Of all the short stories I was ever assigned, The Ransom of Red Chief is by far the most humorous, entertaining, and memorable. The story was written by O. Henry – a pseudonym for William Sydney Porter, a Southerner born during the Civil war who moved to Texas and had a very colorful life. A performer and humor writer of great regard, O. Henry may have honed his knowledge of the kidnappers in this story during his 3 year stint in an Ohio federal penitentiary. He had landed there, after being caught as a fugitive, accused of bank fraud and embezzlement (several articles on his life insist he was SLOPPY but not a criminal.) This marvelous story has a wonderful twist as do many O. Henry stories. I’d say read “in” it but at about 16 pages, it is a short read and well worth the effort. Children of all ages will love hearing it read out loud. Happy summer reading…
“And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer.”
F. Scott Fitzgerald Great Gatsby (1925)
Ah, Gatsby – a summer reading classic if ever there were one. Reading “in” books I’ve already read is a favorite summer pastime – like a quick coffee with old friends – just enough time spent to catch up and keep the relationship going. If you are like me, you own shelves of books that sit there, stagnant. Take them out on occasion for a quick spin. You will be glad for the new views they provide you.
No better way to prepare for endless summer than with Nick and Daisy and Jay. The light-hearted banter of their cocktail parties which is so often accompanied by sinister overtones of boredom and greed, lust and carelessness. Reading just a few lines of Gatsby and I am brought back to my own memories of the sweet smell of blossoming privet hedges, a lingering perfume wafting across Long Island lanes during an evening stroll. Later on, a sensation of the slight headache that accompanies one’s downing of the final drops of an hours-old gin and tonic, now fizz-less and warmed by a lingering blanket of dull wet heat that lies close and stagnant in the mid-August night.
One needn’t read Gatsby cover-to-cover to gain an appreciation for all that is attractive and at the same time wrong with consumption and wranglings over social class and money. I have never been disappointed when I read from this book. Just open it up and dive right in. Stuck? Pop on over to GoodReads or Literary Quotes or Google and find yourself an intriguing passage and it’s corresponding chapter or page – start there. Then if you dare, read out loud to yourself for a bit – the evocative words made even more real by the sound of your voice. There are literally hundreds of quotes and small scenes that will evoke the languishing aggressiveness of the summer scene that defined Long Island socialites of the 1920s. I can remember having an epiphany, even as a teen reading this book because of a compulsory assignment, that things can grow really out of control when boredom and aspiration conspire. Things have not changed in the nearly 100 years since the book was published.
Ever since the recent (2013) movie version of Gatsby was released, there is much to be found about the history of Fitzgerald on Long Island and the homes and world that inspired him. To enhance one’s imagination as a reader, it is amusing to see the architecture of the 1% of the day and know what it was that caught Fitzgerald’s attention as he penned his tale. Below, two photos: First, Land’s End built for John Scott Browning, Sr., and Fitzgerald’s model for Daisy Buchanan’s East Egg mansion. And second, Alva Vanderbilt Belmont’s mansion, the model for Jay Gatsby’s palatial estate. Definitely at least worth reading “in” Gatsby if not devouring the entire thing while you sit shore-side in your own “cottage” this summer.
Model for Daisy Buchanan’s mansionA.V. Belmont’s mansion, inspiration for Fitzgerald’s Jay Gatsby.
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