Book Review: The Great Gatsby: The Graphic Novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, illustrated by Aya Morton, text adapted by Fred Fordham (2020)

 

The striking cover of The Great Gatsby: The Graphic Novel, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, illustrated by Aya Morton, text adapted by Fred Fordham, 2020. Photo by Mark C. Taylor, taken on my Fitzgerald bookshelf of course, old sport.

Sample page from The Great Gatsby: The Graphic Novel.

Meyer Wolfshiem, Jay Gatsby, and Nick Carraway all look strikingly similar. (Forgive the cropping of this photo-trying to take a picture of images on a page is surprisingly difficult.)

Jay Gatsby confronts the Buchanans in his pink suit at the Plaza Hotel.

When F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel The Great Gatsby enters the public domain on January 1, 2021, we can expect to be bombarded with all sorts of new interpretations of the book. Novelist Michael Farris Smith has a prequel, Nick, all set to go on January 5, 2021. (As interesting as Nick Carraway is, isn’t it Jay Gatz’s backstory that we all want to know, old sport?) Fitzgerald’s descendants know that there’s nothing they can legally do to prevent all of these impending knock-offs and interpretations, so they sanctioned their own official graphic novel of The Great Gatsby, with text adapted by Fred Fordham, and illustrations by Aya Morton. The Great Gatsby: The Graphic Novel is published by Scribner’s, who have been Fitzgerald’s publisher since the appearance of his first novel, This Side of Paradise, in 1920. The graphic novel features an introduction by Blake Hazard, Scott and Zelda’s great-granddaughter.

The Great Gatsby: The Graphic Novel, is an excellent introduction to the novel itself, and it may well succeed in drawing new readers to Fitzgerald’s masterpiece. I was especially impressed with the textual adaptation by Fred Fordham. (Fordham did the adaptation and illustrations for the 2018 graphic novel of To Kill a Mockingbird.) I didn’t do a side by side comparison, but Fordham’s text felt very faithful to Fitzgerald’s words. There were plot points and descriptions that were missing in the graphic novel, but I didn’t notice many descriptions that had been added or invented by Fordham. One place where I keenly felt the absence of Fitzgerald’s words was the description of the “valley of ashes,” and the giant eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg.

I had more issues with the illustrations by Aya Morton. The illustrations are done in what looks like watercolor, so the images look rather pale on the page. Morton does a fine job at capturing the Art Deco interiors and fashion of the 1920’s. Where Morton falls short is in her drawings of people. Every character looks pretty much the same. There’s little difference between the faces of Nick Carraway, Jay Gatsby, Tom Buchanan, and Meyer Wolfshiem. Also, there’s not much difference in the facial expressions of the characters, which robs the graphic novel of some of its drama.

Some things, a line of dialogue or description, struck me more in the graphic novel format than they have in the novel. An example would be this sentence from Nick’s narration: “As for Tom, the fact that he had ‘some woman in New York’ was really less surprising than that he had been depressed by a book.” It’s interesting to me how Fitzgerald, who does not seem to have been much of a progressive on racial matters, smartly made Tom Buchanan such a pompous ass in part by making him super racist. It’s a brilliant strategy that still works now, 95 years later, as the reader immediately hates Tom.

I was struck again by what a compact masterpiece The Great Gatsby is. There’s so much in the novel that is left unsaid, so many questions we don’t know the answers to. The more I read Gatsby, the more I want to know about those things that Fitzgerald doesn’t tell us, the scenes he doesn’t show us. What are Nick and Jordan Baker’s dates like? What happens when Daisy and Gatsby are finally alone together?

Visually, The Great Gatsby is a very striking novel: Gatsby’s yellow car, his pink suit, the eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg, the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock, are all indelible images that remain in the reader’s mind long after they’ve finished reading. It’s an excellent candidate for the graphic novel treatment, and I just wish that this adaptation was as perfect as the novel itself.

The Debutantes: Groovy 1960's-inspired pop songs

The Debutantes: Victoria and Lavinia George-Veale. Promo photo for "(If Paradise Is) Half as Nice."

Lavinia and Victoria in vintage dresses for the "My Precious Love" video.

The Debutantes, photo taken for the "Heartache" single.

Do you love the groovy sounds of the pop music of the 1960’s? If, like me, you answered yes to that question, there’s a new group you should check out: The Debutantes. The Debutantes are Victoria and Lavinia George-Veale, two sisters from Cardiff, Wales. Raised in a musical family, they have absorbed many musical influences from the 1960’s and beyond.

The Debutantes have released three singles so far. A full album, titled Symphonic Pop, was due to be released this summer, but it’s now been pushed back to 2021, due to the covid epidemic. Alan Jones, a member of the 1960’s Welsh pop group Amen Corner, is the producer and manager for the Debutantes, and he's written most of the songs for Symphonic Pop.

