"Fustian" in Catch-22

If I run across a word that I don't know while I'm reading a book, I generally look up the definition.  This is why I looked up fustian when I ran across it in chapter twenty-four of Catch-22 last month.  According to Merriam-Webster, fustian means "a strong cotton and linen fabric" or "high-flown or affected writing or speech."  I was really glad I looked up the definition because I think fustian is a key word in the sentence in which it appears:  "Yossarian was unmoved by the fustian charade of the burial ceremony, and by Milo's crushing bereavement."  For some context: Yossarian is sitting in a tree watching a funeral while Milo is complaining to him that no one is buying his Egyptian cotton.  Milo does notice the funeral and even comments on it, but he seems more concerned about his cotton:

"That's terrible," Milo grieved, and his large brown eyes filled with tears.  "That poor kid.  It really is terrible."  He bit his trembling lip hard, and his voice rose with emotion when he continued.  "And it will get even worse if the mess halls don't agree to buy my cotton."

A lot of things in the book are inverted like this or don't make sense in some other way, and I think fustian indicates that here.  Both of its meanings are applicable: it could apply to the funeral in the sense of "high-flown or affected writing or speech," and it could apply to Milo's predicament with his Egyptian cotton in the sense of "a strong cotton and linen fabric."  So the sentence could be re-written as "Yossarian was unmoved by the crushing bereavement of the burial ceremony, and by Milo's fustian charade" and still make sense.  In fact, it might make more sense that way.

While it's not related to fustian, I found something else interesting while reading Catch-22.  In chapter thirty-nine (subtitled "The Eternal City," one of the few subtitles that isn't a person), there's this sentence: "Buildings and featureless shapes flowed by him [Yossarian] noiselessly as though borne past immutably on the surface of some rank and timeless tide."  I couldn't help but notice the similarities between this sentence and the last sentence of Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby:  "So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past."  Although the movements they describe seem to be opposite, there are structural similarities between Heller's "borne past immutably" and Fitzgerald's "borne back ceaselessly," and both sentences mention time and contain nautical imagery.  Both seem to describe a sort of desolation and helplessness too.

The Common Gatz

This post contains spoilers for The Great Gatsby.

I saw The Great Gatsby movie a few months ago when it came out, and I was annoyed at some of the parts that didn't make it into the movie.  At the time, I didn't really know why I was so annoyed, but I think I figured it out this morning.

I really liked the part in the book after Gatsby's death when his father comes.  Specifically how Nick constantly and erroneously calls him "Mr. Gatsby" instead of "Mr. Gatz."  I think Gatsby's changing his name from James Gatz to Jay Gatsby is a really significant point that the movie should have included.*  It simultaneously changes and hides who he is, and Gatsby's appearance and reputation are huge aspects of the story.

He changes his first name from "James" to "Jay," shortening it.  In a way, by doing this Gatsby rejects his past and the poverty that it includes.  He wants to be this rich, impressive guy in order to win Daisy's love, and completely switching over to opulence and wealth is one way to do that.  He changes his last name from "Gatz" to "Gatsby," embellishing it.  Again, this functions as a way to appear elite.  "Gatz" sounds normal, but "Gatsby" sort of makes you pay attention to it.  (Though that could be just because it's been coupled with "great" for so long....)

In any case, Gatsby's changing his name is just an-other example of how he changes himself.  He rejects the common and strives for the extravagant in his attempt to impress Daisy.  In the novel, after Gatsby's death, the reader finds out that he wasn't really Jay Gatsby, he was just James Gatz.  That heightened persona is totally deflated, showing Gatsby for who he really is.  But the way it's done in the movie, Jay Gatsby just disappears into death, and his true identity is never really revealed because Nick never meets Mr. Gatz.  I think it's a more tragic ending to have the self you tried to hide exposed than it is to just be ignored.

---
*I saw the movie once three months ago, so it may have included this and I've just forgotten about it.  In any case, I still feel that Nick's meeting Mr. Gatz illustrates Gatsby's change in a way that no-thing else does.

Extra-Textual Stories: The Great Gatsby

[This is the first in a series of posts where I talk about the extra-textual stories that my books have.]

Because there's a movie of The Great Gatsby coming out in a few weeks, I dug out my copy of the book to re-read it.  I'm the type of person who likes to read the book before seeing the movie.  I haven't read The Great Gatsby since my junior year of high school - four years ago.  I started re-reading it a few years ago, but I evidently stopped before reaching chapter seven.

I got my copy of The Great Gatsby from my grandpa's basement about five years ago.  Apparently, a lot of the books he had down there were bought at garage sales.

There are hand-written notes (in pen!) in some parts of the book.  I think they were there pre-garage sale, as none of the hand-writing looks familiar to me.  (Though I'm not that familiar with any of my extended relatives' handwriting, so I could be mistaken.)

But the most interesting thing is the computer punch-card that was in the back of the book.  Because it's so associated with the book for me, I don't want to take it out, so I use it as a bookmark.

The reverse side contains a reminder to call either Steve Liedenbach or Steve Wiedenbach.  Presumably, it's Steve Wiedenbach because the W is written with pen over the completely pencil Steve Liedenbach.