published in 1941); and we will use eight sessions to reexamine Fitzgerald’s work through 21st century eyes. This will be a discussion class with a reading load that will run a little over 100 pages a week, and we will meet in person.
This course will consist of discussions between the Study Leader and participants.
- Required Books:
- Babylon Revisited and Other Stories - F. Scott Fitzgerald (ISBN-13: 978-0684824482)
- The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald (ISBN-13: 978-0743273565)
- Tender is the Night - F. Scott Fitzgerald (ISBN-13: 978-0684801544)
- The Last Tycoon - F. Scott Fitzgerald (ISBN-13: 9781668047996)
Jon Stableford
Jon holds degrees from Williams College and Wesleyan University and for 43 years taught secondary school English, the last 34 of them at Phillips Academy, Andover, MA. In 2010, he and his wife Cindy retired to South Strafford, VT and have ever since had a close relationship with Osher at Dartmouth. He writes occasional pieces for The Valley News.