THE GREAT GATSBY * THOUSAND PIECES OF GOLD

The Great Gatsby - I'd been seeing the reviews on Gatsby, not reading them of course, but noting the 2 1/2 stars it's garnered from the "professionals".   Just forget that.  These snarky reviewers who give away movies and stand in judgement baffle me.  Peter read The Great Gatsby earlier this year for school, and he and his class liked it and really delved in.  We decided on 3D since I'd never seen a 3D movie;  it was fantastic!  I don't know where to begin.  Tobey Maguire is Nick Carroway   Think Cider House Rules rather than Spiderman.  His friend Leonardo DiCaprio plays Gatsby with more personality and aplomb than any who have gone before.  The mysterious gajillionaire doesn't partake in the shenanegans of the wild parties he hosts at his mansion with the sole purpose of attracting his long lost love to the mansion and back into his arms.  (now there's a run-on sentence! - I feel like italicizing today)  3D is really great.  From the Valley of the Ashes to the opulence of Long Island to the eyes of TJ Eckleburg, you'll have to see for yourself what happens.  


Thousand Pieces of Gold by Ruthanne Lum McCunn - This is the biography of a girl born in China to peasant farmers in the mid 1800s.  She lived her difficult life with dignity and strength and generosity, and when you think of all she survived it doesn't seem possible.  Her name was Polly Bemis, and she lived in Idaho, but she was born Lalu Nathoy.  It's a look into what life was like in those years and for those people, and it was a rare Chinese woman who accomplished what Polly did during difficult times.  Really good.