Literature Lovers 🖤

Hello, lovelies! 

It is that time of year again, Valentine's day has just passed. I don't usually post about it but I felt inspired to write a little valentines themed post.  I have been thinking about power couples, two people who are just right for each other. I couldn’t think of many LGBTQ+ couples sadly, so most couples mentioned are heterosexual. I am always looking for more LQBTQ+ books and representation, it’s quite sad that as a lesbian I don’t do enough reading around my community: if you have any suggestions on books I’d deeply appreciate it. 

Some of my favourite couples are so obvious if you know me in you will have seen a few of these coming. This post is incredibly smushy I am aware, bare with I will back to none love content next week! Let’s dive right in with my favourite couples that I think are canon, let’s begin in no particular order: 

Piper Chapman &  Alex Vause - this is partly from the Orange Is The New Black book but mainly Netflix series which the writer Piper Kerman had input on. Piper is a little annoying at times but this is a couple that just cannot stay away from each other. The book isn't very long but I like how the series adapted and delved further into their relationship as well as prison life. Time passes and they still find themselves in each other's arms. This was also the first lesbian couple I have ever read in a book as well as watched in a series. OITNB is the only reason I signed up for  Netflix in the first place. 

Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan - this couple is a little problematic. I cannot help but admire Gatsby’s love for Daisy.  Everything he ever does it own her heart, it’s tragically beautiful. Whenever I read the scenes when they’re together it just feels so right. What I like the most is that they started off as a fling really young and life  and war happended and years later they were back in each other’s arms. Fate is an incredible thing. When I say I like this couple, I really mean I like Gatsby and his forever holding onto hope. Daisy is  beautiful but incredibly iffy and selfish, Gatsby deserved better. A tragic ending but I admire Gatsby and his sheer hope for love.

Allie Hamilton and Noah Calhoun - From The Notebook. A tear jerker if there ever was one. This love story is absolutely beautiful. Noah goes out of his way to build Allie her dream house, absolutely beautiful. Their love story from young to elderly is gorgeous. When they're a part Noah writes letters 365 Days, this is super romantic and hits me in the feels. When the pair grow older Allie develops Alzheimer's and Noah goes out of his way to read her their story, I think that is so beautiful. At times she doesn't remember him and for him to power through this to tell her their story is stunning, and I can't imagine how hard it is to see someone you love forget you. Their story is beautiful.

Bridget Jones and Mark Darcy - I cannot adore this couple any more than I do! These lovely lovers are from none other than the Bridget Jones' series written by Helen Fielding.  It was Mark Darcy's love for Bridget that taught me this life lesson: in the book (and film) he tells Bridget he loves her 'just as you are'. I  have these exact words tattooed on me. It is so important we love people for exactly who they are, we cannot change people but it will fit when you find the right person. This isn't the only reason I have the quote tattooed on me but it is a reminder to myself to love myself just as I am. Self-love is such an important thing to me, and it was this book that really showed me you should not change yourself for a person or the world. I love this couple for them but more for what they remind me of. 

Estella and Pip - I will always love this couple. Even if it doesn’t really happen properly until the end of Great Expectations. Pip fell in love with Estella at a young age, and even though Estella grew to be quite cold, due her upbringing from Havisham, it is sweet that in the end it was Pip she fell in love with, Afte time a part and a marriage, it is Pip her story ends with. I think there is something sweet about two people who are meant to be together. 

Thank you for reading this weeks blog post! I hope you enjoyed reading this just as much as I have enjoyed writing it. I hope you all had a lovely Valentines day, I sure did. See you guys next week.

Literature Lovers 🖤

Wednesday 17 February 2021

Gatsby? Gatsby.

I have been trying to broaden my horizons on what I am reading but there is this one book that I always go back to. I read it at least once a year and the other night I finished reading it again. The Great Gatsby by author F.Scott Fitzgerald, infamous for his jazz novellas. I found Gatsby the year before college, and I remembered falling in love with the imagery and the characters. Fitzgerald has a way with words.  I had the pleasure of being in able to study Gatsby during my first year of the sixth form. I try to read different editions of the book and this year was an edition on Kindle and I found myself reading parts that I hadn't read before. Little excerpts that I was eager to read. I found a new quote that I have falling in love with.

I would like to pay close attention to some of my favourite quotes:

“ No amount of fire or freshness can challenge what a man will store up in his ghostly heart.”

“ So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”

“ I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life.”

 These are only a few of many quotes that have stood out to me over the years! 

If I had to name my favourite character I do think it would be Gatsby, he worked so hard to find his love and his death was tragic. He did everything for the love of his life (not necessary the right thing but good intentions were there) and I respect him for that. My least favourite character (let's be real I hate this one) Tom Buchanan. The absolute brute and horrible bloke. Daisy isn't far off this. My second favourite is Jordan Baker. She is absolutely everything, I love that she appears quite aloof and alluring to Nick.  She is very different from Daisy, she is more independent and owns herself. She doesn't chase after Nick and just understands that things are just the way they are. She has quite a sense of humour and is a close second favourite character. I have an odd opinion on Nick, I like the fella but he doesn't really add much to the story. I know he is the narrator and I respect he was the only one left at the end for Gatsby but I just don't have much love or hate for the character. He's just there if that makes sense? 

My favourite setting in the novel I have to say is The Valley of Ashes. I like the rawness of it compared the West and East Egg. The underbelly of the American dream. I particularly love Fitzgerald's imagery of the all-seeing eyes of Doctor TJ Eckleburg. The scenes in this setting are some of my favourites. Home of Wilson and Myrtle, I really like these characters. They are a prodigy of their times, wanting better for themselves but not quite able to grasp it. 

I can't end the blog post without briefly discussing the film adaptation. One of which I absolutely adore, I love how director Baz Luhrmann manages to capture Fitzgerald's bright world and parties. I love the modern soundtrack too, it really gives it a vibrant feel to the film. I cannot fault the casting at all, especially Toby Maguire as Nick Carraway. I like how the film alters the start and end by having Nick attending therapy, I thought that was quite a nice way to start the story but also is quite realistic after all Nick had been through that Summer in a short period time it would do serious damage to a person's mental health. Kudos to the film! Naturally, the book will always be better but the film is pretty decent.

I cannot believe in all five years of my blog this is my first Gatsby blog post, Gatsby has also yet to appear on my book sleeve! Is there a book you find yourself coming back to?

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Gatsby? Gatsby.

Monday 5 October 2020