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The Machine in the Garden: Technology and the Pastoral Ideal in America

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Customer Review

Men Become Tools of Their Tools
Marx's book is roughly 50 years old now, but it still sparkles with insight into the myth and symbol discourse surrounding America's fulfillment of the 18th century idea of the "Garden of the World," a new Eden that would redeem mankind. Starting with "The Tempest" as reflective of the West's view of the geographic discovery of "primitive" and "unspoiled" lands, and moving through Hawthorne, Emerson, Thoreau, Melville, Twain, to Fitzgerald "The Great Gatsby" as an exemplification of how the simple"pastoralism" of the Enlightenment (based on the Virgillian pastoral form), Marx shows how the American artists and writers slowly came to grips with the penetration of the machine into the garden. He talks about the idea of the "middle landscape" a notion poised halfway between primitivism and progressivism, about the apparent perversity of "lazy" early settlers who, in the view of some commentators like Jefferson, never cultivated their own gardens, unlike the English aristocracy. The...
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October 28, 2002 (Brooklyn, NY USA) | Helpful Votes: 49 | Rating: 5

The Conflict between Pastoralism and Industrialization
In writing this review I am attempting not to duplicate the excellent review by panopticonman below. Thus, I would refer all readers of this review to that review.Marx's thesis, roughly stated, is that: Americans applied idea's developed about landscape in the old world to the landscape they discovered in the new world. In doing so, the landscape became a "repository of value" (value meaning economic, spiritual, etc.). The main idea about the landscape that travelled with them from Europe was the idea of "pastoralism".Pastorialism, roughly expressed, represents the yearning by civilised man to occupy the space in between "art" and "nature". Marx does an excellent job of explaining the pre-modern understanding of "art" (which is different then our modern understanding of the word). Marx also distinguishes the a "simple" conception of pastoralism with a "complex" conception. Using the writings of...
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September 26, 2003 (San Diego, CA United States) | Helpful Votes: 34 | Rating: 5

I can relate to this book
The pastoral image is alive and well, certainly in my mind anyway!As an airline pilot observing the land below I often mused, sometimes in conversation with my fellow crewmembers, what it would be like to fly over the landscape as it existed in an earlier time. Of course, I would still want to be comfortably ensconced in my aluminum cocoon, able to zip thither and yon for whatever my allotted time. Today Hawthorne's peace in "Sleepy Hollow" is more likely to be disrupted by the "long shriek, harsh, above all other harshness...[that] the space of a mile cannot mollify it into harmony" of a jet engine than the whistle of a locomotive.Leo Marx very capably traces the origin of the literary ideal of the "garden" and pinpoints its contradictory meanings through the literary creations of some of America's greatest writers. At its core is the contrast between two worlds, that of rural peace and simplicity or urban sophistication and power. The shriek of the locomotive...
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January 17, 2008 (Auburn, AL United States) | Helpful Votes: 11 | Rating: 5

Product Description

For over four decades, Leo Marx's work has focused on the relationship between technology and culture in 19th- and 20th-century America. His research helped to define--and continues to give depth to--the area of American studies concerned with the links between scientific and technological advances, and the way society and culture both determine these links. The Machine in the Garden fully examines the difference between the "pastoral" and "progressive" ideals which characterized early 19th-century American culture, and which ultimately evolved into the basis for much of the environmental and nuclear debates of contemporary society.

This new edition is appearing in celebration of the 35th anniversary of Marx's classic text. It features a new afterword by the author on the process of writing this pioneering book, a work that all but founded the discipline now called American Studies. Top to learn more

