Latest / Chapter by Chapter — The Lost Library / The Great Gatsby - Chapter Nine | Full Audiobook

Transcript

The Great Gatsby - Chapter Nine | Full Audiobook · Chapter by Chapter — The Lost Library

0:00
Welcome back to chapter by chapter, the audio book
0:03
experience. We're continuing The Great
0:06
Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald. If this is your first time here,
0:10
start from the beginning of this season and follow Nick
0:14
Carraway's story from the very start.
0:16
And if you've been with us since chapter 8, welcome back.
0:20
Gatsby is gone, the pool is quiet, and nobody came to the
0:25
funeral. This is the chapter where
0:28
Fitzgerald pulls all the way back and lets Nick reckon with
0:32
everything he witnessed. The phone calls that don't get
0:35
made, the father who arrives too late, the man who threw the
0:39
greatest parties of the season, buried in the rain with almost
0:43
no one there to see it. Chapter 9 is the morning after,
0:47
and it's the most honest chapter in the book.
0:51
But before we close out this season, a quick word from our
0:54
sponsor. Wexley Pro is a mobile first
0:57
publishing studio that lets you write, format, and export
1:01
professional epubs and PDFs directly from your phone with a
1:05
provenance layer built in that verifies your authorship from
1:09
the first keystroke. If you're a writer or IP creator
1:13
who needs to prove their work is theirs, Early Access is open
1:16
right now at app dot wexley dot pro.
1:20
And when this chapter wraps, we have something special coming.
1:24
We're dropping the full Gatsby as one complete listen, start to
1:28
finish, no breaks. And right behind it, the full
1:32
Wuthering Heights in a single episode.
1:34
Something to hold you over while we prepare what's coming next
1:37
because next season we're doing a full Sherlock Holmes.
1:41
Read through every story in order from the beginning, Follow
1:45
the show so you don't miss any of it, and drop a comment with
1:49
the classic you want us to read after homes.
1:52
Now sit back and let's finish the story, Chapter 9.
1:58
Two years later, I still recall the rest of that day, the night,
2:03
and the following day as an endless parade of police,
2:07
photographers and reporters streaming in and out of Gatsby's
2:11
front door. A rope stretched across the main
2:14
gate, wide eyed around the pool. Someone with a confident air,
2:20
perhaps a detective, used the word madman as he leaned over
2:25
Wilson's body that afternoon, and the authoritative tone of
2:29
his voice set the narrative for the newspaper reports the next
2:32
morning. Most of those reports were a
2:37
nightmare, grotesque, circumstantial, eager and false.
2:42
When Michaelis testimony at the inquest revealed Bilsons
2:46
suspicions about his wife, I expected the whole story to be
2:50
spun into some sensational satire.
2:54
But Catherine, who could have said anything, remained silent.
2:58
She showed an unexpected strength of character, staring
3:02
at the coroner with determined eyes beneath her carefully
3:06
groomed brow. She swore that her sister had
3:09
never met Gatsby, that her sister was completely happy with
3:13
her husband, and that her sister had been involved in no
3:16
wrongdoing whatsoever. She convinced herself of this
3:20
and wept into her handkerchief as if the mere suggestion was
3:25
unbearable. And thus Wilson was portrayed as
3:28
a man deranged by grief, so that the case could remain
3:32
straightforward. And there it stayed.
3:36
Yet all of this felt distant and irrelevant.
3:39
I found myself standing by Gatsby's side, alone.
3:44
From the moment I called West Egg Village with news of the
3:47
catastrophe, every speculation about him, every practical
3:52
question, was directed at me. Initially I was surprised and
3:57
bewildered. Then, as he lay in his house,
4:00
unmoving, unbreathing, silent for hour upon hour, it dawned on
4:05
me that I was responsible because no one else cared.
4:10
Cared, I mean, with that deep personal concern to which
4:13
everyone is vaguely entitled. At the end, I called Daisy half
4:19
an hour after we found him, called her instinctively and
4:23
without hesitation. But she and Tom had left earlier
4:26
that afternoon, taking their luggage with them.
