The 1920s is widely perceived as the decade of materialism. Ive heard through the publishing world grapevine than most agents and editors will generally take a query for a first novel more. Word counts and other distractions griffin paul jackson. The great gatsby is a novel by the american author f. More recently the fault in our stars comes in at 67,000. Written during the 1920s, the great gatsby accurately depicts lives of excess and false hopes during that time. With the road at 58,702 words and the goldfinch at 296,582 words, this genre also known as general or commercial fiction tends to have a wide range. That extraordinary, beautiful, intricately patterned, and above all, simple novel became the great gatsby, arguably fitzgeralds finest work and certainly the book for which he is best known. His count of enchanted objects had diminished by one 100. The great gatsby has become a standard text in high school and university courses on american literature in countries around the world, and is ranked second in the modern librarys lists of the 100 best novels of the 20th century.
First published on april 10, 1925, it is set in long islands north shore and new york city during the summer of 1922. How does the great gatsby prove that materialism lead to moral decay. The two pieces of literature are very different and represent two distinct eras and. Theres the joy luck club and the hobbit at 91,000 and 95,000 words respectively.
Scott fitzgerald 47,180 the red badge of courage stephen crane 48,523 the outsiders s. Directed by baz luhrmann, performances by leonardo dicaprio and toby maguire, warner brothers, 20. For a few examples, lets start on the low end of word count where we have the great gatsby clocking in at approx. Last nights debates were longer than the great gatsby the. Word count for the book the great gatsby word counters. This exemplary novel of the jazz age has been acclaimed by generations of readers. Aspiration was the story of jay gatsby, a man i will never forget. Everything you need to know about novel word counts nathan.
The apostle pauls epistles from the bible 43,293 words. Based on this list compiled by nicole humphrey cook. Word count for famous novels, in ascending order by number of words. Nick observes, possibly it had occurred to him that the colossal significance of that light had now vanished forever. Always keep this list near you when reading chapter 1 chapter 1 1 reserved p. While writing has become something of a habit for me, thus casting distractions a little farther away, the word count distraction keeps coming back. Following the shock and chaos of world war i, american society enjoyed unprecedented levels of prosperity during the. I think he changed his name because of the war, he felt that when he got back from the war that he wanted to be known as a different man, start a new life. Word count is one of those things new writers worry about but deny worrying about because were not supposed to be worrying about it. All wise women conform to the mans lead represents the viewpoint of most 1920s men kerr 406. Pdf social alienation in the great gatsby and in its.
Thats just a few thousand words less than the word count of the bibles book of leviticus. Nick describes the valley of ashes that is the area between the rich suburb of west egg and manhattan. Although this was the dream for many americans of this time, it seemed almost impossible to become a part. He rents a house in the west egg district of long island, a wealthy but unfashionable area populated by the new rich, a group who have made their fortunes too recently to have established social connections and who are prone to garish displays of wealth. This slim tome is regularly cited by critics as the best american novel ever written. His count of enchanted objects had diminished by one. The great gatsby is essentially about the rise and fall of the american dream, and what meaning that held for gatsby. The great gatsby is a 1925 novel written by american author f. Im trying to figure out how what im writing competes lengthwise with other novels, and i read that the average short novel is 20k words. Specifically, it takes place from spring to fall in the year 1922. To enforce their superiority, men restricted women to caring for the household and children. The great gatsby is personally too deep for me to understand and dissolve all of it.
For average word counts based on genre, see this handy reference. The word count range for literary fiction is 80,000 to 110,000. Nick carraway rents a summer house in long island where he befriends his mysterious neighbor jay gatsby, a selfmade millionaire who hides behind an extravagant and decadent lifestyle. Scott fitzgerald, is a novel about the upperclass american life in the 1920s. The great gatsby is indeed great, having been bannedor challengedover the years, most recently, according to the american library association, by south carolinas baptist college in 1987 for language and sexual references. Word count for literary fiction books word counters. Here are other popular novels and their word counts. I like jordan baker the most in this story, because even though she is cynical, i think she was wise and knew a lot of things. The american dream is the national culture of what we believe as a society and as americans to be success, prosperity, and freedom. The great gatsby word count and more reading length. The hitchhikers guide to the galaxy by douglas adams 46,333 words source. In the end, myrtle, is ran over by gatsbys car, and the car does not stop.