Gatsby Hair Wax Mat Type

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Customer Review

Best wax ever!
In the past years i have tried several kinds and types of hair waxes. I think i almost used 10 or 12 different ones. When i saw the reviews of this wax i instantly bought it and the result is amazing. By far the best hair wax. My hair is almost straight and works perfect with it. The only issue is that i dont know if it could cause a hair fall since i have used it for a few months. But so far is a 5 stars wax. Also recommend the Gatsby Moving Rubber Spiky Edge.
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December 22, 2010 (chicago, il) | Helpful Votes: 4 | Rating: 5

best hair product in the world
I've tried several hair products over the years but nothing works as well for thick Asian hair like this product. If you want to achieve a natural, out-of-bed wavy look with thick, straight hair, this product is what you're looking for. I've found it best used after a good thorough towel dry out of the shower when my hair is just slightly moist. I just spread it evenly throughout all my hair and kind of crimp and twirl. It does not add any shine like grease or pomade making the look more natural and dry. It de-frizzes but at the same time doesn't take away any volume.
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August 24, 2010 | Helpful Votes: 3 | Rating: 5

Product Description

Mat type hair wax, a bottle of 80 grams of wax will set your hair naturally without any shine. This super hold mat wax gives your hair a three-dimentional, matte and dry look with strong style keeping power to creates perfectly shaped springs and dynamic spikes. Never stiff or greasy. Top to learn more

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F. Scott Fitzgerald's Odyssey, A Reader's Guide to the Gospel in The Great Gatsby

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Here for the first time a reader can understand The Great Gatsby as F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote it. Fitzgerald wanted praise for showing skills like those of James Joyce in Ulysses. He set the table for a party to which no one came. No reviewers or interpreters of his novel until now have fully explained its structure, its individual chapter topics, biblical parodies, puns, games with numbers, and burlesques hidden in images. He drew from The Gospel According to John, a 5th century apocryphal book (The Gospel of Nicodemus), The Epistle of James, The Acts of the Apostles, and legends of the saints in ways similar to Joyce's use of adventures in Homer's The Odyssey. Top to learn more

Intriguing look into the structure of the Great Gatsby
Hidden within the writing of F. Scott Fitzgerald's best-known work is a series of allusions to the gospels of Jesus and references to Ulysses by James Joyce. This is the contention of the author, B. Tanner. Completely, step by step, the author shows how Fitzgerald attempted to make cryptic allusions within the novel which parodies the Passion of Jesus. The author lays out a fascinating and believable study of what has been called by some "The Great American Novel" I enjoyed this book and found the reasoning of the author as believable and compelling. I recommend this book to serious students of American literature.
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February 17, 2004 (Silly-Con Valley, CA) | Helpful Votes: 3 | Rating: 4

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Understanding The Great Gatsby: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Documents (The Greenwood Press "Literature in Context" Series)

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Today, more than 70 years after its publication, The Great Gatsby seems as fresh and pertinent to American life as it did in the 1920s. The social, cultural, and historical milieu of the 1920s reflected in its pages is not so very different from our own. This interdisciplinary collection of commentary and rich collateral materials will enrich the reader's understanding of those times and their influence on Fitzgerald's novel. The authors have included a wide variety of primary documents that capture the flavor of the era and its notorious and flamboyant players. Included are newspaper stories, first person accounts, and congressional testimony from the scandals of the 1920s. Most of the documents included in this text are available in no other printed form. A chapter on the writing of the novel illuminates Fitzgerald's relationship to the literature of the 1920s. Chapters discuss the following topics: the scandals of the 1920s, "The Woman Question," the rich in the 1920s, and the novel then and now. Each section of the casebook contains study questions, topics for research papers and class discussion, and lists of further reading for examining the themes and issues raised by the novel. This is the ideal student and teacher companion for understanding the novel in its historical, social and cultural context. Top to learn more

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F. Scott Fitzgerald: Novels and Stories 1920-1922: This Side of Paradise / Flappers and Philosophers / The Beautiful and the Damned / Tales of the Jazz Age (Library of America)

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Customer Review

Good Collection of Pre-Gatsby Work
This is a very attractive packaged, comprehensive collection of Fitzgerald's early work, containing his first two novels (This Side of Paradise and The Beautiful & Damned) and his first two short story collections. Included are some classic short stories such as May Day and The Diamond As Big As The Ritz. Some of the other stories are less than classic, but all are enjoyable. As is the case with all Library of America volumes, the book is very easy to handle and read. There is a useful set of notes and chronology of Fitzergald's life in the back. All in all, this is well worth the price.
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November 12, 2000 (USA) | Helpful Votes: 48 | Rating: 5