4:30
Did they leave any address? No.
4:33
Did they mention when they'd return?
4:35
No. Do you have any clue where they
4:38
may be? How I could contact them?
4:41
I don't know. I can't say I felt an urgent
4:45
need to find someone for him. I wanted to step into the room
4:49
where he lay and reassure him. I'll find someone for you,
4:52
Gatsby. Don't worry.
4:54
Just trust me, I'll get someone for you.
4:57
Meyer Wolfscheme's name wasn't listed in the phone book.
5:01
The Butler provided me with his office address on Broadway and I
5:05
called information, but by the time I got the number, it was
5:08
well past five and no one answered the phone.
5:12
Could you try again? I've called three times.
5:16
It's really important. Sorry, I'm afraid no one's
5:19
there. I returned to the drawing room
5:23
and for a moment thought they were just random visitors, all
5:26
these official people who suddenly filled the space.
5:30
But even as they pulled back the sheet and stared at Gatsby with
5:34
shocked eyes, his plea echoed in my mind.
5:38
Listen, old sport, you've got to find someone for me.
5:42
You've got to try hard. I can't face this alone.
5:46
Someone began to question me, but I broke away and hurried
5:50
upstairs, rifling through the unlocked parts of his desk.
5:54
He'd never explicitly told me his parents were gone, but there
5:58
was nothing. Only the image of Dan Cody, a
6:02
relic of forgotten turmoil, gazing down from the wall.
6:07
The next morning, I dispatched the Butler to New York with a
6:10
letter for Wolfsheim, seeking information and urging him to
6:14
catch the next train. As I wrote it, the request felt
6:18
unnecessary. I was sure he'd come once he saw
6:21
the headlines, just as I was sure Daisy would send a telegram
6:25
before noon. But neither a telegram nor Mr.
6:28
Wolfsheim appeared. Only more police photographers
6:32
and reporters arrived. When the Butler returned with
6:36
Wolf Sheem's reply, I began to feel a sense of defiance, a
6:40
scornful unity between Gatsby and me against the world.
6:45
Dear Mr. Carraway, this has been one of the most shocking events
6:49
of my life. I can hardly believe it's true.
6:52
Such a senseless act should make us all reflect.
6:56
I cannot come down now as I am entangled in very important
7:00
business and cannot get involved in this matter at present.
7:04
If there is anything I can do later, let me know through a
7:07
letter via Edgar. I am utterly disoriented by news
7:11
like this and completely overwhelmed.
7:14
Yours truly, Meyer Wolfsheim and then a hurried postscript below.
7:20
Let me know about the funeral, etcetera.
7:23
I do not know his family at all. When the phone rang that
7:27
afternoon and the operator said there was a call from Chicago, I
7:31
thought it might finally be Daisy.
7:33
But when the line connected, it was a man's voice, distant and
7:37
faint. This is Slagle speaking.
7:40
Yes. The name didn't ring a bell.
7:43
Quite a mess, isn't it? Did you get my telegram?
7:46
There haven't been any telegrams.
7:49
Young Parks in trouble. He said quickly.
7:52
They nabbed him when he tried to cash the bonds just 5 minutes
7:56
before they got a notice from New York with the serial
7:59
numbers. Can you believe that?
8:01
You never know with these small towns.
8:03
Hello. I cut in, breathless.
8:06
Listen, this isn't Mr. Gatsby. Mr. Gatsby's dead.
8:10
There was a long pause on the other end, followed by a
8:14
startled exclamation, then a sharp click as the line went
8:18
dead. I believe it was on the third
8:20
day when a telegram arrived, signed by Henry C Gatz from a
8:25
town in Minnesota. The message was brief.
8:28
The sender was leaving immediately and requested the
8:31
funeral be delayed until his arrival.
8:34
It was Gatsby's father, a somber old man, overwhelmed and
8:39
bewildered, wrapped in a long, inexpensive coat.
