The Great Gadsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald

This entry is a double header because The Chosen and the Beautiful is a rewrite of The Great Gadsby from the perspective of Jordan.

It has probably been 30 years since I last read Gadsby so I felt compelled to re-read it before starting Chosen. The rereading was helpful to fully appreciate Vo’s project of retelling the story from a female centric sex-positive and culturally diverse perspective. In retrospect I think I might have been better off reading Gadsby after Chosen so I could experience it fresh and not solely through the lens of the original.

Rereading Gadsby made me appreciate anew the original novel, and Fitzgerald’s beautiful prose. While The Chosen re-figured this foundational narrative of class and exclusion to cast a wider net of difference, it seemed somehow a weak gesture in comparison to the original.

Others I’ve spoken who didn’t try to read the Chosen relationally, seemed to enjoy it as an independent narrative. This reinforced for me the feeling that I might have done better rereading Gadsby after rather than before.

Accordingly I give The Chosen and the Beautiful 3.5👍 out of 5👍.

The Great Gadsby tests out of my rating scale.