Yes, I’d recommend reading the book.

Thank you for your comment. This was my first review, so please be somewhat forgiving.

@@blightedpinebooks no problem, I'm just echoing your comments in the videl, they are like my highlights of your video :)

The perils of free speech, I believe.

Hopefully I captured this sentiment in my review. I also see the book as propaganda; though it’s worth noting that so much of history is “propaganda” to an extent. My favorite works of history aim for objectivity.

Thanks for your comment! Stoicism is making a comeback for good reason!

@@blightedpinebooks Indeed, especially to give dignity and fortitude to your young generation so courageously protesting Free Palestine all over the world to negate the depravity of corporate extraction and corrupt US capitalism, creating warfare and chaos in every sphere. Currently re-reading Marx’s Grundrisse, Penguin paperback. I do have a few lovely Fitzgerald 1st editions in my library though. Take care of yourself and your mind. Miss Jenny

Much appreciated. I’m getting the channel up and running, and one sub means a lot.

I’d just dive into Infinite Jest. It’s rewarding and often hilarious.

I’ll consider reading your book 😛

Thank you! Hope you love it.

Thank you! It’s a classic and deserves to be read, but with skepticism.

Thanks for your thoughts! Looking back, 5 is probably a bit too critical.

Agreed. Students should be exposed to as many perspectives as possible, even if, and especially when, you as a teacher disagree.

Thank you!

Thanks for the reply!

Thank you for the comment!

The people collectively control the means of production through the organization of democratic bodies that oversee everything or as people like to say a state. The ownership over things by the state is not mutually exclusive with the ownership over things by the people unless the state is not controlled by the people and instead other entities like corporations or a few extremely wealthy people, cough cough america. Democratic socialism is indeed different and is just a half measure that is basically capitalism with some bread crumbs. exploitation of the third world and imperialism still thrives (look at Ikea). Democratic socialism is not socialism and until capitalism is ended the people can not truly have democratic control of the state as there will always be consolidation of wealth and power into the hands of the few who's interests directly conflict with the many. Not saying trying to move towards capitalism with breadcrumbs is bad as it's still a step in the right direction but it shouldn't be an end goal if the goal is to have true equality, democracy and freedom

Admittedly I have a limited understanding of the economics of socialism and communism - though my experiences reading about the devastating effects of socialist revolutions in Russia, China, and Cambodia have made me a little more than queasy - but at the same time the impacts of capitalism unbounded by humanitarian ethics are distressing. Thank you for your comment.

youre wrong about communism. the state doesnt exist under communism

Zinn's perspective is certainly necessary to capture the totality of America. Thanks for your comment.

It’s not history, it’s a political propaganda piece. History books are not supposed to be biased but objective and give you only facts, no ideologically driven opinions and interpretations. Read primary sources and verified historians who give references and are objective

Thanks for your comment!

不客气

Thank you for the comment!

Thank you!

Kevin

@@kevingarywilkes Gee! Thanks for your reply! I love your reviews! Mishima was a big favorite of mine for quite a number of years but then he just started seriously depressing me; a similar thing had happened with previous angst-ridden favorites like Kafka and J.D. Salinger. I think that as you read other Japanese authors you will find some similarities in their general styles and themes. Like German literature, there's always angst and suicide comes up a lot and there's always repressed anger. You mentioned liking Mishima's emphasis on describing nature with simile and metaphor; Japanese people, in general, revere nature and it's always a strong device for setting up a mood. Think of haiku poetry: it's all about nature and mood! Thanks for your reply! ❤️ I understand that you are in China (?). I was in Japan for seven years and I really love their arts and culture. Cheers!

I am not saying that I know much , but I don’t think what you said is true , in this book the boy loved her , even died for her! . Stop making everything look queer.

@@raneemraneem7053 exactly

Thanks for the insight!

Awesome. Thanks for the comment!

They are authoritarian captalists - they were communists.

Thanks for the comment! What a cool way to encounter Fitzgerald.

Hey! Thank you!

Thanks for your comment! I'm finally settling in here in Tennessee, and will be updating regularly from now on!

Thank you!

They're both great, but incredibly different.

Congratulations, you have successfully been brainwashed by a confirmed piece of propaganda that paints all the west as uniquely evil and all others as saints. If you want to know real history and not something that just confirms what you would like history to be, then throw out this fictional book and read primary sources and other secondary that are objective in their research

Thanks for your comment!

Beautifully said.

Thanks for the comment!

Thanks. I"ll be uploading more regularly fro, now on!

Thanks! It's certainly worth a read or two.

That's awesome. Thank you.

She's on my list to read more of - I've only read "The Left Hand of Darkness."

Sorry, Rick. I misspoke. I'm new to book reviews, but I'll do my best to make sure to not miss a single detail in the next one.

That's a great idea. I'll put it on my reading list.

Completely. Thank you!

Thanks. I'll be uploading more from now on!

I read the original print of the book - before it was modified to make it more "palatable." Fitzgerald was famously frustrated with the novel's reception, but I think the original is closest to his artistic intention. I agree with you - and this book elevated my appreciation of Fitzgerald's writing. I wonder if Virgina Woolf wasn't an influence, as some passages contain the surreal, heady prose that makes her such a challenging and satisfying read. Dick Diver is definitely something of a self-portrait of Fitzgerald, and indeed, it's a heavy ending to the novel, and tells us a lot about where Fitzgerald was at nearing the end of his career. Rand is great as well - I read her Fountainhead last summer. Her writing I found a bit stilted, but she can weave a narrative like no one's business. I'm currently reading Franzen's "The Corrections" and will post a review soon. If you're an aspiring writer, his work is a fantastic muse. He's less plot-driven than Rand, and less romantic than Fitzgerald, but he captures modernity better than anyone I've read.

Plot pacing certainly isn't Mishima's strength, but the visuals are hallucinatory. Let me know what you think of Runaway Horses.

Thank you!