8:42
Despite the warm September day, his eyes were constantly wet
8:47
with emotion, and as I took his bag and umbrella, he tugged so
8:51
persistently at his thin Gray beard that I struggled to help
8:55
him out of his coat. He seemed on the verge of
8:58
collapse, so I led him to the music room and had him sit while
9:02
I arranged for some food. But he refused to eat, and the
9:06
glass of milk slipped from his trembling hand.
9:10
I read about it in the Chicago newspaper.
9:12
He said it was all over the Chicago newspaper.
9:16
I left immediately. I didn't know how to contact
9:19
you. His eyes, unfocused, roamed
9:22
restlessly around the room. It was a madman, he said.
9:26
He must have been insane. Would you like some coffee?
9:30
I suggested gently. I don't want anything.
9:33
I'm all right now, Mr. Caraway. Well, I'm all right now.
9:38
Where have they taken Jimmy? I let him into the drawing room
9:41
where his son lay and left him there.
9:44
A few young boys had gathered on the steps, peering into the
9:47
hall. When I informed them of who had
9:50
arrived, they dispersed reluctantly.
9:53
After a short while Mr. Gatz emerged, his mouth slightly
9:57
open, his face tinged with color, and his eyes shedding
10:01
sporadic, untimely tears. He had reached an age where
10:05
death no longer struck with a shocking blow, and as he
10:09
surveyed the grandeur of the hall and the vast rooms
10:12
branching into others, his sorrow mingled with a sense of
10:16
reverent pride. I guided him to an upstairs
10:19
bedroom. As he removed his coat and vest,
10:22
I explained that all arrangements had been postponed
10:25
until his arrival. I wasn't sure what you'd prefer.
10:29
Mr. Gatsby. Gats is my name.
10:32
Mr. Gats. I thought you might want to take
10:35
the body back West. He shook his head.
10:38
Jimmy always preferred it here in the East.
10:41
He ascended to his role in the East.
10:43
Were you a friend of my son's? Mr. We were very close.
10:48
He had a bright future ahead of him, you know.
10:51
Just a young man, but with a sharp mind.
10:53
He tapped his head meaningfully, and I nodded in agreement.
10:58
If he'd lived, he would have become a great man, someone like
11:01
James J Hill. He would have contributed to
11:04
building up the country. That's true, I replied, feeling
11:08
uneasy. He fidgeted with the embroidered
11:11
bedspread, attempting to pull it off, then lay down stiffly and
11:15
fell asleep immediately. Later that night, a clearly
11:19
nervous voice called, insisting on knowing my identity before
11:24
revealing his own. This is Mr. Caraway, I answered.
11:28
Oh. He sounded relieved.
11:30
This is Clipspringer. I felt a sense of relief too, as
11:34
it suggested another friend might attend Gatsby's funeral.
11:38
I didn't want it to become a public spectacle, so I had been
11:41
reaching out to a few people myself.
11:44
They were difficult to track down.
11:46
The funeral is tomorrow at 3 here at the house.
11:50
I'd appreciate it if you could let anyone who might be
11:53
interested know. Oh, I will, he replied quickly.
11:57
Though I doubt I'll run into anyone, but if I do.
12:00
His tone made me wary. Of course you'll be there
12:03
yourself. Well, I'll certainly try.
12:06
What I actually called about is hold on, I interrupted.
12:10
How about committing to coming? Well, the truth is, I'm staying
12:14
with some people up here in Greenwich, and they kind of
12:16
expect me to be with them tomorrow.
12:18
There is a picnic or something, but I'll do my best to get away.
12:22
I let out an unguarded huh. And he must have heard it
12:26
because he continued nervously. What I called about was a pair
12:30
of shoes I left there. I wonder if it would be too much
12:33
trouble to have the Butler send them over.
12:35
They're tennis shoes and I'm sort of lost without them.
12:38
My address is care of BF. I didn't catch the rest of the
12:42
name because I hung up the phone.