Short Stories
I bought this book for the short stories. They are like small diamonds on a necklace, sparkling in a row, each one a wonder. Fitzgerald's short stories are like that."The Off Shore Pirate" is hilarious. The "Ice Palace" is strange and beautiful. "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" is about a baby born very old who gets younger every year. "The Diamond As Big As The Ritz" is classic Fitzgerald, about the rich.The story that is missing is "The Rich Boy." This is the story that started the famous spat between Hemingway and Fitzgerald. In this short story, Fitzgerald writes: "The rich are very different from you and me." Hemingway responds in his short story, "The Snows Of Kilimanjaro:" "Yes, they have more money."But you will not find "The Rich Boy" in this book. Too bad.Included with the short stories are two novels:: This Side Of Paradise and The Beautiful And Damned...
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September 11, 2002 | Helpful Votes: 18 | Rating: 5

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The Four Books that Defined and Chronicled the Jazz Age! Here in one eBook is the quartet of books that catapulted F. Scott Fitzgerald to literary immortality. Meet the flappers, the indolent young men, the speakeasies, the gangsters, the illegal hooch, and the easy money that characterized the Roaring Twenties. From This Side of Paradise to Flappers and Philosophers, The Beautiful and the Damned, and Tales from the Jazz Age Fitzgerald will light the way on a very special insider's tour of the Jazz Age. The age that made Fitzgerald and killed him. Top to learn more

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The Great Gatsby

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Decades later, still great but on different terms.
Having reread this book for the first time in 20 years, I can confirm that there's a reason that it's considered one of the very best American novels. However, my reaction to the story was different than when I first read it in high school. I recall that back then I was hoping that Daisy and Gatsby's love story would ultimately yield a happy ending. Now, I found them both to be such shallow creatures that they inspired no pity. While I considered the characters to be emotionally stunted, that dooesn't mean I was not impressed with Fitzergerald's skillful rendering. As in most forms of art, in literature it is more difficult to accurately and interestingly portray nothingness than to describe a richly endowed subject. At this more cynical age, I found Daisy to be a remarkable emotional void, and Gatsby's quest to pour all of his hopes and dreams into such a shallow cauldron only confirmed his own vapidity. One thing that hasn't changed in all these years is my amazement at Fitzgerald's...
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August 24, 2001 (USA) | Helpful Votes: 195 | Rating: 5

A Monument in Audio Book History
Scott Fitzgerald, a monumental talent who only occasionally got things working right, made Gatsby great by the extraordinary invention of Nick Carraway. Carraway as narrator provided the exact perfect pitch: more awestruck than he would admit, more moral than it was fashionable to reveal -- always objective and distanced and subtle and charming, genuinely decent and impeccably well mannered, a little dangerously smitten himself by the lovely but corrupt Jordan Baker.Alexander Scourby, one of the greatest reading voices of his era (overlapping Fitzgerald's enough to know and feel it all) here does Carraway in a way that cannot, therefore, again be quite equalled. Imagine having a recording of a great contemporary actor reading Ahab's speeches in Moby Dick, and one begins to appreciate the gift that we only now have in recorded sound, something we are already quite casual about. But there is much more here than historical accuracy. Scourby's voice wraps around every...
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September 28, 2005 (San Francisco, CA USA) | Helpful Votes: 27 | Rating: 5

