| re: NYT review of Gatsby | |
| Posted by: AlanScott 05:08 pm EDT 05/02/24 | |
| In reply to: re: NYT review of Gatsby - AnObserver 12:42 pm EDT 04/30/24 | |
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| Yes, I know about that. It was discussed here last October as part of the subject of the critical reception and popularity of the novel at the time it was published. I wrote this as part of a longer post: "The novel was well-received enough to be dramatized by Pulitzer Prize winner Owen Davis. Davis's play opened on Broadway 10 months after the novel was published. It received generally favorable reviews, a number of which stated that the book had been popular. So there was at least a perception that the book had been popular, even if it had been something of a commercial disappointment. The play ran three months, a decent run for the time. The producer stated that the play closed because the actor who played Gatsby, James Rennie, left the cast to go to England, where the mother of his wife, Dorothy Gish, was ill. I would think that if the play had been doing really well, they would have replaced him. Nonetheless, the play (which, by the way, was directed by George Cukor) had a decent run." Re-reading some of the reviews yesterday, I was reminded that several of the critics indicated that they had read the novel and at least a couple of them thought highly of it. One thing that I didn't post about last October but that is worth mentioning is that the play started with a prologue about the young Gatsby and Daisy in Louisville before he went to fight in Word War I. Also, after that prologue, there was only one scene per act, and here is where they were listed as taking place: Act I — Nick Carraway's cottage, West Egg, L. I. August 1925 Act II - Gatsby's Library, West Egg, L. I. One week later. Act III - The Same. About ten days later. It would seem difficult to fit the action of the novel into just those scenes, yet Owen Davis did it, including many characters who never appear in those places in the novel. The critics generally thought he did it well and was also faithful to the novel. Hard to imagine this working very well. As far as I can tell from reading the reviews, Wilson became the Buchanans' chauffeur. |
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