12:44
After that. I felt a certain shame for
12:46
Gatsby. 1 gentleman I called suggested he had gotten what he
12:50
deserved. That was my mistake, for he was
12:53
one of those who used to mock Gatsby with the boldness that
12:56
came from drinking Gatsby's liquor, and I should have known
12:59
better to reach out to him. On the morning of the funeral, I
13:03
went to New York to find Meyer Wolfsheim.
13:06
I couldn't seem to contact him any other way.
13:09
Following the advice of an elevator boy, I pushed open a
13:12
door labeled the Swastika Holding Company, and at first it
13:16
seemed deserted. But after I called out hello
13:19
several times without response, an argument erupted behind a
13:23
partition, and soon a striking Jewish woman appeared at an
13:27
interior door, eyeing me with sharp, unfriendly eyes.
13:31
There's nobody here. Mr. Wolfsheim's gone to Chicago.
13:35
The first part was clearly a lie, as someone inside had
13:38
started to whistle the rosary off.
13:40
Key, Please tell him Mr. Carraway wants to see him.
13:44
I can't bring him back from Chicago, can I?
13:47
Just then, a voice unmistakably belonging to Wolfsheim called
13:51
out Stella from the other side of the door.
13:54
Leave your name on the desk, she said quickly.
13:56
And I'll give it to him when he returns, but I know he's there.
14:00
She stepped closer, her hands moving indignantly up and down
14:04
her hips. You young men think you can just
14:06
barge in whenever you please? She scolded.
14:09
We're fed up with it. When I say he's in Chicago, he's
14:13
in Chicago. I mentioned Gatsby.
14:16
Oh. She gave me another look.
14:18
And what was your name? She disappeared.
14:21
Moments later, Meyer Wolfsheim appeared solemnly in the
14:24
doorway, extending both hands. He led me into his office,
14:28
speaking in a hushed tone about how it was a difficult time for
14:32
all of us, and offered me a cigar.
14:35
My memory goes back to when I first met him, a young major
14:38
fresh out of the army, adorned with medals from the war.
14:42
He was so strapped for cash that he had to keep wearing his
14:45
uniform because he couldn't afford civilian quoes.
14:49
The first time I saw him was when he walked into
14:51
Winebrenner's pool room on 43rd St. looking for a job.
14:55
He hadn't eaten in days. Come on, have some lunch with
14:58
me, I said. He devoured more than $4.00
15:01
worth of food in just half an hour.
15:04
Did you help him get started in business?
15:06
I asked. Help him, I made him.
15:09
Oh, I lifted him from nothing, straight out of the gutter.
15:13
I immediately recognized he was a well mannered young man and
15:17
when he mentioned he was from Oxford, I knew he could be
15:20
useful. I got him to join the American
15:22
Legion and he quickly rose in their ranks right away.
15:25
He did some work for a client of mine up in Albany.
15:28
We were inseparable like this. He held up two thick fingers.
15:32
Always together. I wondered if their partnership
15:35
included the infamous 1919 World Series scandal.
15:39
Now he's gone, I said after a pause.
15:42
You were his closest friend, so I assume you'll want to attend
15:46
his funeral this afternoon. I'd like to come then come.
15:50
The hair in his nostrils trembled slightly, and as he
15:54
shook his head, his eyes welled with tears.
15:57
I can't do it. I can't get involved, he said.
16:01
There's nothing to get involved in.
16:03
It's all over now. When a man gets killed, I never
16:07
like to get involved in any way. I keep my distance now.
16:11
When I was younger, things were different.
16:13
If a friend of mine passed away, regardless of the circumstances,
16:17
I stayed by their side until the very end.
16:20
You might call that sentimental, but I truly mean it to the
16:24
bitter end. I realized he had his own
16:27
reasons for not wanting to join, so I stood up.
16:30
Did you go to college? He asked abruptly.
16:33
For a moment I thought he might propose some kind of connection,
16:37
but he simply nodded and shook my hand.
16:40
We should learn to show our friendship to a man while he's
16:42
alive, not just after he's gone. He advised.
16:46
After that, my own rule is to let everything be.
