#12
book : F.S. Fitzgerald | Tales of The Jazz Age
song : Scott Joplin | Bethena
As the book Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen has showed you how much I love short stories bundled into one book, I shall bring the same case once more. Surely being in 21st century, some—or most—of you must have watched The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
- Plus side: Fitzgerald got more exposure to the current generation
- Negative side: ….not as much as Brad Pitt
Traveling to anywhere, this is the ultimate classic I always carry inside my bag. The compact stories allow me to read them infrequently. And in the spirit of getting to know more about Fitzgerald, I will provide snippets of stories in the book other than Mr. Button’s (yes, i demand that you should know more about Fitzgerald’s exquisite gems). So here it goes:
“Where is Mr. Tantrum, little girl?” he asked, not without kindness.
She raised her foot and pointed her big toe toward the woods.
“Thar in the cabing behind those thar pines. Old Tantrum air my old man.”
The man from the settlements thanked her and strode off. He was fairly vibrant with youth and personality. As he walked along he whistled and sang and turned handsprings and flapjacks, breathing in the fresh, cool air of the mountains. The air around the still was like wine. Jemina Tantrum watched him entranced.
No one like him had ever come into her life before.
[ Jemina, The Mountain Girl ]
“Good-night everybody,” called Clark.
“Good-night, Clark.”
“Good-night..”
There was a pause, and then a soft, happy voice added,
“Good-night, Jelly-Bean.”
[ The Jelly-Bean ]
They lingered for a moment just below the stoop, watching a moon that seemed full of snow float out of the distance where the lake lay. Summer was gone and now Indian summer. The grass was cold and there was no mist or dew. After he left she would go in and light the gas and close the shutters, and he would go down the path and on to the village. To these two life had come quickly and gone, leaving not bitterness, but pity; not disillusion, but only pain. There was already enough moonlight when they shook hands for each to see the gathered kindness in the other’s eyes.
[ The Lees of Happiness ]
That, John perceived after a time, was the thread running through his sentences. Prometheus Enriched was calling to witness forgotten sacrifices, forgotten rituals, prayers obsolete before the birth of Christ. For a while his discourse took the form of reminding God of this gift or that which Divinity had deigned to accept from men—great churches if he would rescue cities from the plague, gifts of myrrh and gold, of human lives and beautiful women and captive armies, of children and queens, of beasts of the forest and field, sheep and goats, harvests and cities, whole conquered lands that had been offered up in lust or blood for His appeasal, buying a meed’s worth of alleviation from the Divine wrath—and now he, Braddock Washington, Emperor of Diamonds, king and priest of the age of gold, arbiter of splendor and luxury, would offer up a treasure such as princes before him had never dreamed of, offer it up not in suppliance, but in pride.
[ The Diamond as Big as The Ritz ]
Parker and Davis
Sittin’ on a fence
Tryne to make a dollar
Outta fif-teen cents
The Young Man: (eagerly) Are you growing fond of literature?
Julie: If it’s not too ancient or complicated or depressing.. same way with people.
[ Porcelain and Pink ]
Lovely, aren’t they?
#30hari30buku30lagu
Notes:
-
wine-thermos likes this
-
marinaesque reblogged this from lalitia and added:
attention geeks! :) check out my friend lalitia’s book + music reviews. it’s called #30hari30buku30lagu which means 30...
-
lalitia posted this