The moods, tones, and themes of the great gatsby obviously reflect the 1920s culture in america. This task demonstrates an understanding on the text because i used the combination of the main plot and my opinion to write up this paper. Directed by jack clayton, paramount pictures, 1974. According to wikipedias entry on word count, the typical word count of a novel is at least 80,000 words. Rise and fall of the american dream in the great gatsby. Considered a rebellious time, the roaring twenties and the jazz age refers to a. In his book, the great gatsby, fitzgerald illustrates how the obsession of material wealth leads to moral decay. Scott fitzgerald 47,094 words the fault in our stars, john green 67,203 words.
Scott fitzgerald that follows a cast of characters living in the fictional towns of west egg and east egg on prosperous long island in the summer of 1922. Reading length provides a calculation for the word count of this book, find out how long it will take you to read. It is also about how the american dream is seen by gatsby, not to obtain something materialistic, money, but to reach a goal not in keeping at all with what the american dream stands for. The great gatsby, and slaughterhousefive are between 4050,000 words.
Only gatsby, the man who gives his name to this book, was exempt from my reactiongatsby, who represented everything for which i have an unaffected scorn. Across the courtesy bay the white palaces of fashionable east egg glittered along the water, and the history of the summer really begins on the evening i drove over there to. Still, a book such as life of pi at 98,783 words is more on target. Read our guide to learn what your word count should be and our. The story primarily concerns the young and mysterious millionaire jay gatsby and his quixotic passion and obsession with the beautiful former debutante daisy. The sign of any great book is that it has been banned for its corrupting influence on youth. Scott fitzgeralds third book, stands as the supreme achievement of his career. After daisy and gatsbys successful reunion, a mist conceals the green light, visibly affecting gatsby. These book discussion questions are highly detailed and will ruin plot points, if you have not read the book. At 17, he had his family name changed from james gatz to jay gatsby.
The novel chronicles an era that fitzgerald himself dubbed the jazz age. Here are links to all our word lists for the novel. The great gatsby vocabulary you will only be tested over the boxedin words. April 10, 20 by ny nick carraway rents a summer house in long island where he befriends his mysterious neighbor jay gatsby, a selfmade millionaire who hides behind an extravagant and decadent lifestyle. Many longed to be rich and to become a member of the upper class. Stephen king word count 112263 274,672 bag of bones 203,3 black house 252,270 blockade billy 15,917 carrie 60,718 cell 121,931 christine 193,602 cujo 121,150 cycle of the werewolf 15,955 desperation 195,011 doctor sleep. Aspects of the american dream can be found in the play a raisin in the sun and the novel the great gatsby. This is the gray and dirty part of the borough of queens that you drive through to get from long island to nyc. Nick carraway, a young man from minnesota, moves to new york in the summer of 1922 to learn about the bond business. F scott fitzgerald gatsbys mansion on long island blazes with light, and the beautiful, the wealthy, and the famous drive out from new york to drink gatsbys champagne and to party all night long. Ive wasted hours upon hours looking up word counts. Its no surprise that this very long, emotional, and shocking chapter is laced through with the themes of the great gatsby. Also, heres another list i may swipe and add in here. This story was based on the jazz age, when the rich and fabulous were having marvelous parties after world war i.
Tgg didnt seem like it was nearly that long when i was reading it. However, gaining the right to vote empowered many women to break free from the. He, of all, had a tense grip on the future and it was because of that inner will that drove him. The mainstage debate transcript, however, came in at. The great gatsby francis scott fitzgerald feedbooks. The original target audiences of this novel are classics and romantics, but my written piece targets the audiences that reflect on the character of the great gatsby. The average reader will spend 3 hours and 17 minutes reading this book at 250 wpm words per minute.
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