16:50
When I left his office, the sky had darkened and I returned to
16:54
West Egg in a light drizzle. After changing my clothes, I
16:58
went next door and found Mr. Gatz pacing excitedly in the
17:01
hallway. His pride in his son and his
17:04
son's belongings was growing, and now he had something to show
17:08
me. Jimmy sent me this picture.
17:11
With trembling fingers, he pulled out his wallet.
17:14
Look here it was, a photograph of the house, worn at the
17:18
corners and smudged from many hands.
17:20
He eagerly pointed out every detail to me, his eyes searching
17:25
mine for admiration. Look there, he exclaimed.
17:28
He had shown it so many times that it seemed more real to him
17:32
now than the house itself. Jimmy sent it to me.
17:36
I think it's a very pretty picture.
17:38
It really stands out. It does indeed.
17:41
Have you seen him recently? He came to visit me two years
17:44
ago and bought me the house I live in now.
17:47
Of course, we were estranged when he ran away from home, but
17:50
I understand now there was a reason for it.
17:53
He knew he had a bright future ahead, and ever since he found
17:56
success, he's been very generous with me.
17:59
He seemed hesitant to put the picture away, holding it for
18:03
another moment, lingeringly before my eyes.
18:06
Then he returned it to his wallet and pulled from his
18:09
pocket a worn copy of a book titled Hop Along Cassidy.
18:14
Look here. This is a book he had when he
18:16
was a boy. It just goes to show you,
18:18
doesn't it? It certainly does.
18:21
Jimmy was determined to succeed. He always had resolutions like
18:25
these or something similar. Do you see what he wrote about
18:28
improving his mind? He was always keen on that.
18:32
Once he told me I ate like a pig, and I punished him for
18:35
that. He hesitated to close the book,
18:38
reading each entry aloud and then glancing eagerly at me.
18:42
I think he half expected me to jot the list down for my own
18:46
benefit. Just before 3:00, the Lutheran
18:49
minister arrived from Flushing, and I found myself instinctively
18:53
scanning the windows for more cars.
18:56
Gatsby's father did the same. As time ticked by and the
19:00
servants gathered waiting in the hallway, his eyes began to
19:04
flutter with anxiety, and he spoke of the rain with a nervous
19:08
uncertainty. The minister checked his watch
19:11
repeatedly. So I pulled him aside and asked
19:14
him to wait another 30 minutes. But it was futile.
19:18
No one else came. Around 5 are small procession of
19:22
three cars reached the cemetery, halting in a dense drizzle by
19:26
the gate. A motor hearse, ominously black
19:30
and glistening with rain, led the way, followed by Mr. Gatz,
19:34
the minister and me in the limousine.
19:37
A short while later, four or five servants and the postman
19:40
from West Egg arrived in Gatsby's station wagon, all
19:44
drenched to the bone. As we moved through the cemetery
19:48
gate, I heard a car pull up and then the sound of someone
19:52
splashing through the wet ground behind us.
19:55
I turned to see who it was. It was the man with owl eyed
19:59
glasses whom I had once found marveling at Gatsby's books in
20:03
the library 3 months earlier. I hadn't seen him since that
20:06
night. I had no idea how he learned
20:09
about the funeral, nor did I know his name.
20:12
Rain streamed down his thick lenses and he removed them to
20:16
wipe them clean, trying to see the canvas being unfurled over
20:20
Gatsby's grave. I tried to think about Gatsby
20:23
for a moment, but he already felt distant, and I could only
20:27
recall without bitterness that Daisy hadn't sent a message or
20:31
even a flower. Faintly, I heard someone murmur.
20:35
Blessed are the dead that the rain falls on.
20:38
And then the allied man echoed. Amen to that.
20:41
With a voice full of courage, we hurried through the rain to the
20:45
cars. Allies spoke to me at the gate.
20:48
I couldn't get to the house, he mentioned.
20:51
Neither could anyone else. Go on, he exclaimed, startled.
20:55
Why, my God, they used to flock there by the hundreds.
20:58
He removed his glasses and wiped them again, both sides.
21:02
The poor son of a bitch, he said.