The Debutantes’ first single, released at the end of 2019, is a cover of Amen Corner’s 1969 UK Number 1 hit, “(If Paradise Is) Half as Nice.” On their version, the Debutantes sing with Andy Fairweather Low, who sang lead on the original hit, which is a fun touch. Fairweather Low’s voice still sounds great, and his vocals have a rich, soulful quality.

“(If Paradise Is) Half as Nice” starts with the girls singing “la la la la” before the chorus: “If paradise is half as nice as heaven that you take me to/who needs paradise, I’d rather have you.” The song has a really full, lush sound, harkening back to Phil Spector’s famous “Wall of Sound” records from the 1960’s. There’s a great bit towards the end of the song where Fairweather Low sings the bridge while the girls sing the chorus as a counterpoint behind him. “(If Paradise Is) Half as Nice” is a song I was not familiar with—it wasn’t a big hit in the United States—and the Debutantes’ version is a great upbeat slice of retro pop. Both Victoria and Lavinia have warm, inviting voices, and their harmonies are fantastic. The music video features the Debutantes singing and dancing in a field, mixed with archival footage of Amen Corner performing the song.

“My Precious Love,” the Debutantes’ second single, followed in February of 2020. It’s an original composition by Alan Jones that sounds like a terrific lost girl-group single from 1963. “My Precious Love” pays homage to the sounds of the 1960’s without merely sounding like a pastiche. The song grabs the listener right away, with a big buildup to the vocal entrance. The girls start singing “la la la la” before the chorus. “My Precious Love” has an infectious groove, and it’s impossible to hear the song and not start moving. Lavinia and Victoria’s vocals blend together seamlessly on all their songs, but especially so on this track. Devotees of 1960’s pop will appreciate the pizzicato sound of the string instruments on “My Precious Love,” as it fits right in with other tunes from that decade. The music video for “My Precious Love” is lots of fun, as Lavinia and Victoria, dressed in vintage 1960’s frocks, have a great time dancing and performing this catchy song.

The Debutantes’ most recent single is “Heartache,” released at the end of June 2020. It’s another catchy tune, with guitar and piano prominent in the mix. It’s a bouncy, high energy song, despite the sadness of the lyrics. As Victoria and Lavinia sing at the beginning of the song: “I don’t want to stay around and see you with another girl.” But you quickly get the feeling that they’ll soon get over this guy and be just fine. “Heartache” features gorgeous layered backing vocals and harmonies, which add to the texture of the Debutantes’ songs. The music video for “Heartache” was filmed by the Debutantes themselves during quarantine, and it’s quite hilarious.

I think the future holds a lot of promise for the Debutantes, and I’m looking forward to hearing more music from them. So, give the Debutantes a listen on Spotify, iTunes, or however you listen to music these days. You’ll enjoy their upbeat pop tunes and fantastic harmonies.

Robyn Hitchcock and Emma Swift: "Sweet Home Quarantine," July 29, 2020

Wednesday night’s “Sweet Home Quarantine” show, with Robyn Hitchcock and Emma Swift, was another all-request show that ventured through the deep back catalogue of Robyn’s work. Robyn opened with “Serpent at the Gates of Wisdom,” from 1993’s Respect album. He then played a real rarity, “The Abandoned Brain,” a track that was first released on the 1986 compilation Invisible Hitchcock. I have it on the Yep Roc box set I Wanna Go Backwards, but I haven’t listened to that song in a very long time.

Emma then joined Robyn for another track from Respect, “The Yip Song,” which references the death of Robyn’s father, painter and novelist Raymond Hitchcock. The song also mentions Vera Lynn, the World War II singer who recently died at age 103. Emma added some lovely harmonies to “Glass Hotel,” one of my favorite tunes from 1990’s Eye album. Emma then sang “Queen Jane Approximately,” from her new album Blonde on the Tracks. I got my copy about a week ago, and I can tell you, it’s fantastic. If you’ve enjoyed hearing Emma sing Bob Dylan songs, or any kind of songs, you’ll love Blonde on the Tracks. You can order Blonde on the Tracks here from Emma’s Bandcamp page.

Robyn sang a new song, judging from the chorus, I would say it’s called “One Day,” but Robyn told us it’s actually called “It’s Been Scheduled.” Emma then joined Robyn for “Mad Shelley’s Letterbox,” from 2017’s Robyn Hitchcock album. It’s a fun song, and one that I often mis-hear as “My Chinese Letterbox.” I learned from the chat that I’m not the only person who hears it that way. Robyn and Emma also sang “Sayonara, Judge,” another song from the Robyn Hitchcock album.

The “Sweet Home Quarantine” shows have been filled with more banter between Robyn and Emma the last few weeks, and after Robyn was going on about something this week, Emma told him, “You get more and more insane each week.” Which might be the slogan of 2020.

The show ended with two terrific songs, the beautiful and haunting “Airscape,” and the fun “Adventure Rocketship.”