The Great Gatsby Chapter 2

The Great Gatsby
F. Scott Fitzgerald

Okay, so the first part of chapter 2 was incredibly weird, right?  Why would Nick want to meet Tom's mistress when he was related to Daisy, Tom's wife?  That whole situation was just awkward, but Nick took it all in stride so I guess the times were just different in the 20's.  Oh, and Tom actually converses with Myrtle's husband like no big deal--again, what a jerk!  Their little "party" with the McKees and Wilsons was also weird and I was a little confused with what they discussed, but I don't think it had any real bearing on the overall plot.  I think Ms. Baker is very strange and mysterious as a woman in the early 20th century because she openly discusses Tom's mistress with Nick when she should be scandalized at his behavior.  I also like Myrtle, but she obviously shouldn't be running around married with a married man.  [And then Tom broke her nose and it was no big deal...what the hell!  culture difference again]
      On Fitzgerald's style as a writer, I want to say that he, unfortunately, reminds me of Wharton a little because he just jumps around soooo much; his characters' dialogues jump around too, from one topic to something totally unrelated in the same scene.  I find it pretty annoying, but for some reason it doesn't bother me nearly as much as Wharton's did in The House of Mirth.  Other than the occasional randomness, I really enjoy the novel and his writing because of his diction.  Two examples of beautiful writing are "This is a valley of ashes--a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens; where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and, finally with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air" (Fitzgerald, page 23) and "I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life" (Fitzgerald, page 35).  While easier to understand than Wharton (possibly because of the fifteen year time difference), Fitzgerald loses no beauty and complexity in The Great Gatsby.