21:05
One of my most vivid memories is returning to the West from prep
21:09
school and later from college. During Christmas, those
21:12
traveling beyond Chicago would gather in the old dim Union
21:16
Station at 6:00 on a December evening with a few Chicago
21:20
friends already swept up in their own holiday celebrations
21:24
to bid them a quick farewell. I recall the fur coats of the
21:28
girls returning from Miss This Or That's their breath visible
21:32
in the cold air, and the animated gestures.
21:34
As we recognized familiar faces, we exchanged invitations.
21:39
Are you going to the Ordways? The Hersys?
21:41
The Schultzes. Clutching long green tickets in
21:44
our gloved hands, we stood ready.
21:47
Finally, the murky yellow cars of the Chicago, Milwaukee and
21:50
Saint Paul Railroad appeared, as festive as Christmas itself,
21:55
waiting on the tracks by the gate.
21:57
As we ventured into the winter night, our snow began to unfurl
22:01
alongside us, sparkling against the train windows.
22:05
The dim lights of small Wisconsin stations slipped by
22:09
and a sharp, invigorating chill filled the air.
22:12
We inhaled deeply as we walked back from dinner through the
22:15
cold vestibules, acutely aware of our connection to this land
22:19
for one strange hour before we dissolved back into it.
22:23
That's my middle W. Not the wheat fields or the
22:27
prairies or the forgotten Swede towns, but the exhilarating
22:31
return of trains for my youth, the street lamps and sleigh
22:35
bells and the frosty darkness and the shadows of holly wreaths
22:39
cast by illuminated windows on the snow.
22:42
I am part of that, a bit solemn from the long winters, a bit
22:47
self satisfied from growing up in the caraway house in a city
22:50
where homes are still known by family names through the
22:53
decades. I realize now that this has been
22:57
a story of the West. After all, Tom, Gatsby, Daisy
23:01
and Jordan and I were all Westerners, perhaps sharing some
23:06
subtle flaw that made us I'll suited to Eastern life.
23:10
Even when the East thrilled me most, even when I was most aware
23:14
of its superiority over the monotonous, sprawling towns
23:18
beyond the Ohio, with their endless interrogations sparing
23:22
only the young and the very old. Even then, it always seemed
23:26
distorted to me. West Egg in particular, still
23:30
appears in my more fantastical dreams.
23:34
I envision it as an El Greco night scene, 100 houses, both
23:39
traditional and bizarre, huddled beneath a brooding, oppressive
23:43
sky and a dull moon in the foreground. 4 solemn men in
23:48
formal suits walk along the sidewalk carrying a stretcher
23:52
with a drunken woman in a white evening gown.
23:55
Her hand, dangling over the edge, glitters coldly with
23:59
jewels. The men with grave expressions
24:03
turn into a house, the wrong house, but no one knows her name
24:08
and no one cares. After Gatsby's death, the East
24:12
became a haunting place for me, warped beyond what my eyes could
24:17
adjust to. So when the air was filled with
24:19
the blue smoke of brittle leaves and the wind stiffened the wet
24:23
laundry on the line, I decided to return home.
24:27
There was 1 task to complete before I left, an awkward,
24:31
unpleasant duty that perhaps should have been ignored.
24:34
But I wanted to leave things tidy, not just rely on the
24:38
obliging, indifferent sea to wash away my debris.
24:42
I met with Jordan Baker and we talked around and through what
24:46
had happened between US and what had happened to me.
24:49
Afterward she sat perfectly still, listening in a large
24:53
chair. She was dressed for golf, and I
24:55
remember thinking she looked like a fine illustration, her
24:59
chin slightly raised with a jaunty air, her hair the color
25:03
of an autumn leaf, her face the same brown shade as the
25:07
fingerless glove on her knee. When I finished, she told me
25:11
without comment that she was engaged to another man.
25:15
I doubted it, though there were several she could have married
25:18
with a mere nod, but I feigned surprise for a moment.
25:22
Doubt crept in, making me question my decision, but I
25:26
quickly reconsidered and rose to say my goodbyes.
