It has been a few days. I have not managed to tick off any films. I am sure I will get there but currently I have not managed to get the sit down time to watch a film. It has not helped that the first rolls of films have required subtitles which I feel needs more concentration. I will get there.

Albums

I have listened to Prince before but this album was an unknown to me. Prince always does a great job of creating idealistic “clubbing” music and this album was probably the best example of it. The first song on the album, probably my favourite was actually a depressing observation of America at the time, I am not sure it has the right to be as funky as it is for the subject matter. I listened to this album while washing my car and I also wasn’t expecting for the album to be as horny as it was, especially towards the latter half. It was great dance music, maybe not great music for the daytime.

Fiction

I think my initial observation of this novel was its shortness, I quickly devoured it in only 3 days. The brief summary was that I really enjoyed it. The pacing is great, the description is fascinating and the story is interesting. It is inherently difficult to be spoiler-free on a book like this but I did still find myself gripped by the story as it progressed.

My main enjoyment definitely stemmed from Nick as a narrator. Though heavily involved in the lives of the people around him, he seems like only an observer. He is not unreliable in the sense of bias but just in his general confusion and uncertainty of the people around him. I think this really highlight Nick as an outsider in the groups he is spending time with, they don’t seem to engage with him directly, more with each other in his presence. It makes a very interesting narrative device, which I enjoyed a lot throughout the novel.

The party descriptions were great from Nick’s perspective, and the contrast with Gatsby’s final resting was done well, without hammering too much of a metaphor into the reader’s face. I really enjoyed Nick’s description of all the different guests who visit throughout the summer Gatsby remains an interesting mystery throughout and Nick’s determination to see him as a “good” man at the end reflects my own thoughts towards the end.

I really did enjoy my first book but as it is considered one of the best American novels, I am not that surprised.

Video Games

I am now 88 hours into Red Dead Redemption across 2 playthroughs. I am very lost into the game but I can definitely feel like I will move through the second half quicker than the first. Review will come at the end of the story