FORUM SERIES EXAMINES GATSBY AT 100
At the time his third novel was released 100 years ago this month, F. Scott Fitzgerald hoped The Great Gatsby would cement his position as a top American novelist. That was hardly the case. Neither the critical nor commercial success he’d hoped for, “The Great Gatsby” faded quickly from the public eye, and by the time Fitzgerald died in 1940 it was hard to find a copy in bookstores. It wasn’t until years after its original release that The Great Gatsby took its rightful place in the pantheon of great American literature.
So where does Fitzgerald’s seminal work line up against the American classics? That will be the subject of the next Selvidge Street Forum, “What’s So Great About Gatsby? Revisiting Fitzgerald’s Masterpiece 100 Years Later.” The event will be Wednesday, April 30, 7 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church’s Martin House, 101 S. Selvidge Street.
Discussion will be led by Jane Sample, retired professor of literature and composition at Dalton State College, who has taught works written by many of Fitzgerald’s contemporaries, including Edith Wharton, Ernest Hemingway, and William Faulkner.
“So many of the greatest works of literature secure their place in the literary canon by their timeless themes,” Sample says. “In The Great Gatsby, the predominant themes of class, wealth disparity, jealousy, love, and the illusion of the American Dream are as relevant to readers today as they were to Fitzgerald’s readers in 1925.
“The Great Gatsby has the added allure of being a cautionary tale of sorts, warning us to beware of the mistakes the novel’s characters make, particularly Jay Gatsby, whose crippling obsession for a past love makes it impossible for him to live in the present,” she said.
Sample will be joined in the discussion by Pam Partain, program organizer and self-professed Fitzgerald groupie.
Partain, who first read The Great Gatsby in high school, says she was struck immediately by Fitzgerald’s use of language. “The way he strings words together literally brought me to tears and is probably singularly responsible for making me an English major in college,” she said.
The program is free and open to the public; participants are asked to bring a non-perishable food item for the church’s Little Free Pantry food ministry.
The Forum was developed by members of First Presbyterian to provide a friendly space for unifying, uplifting, thought-provoking programming on a variety of subjects from humor to history to art and literature to important social issues of the day. “We’re here to stretch our brains a little; to learn more about our community, ourselves, and all manner of influences that impact the human condition,” Partain said. “We see the Selvidge Street Forum as a marketplace of ideas; programs are less lecture, more conversation as we learn from each other. The goal is for folks to leave a Forum program feeling a little smarter than they did when they came in.”
Forums are held in the historic Martin House of the church property. The Martin House, constructed by Dalton’s Col. and Mrs. William Clinton Martin in 1911, served for decades as the Dalton Public Library and has served as home to the Presbyterian Church since 2012. “It feels right to hold our Forum series within the walls of the Martin house,” Partain said. “The Martins willed their home to serve as the public library after Mrs. Martin died in 1947. They wanted their home to be a place that promoted learning and personal growth. We believe we honor that legacy with the Selvidge Street Forum,” Partain said. “It is informal, welcoming, and a place to go to learn something new. Come if you’re interested.”
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