25:30
Still, you did leave me hanging. Jordan interjected suddenly.
25:34
You ended things over the phone. I don't care about you now, but
25:38
it was a novel experience for me, and it left me a big shaken
25:42
for a while. We shook hands.
25:45
Oh, and do you remember? She added that talk we had once
25:49
about driving. Why not exactly?
25:53
You said a bad driver is only safe until they encounter
25:56
another bad driver, right? Well, I met another bad driver,
26:01
didn't I? It was careless of me to
26:03
misjudge so badly. I thought you were honest and
26:06
straightforward. I thought that was your hidden
26:09
pride. I'm 30.
26:11
I'm five years too old to deceive myself and call it
26:14
honor. She said nothing.
26:17
Angry, half in love with her, and deeply regretful, I turned
26:21
away. One afternoon in late October, I
26:25
ran into Tom Buchanan. He was striding ahead of me
26:28
along 5th Ave. moving with a sharp, assertive energy.
26:32
His hands were slightly away from his sides, as if ready to
26:36
fend off any obstacles, while his head darted around, aligning
26:40
with his restless gaze. Just as I slowed my pace to
26:44
avoid catching up to him, he paused, frowning at the display
26:47
of a jewelry store. Suddenly, he noticed me and
26:51
walked back, extending his hand. What's wrong, Nick, are you
26:55
refusing to shake hands with me? Yes, you know exactly how I feel
27:00
about you. You're out of your mind, Nick.
27:03
He shot back quickly. Completely out of your mind.
27:06
I don't understand what's gotten into you, Tom, I pressed.
27:10
What did you say to Wilson that afternoon?
27:13
He looked at me silently, and I knew I had pieced together those
27:17
missing hours correctly. I began to turn away, but he
27:21
stepped forward and grabbed my arm.
27:23
I told him the truth, he admitted.
27:26
He showed up at the door while we were getting ready to leave,
27:29
and when I sent word down that we weren't available, he forced
27:32
his way upstairs. He was mad enough to kill me if
27:35
I hadn't told him who owned the car.
27:37
His hand was on a revolver in his pocket every moment he was
27:41
in the house, he said defiantly. So what if I told him that guy
27:46
had it coming? He fooled you just like he
27:48
fooled Daisy. But he was a hard man.
27:51
He ran over Myrtle like you'd run over a stray dog and didn't
27:55
even stop the car. There was nothing I could say
27:59
except for the one undeniable truth that it wasn't so.
28:04
And if you think I didn't suffer my share, listen.
28:08
When I went to give up that apartment and saw that damn box
28:11
of dog biscuits on the sideboard, I sat down and cried
28:15
like a child. By God, it was terrible.
28:19
I couldn't forgive him or like him, but I understood that to
28:22
him, his actions were completely justified.
28:26
It was all so careless and confused.
28:29
Tom and Daisy were careless people.
28:31
They destroyed things and lives and then retreated into their
28:35
wealth or their vast indifference, or whatever it was
28:38
that held them together, leaving others to clean up their mess.
28:43
I shook his hand. It seemed foolish not to, as I
28:46
suddenly felt as though I were speaking to a child.
28:50
Then he went into the jewelry store to buy a Pearl necklace,
28:53
or maybe just a pair of cufflinks.
28:55
Free of my provincial squeamishness forever, Gatsby's
29:00
house was still empty when I left.
29:02
The grass on his lawn had grown as long as mine.
29:06
One of the taxi drivers in the village never passed the
29:09
entrance gate without stopping for a moment and pointing
29:12
inside. Maybe he was the one who drove
29:14
Daisy and Gatsby to East Egg the night of the accident, and
29:18
perhaps he had crafted his own story about it.
29:21
I didn't want to hear it, and I avoided him when I got off the
29:24
train. I spent my Saturday nights in
29:27
New York, the memory of those brilliant, dazzling parties
29:31
still vivid in my mind. I could almost hear the music
29:35
and laughter, faint yet persistent, drifting from his
29:38
garden, and the sound of cars coming and going along his
29:42
driveway. One night I actually heard a
29:45
real car and saw its headlights pause at his front steps, but I
29:49
didn't go to see who it was. Likely it was a final guest
29:53
returned from some distant corner of the earth, unaware
29:56
that the party had ended. On the last night, with my bags
30:01
packed and my car sold to the grocer, I went back to look at
30:04
that vast, incoherent failure of a house one more time.
30:09
On the white steps, an obscene word scrawled by some boy with a
30:13
piece of brick stood out clearly in the moonlight.
30:16
I erased it, dragging my shoe harshly across the stone.
30:20
Then I wandered down to the beach and lay sprawled on the
30:24
sand. Most of the grand shore houses
30:27
were closed now, and there were hardly any lights except for the
30:31
shadowy moving glow of a ferryboat crossing the sound.
30:35
As the moon climbed higher, the unnecessary houses began to
30:38
dissolve, until gradually I became aware of the old island
30:42
here that once bloomed for the eyes of Dutch sailors, a fresh
30:47
green breast of the New World. The vanished trees, the ones
30:51
that had made way for Gatsby's house, had once whispered to the
30:54
last and greatest of all human dreams.
30:57
For a fleeting, enchanted moment, humanity must have held
31:01
its breath in the presence of this continent, drawn into an
31:05
aesthetic contemplation it neither understood nor wanted,
31:09
face to face, for the last time in history, with something equal
31:14
to its capacity for wonder. As I sat there, lost in thought
31:19
about the old, unknown world, I considered Gatsby's wonder when
31:23
he first noticed the green light at the end of Daisy's dock.
31:27
He had traveled a long way to this blue lawn, and his dream
31:31
must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp
31:34
it. He was unaware that it was
31:36
already left behind, somewhere in the immense darkness beyond
31:41
the city, where the shadowy fields of the Republic stretched
31:44
endlessly under the night sky. Gatsby had faith in the green
31:50
light, the ecstatic future that perpetually slips further away.
31:54
It escaped us then, but that doesn't matter.
31:57
Tomorrow we will strive harder, reach out further.
32:01
And one fine morning. Thus we continue like boats
32:05
against the current, relentlessly driven back into
32:09
the past. And that's where Fitzgerald
32:11
leaves us, Nick alone on the beach at night, tracing the old
32:16
unknown world with his finger in the dark boats against the
32:20
current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.
32:25
Chapter 9 is the exhale, the funeral nobody came to, the
32:30
phone calls that didn't happen. Henry Gatz arriving with a
32:34
photograph and a pride his son spent his whole life running
32:38
from. Fitzgerald doesn't let anyone
32:41
off easy here. Not Tom, not Daisy, not the city
32:45
that consumed Gatsby and moved on without a second thought.
32:50
A few things worth sitting with as you go.
32:53
Think about who shows up to the funeral.
32:56
One man, Owl eyes. The stranger from the library
33:00
who noticed the books were real. Of all the hundreds who filled
33:04
that house every weekend, drinking his liquor and feeding
33:07
on his hospitality, only one person bothers to come and stand
33:12
in the rain. That detail says everything
33:15
Fitzgerald never says directly. And then there's Nick's final
33:20
confrontation with tom-tom, who is breezy and unapologetic, who
33:25
has already moved on. He genuinely doesn't understand
33:29
what he did wrong. That's the novels coldest note.
33:33
Not the violence, not the abandonment, but the complete
33:37
absence of weight in the people who caused it all.
33:41
But the image that stays is that last one.
33:44
Nick on the shore, the green light gone dark.
33:47
Understanding for the first time what Gatsby must have known all
33:51
along. That the dream was never really
33:54
ahead of him. It was always already behind.
33:59
This episode was sponsored by Wexley Pro, the mobile first
34:03
publishing studio where writers own their work from the first
34:07
word to the final export. Early access is open at App dot
34:11
Wexley dot pro. We'll see you there.
34:14
And we'll see you in our Sherlock Holmes run.
34:17
Thanks for listening.