Shines Brilliantly Like a Just-Discovered Piece of Cameo Jewelry from a Bygone Era
It's difficult to give any even-handed critique F. Scott Fitzgerald's standard-setting Jazz Age novel since it was required reading for most of us in high school. However, if you come back to it as a full-fledged adult, you'll find that the story still resonates but more like a just-polished cameo piece from a forgotten time. At the core of the book is the elaborate infatuation Jay Gatsby has for Daisy Fay Buchanan, a love story portrayed with both a languid pall and a fatalistic urgency. But the broader context of the setting and the irreconcilable nature of the American dream in the 1920's is what give the novel its true gravitas.Much of this is eloquently articulated by Nick Carraway, Gatsby's modest Long Island neighbor who becomes his most trusted confidante. Nick is responsible for reuniting the lovers who both have come to different points in their lives five years after their aborted romance. Now a solitary figure in his luxurious mansion, Gatsby is a newly wealthy...
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April 14, 2008 | Helpful Votes: 63 | Rating: 5

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Fitzgerald's Masterpiece of the Jazz Age, Vividly Rendered by a Master Narrator!

A true classic of American literature, The Great Gatsby celebrates a heightened sensibility to the promises of life, an American capacity for hope that remains unsullied even by the falsity of what it pursues. Fitzgerald's clean, elegant style evokes to perfection the glitter and charm of the Jazz Age, as well as the falseness of its values.

Gatsby embodies the naïve American notion that it is possible to invent oneself and persuade the world to accept that definition. Gatsby's youthful neighbor, Nick Carraway, fascinated by both the display of enormous wealth and the essential integrity that he perceives in Gatsby's vision, becomes his confidante and accomplice in his plan to capture the heart of Daisy Buchanan.

Presented unabridged on 4 CDs, narrated by Alexander Scourby. Top to learn more

In 1922, F. Scott Fitzgerald announced his decision to write "something new--something extraordinary and beautiful and simple + intricately patterned." That extraordinary, beautiful, intricately patterned, and above all, simple novel became The Great Gatsby, arguably Fitzgerald's finest work and certainly the book for which he is best known. A portrait of the Jazz Age in all of its decadence and excess, Gatsby captured the spirit of the author's generation and earned itself a permanent place in American mythology. Self-made, self-invented millionaire Jay Gatsby embodies some of Fitzgerald's--and his country's--most abiding obsessions: money, ambition, greed, and the promise of new beginnings. "Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgiastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter--tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther.... And one fine morning--" Gatsby's rise to glory and eventual fall from grace becomes a kind of cautionary tale about the American Dream.

It's also a love story, of sorts, the narrative of Gatsby's quixotic passion for Daisy Buchanan. The pair meet five years before the novel begins, when Daisy is a legendary young Louisville beauty and Gatsby an impoverished officer. They fall in love, but while Gatsby serves overseas, Daisy marries the brutal, bullying, but extremely rich Tom Buchanan. After the war, Gatsby devotes himself blindly to the pursuit of wealth by whatever means--and to the pursuit of Daisy, which amounts to the same thing. "Her voice is full of money," Gatsby says admiringly, in one of the novel's more famous descriptions. His millions made, Gatsby buys a mansion across Long Island Sound from Daisy's patrician East Egg address, throws lavish parties, and waits for her to appear. When she does, events unfold with all the tragic inevitability of a Greek drama, with detached, cynical neighbor Nick Carraway acting as chorus throughout. Spare, elegantly plotted, and written in crystalline prose, The Great Gatsby is as perfectly satisfying as the best kind of poem. Top to learn more

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Gatsby In America

Sam Glass loves reading books, talking about books, writing about books, and perusing artsy pictures of books on book-enthusiast blogs. Though Nick is able to make small motions toward an independent arc, the majority of his narrative focuses on his friendship with Gatsby, and Gatsby’s attempt to woo Daisy—his adolescent sweetheart—away from her husband Tom. The Great Gatsby has been hailed as “The Great American Novel,” and Modern Library cites it as one of the best novels written in English in the 20th century. So really, if you haven’t read it yet, it truly is the paragon for all 20th century American novels after it. While Fitzgerald was alive, his other books sold better than The Great Gatsby. About a quarter of the way through the book, however, Nick meets the titular Gatsby. : In the future, when homo robotus F. Scott Fitzgerald is certainly famous for heavily influencing the American 1920s “Jazz Age,” but he was also famous for his zany wife Zelda Fitzgerald. We learn about Gatsby in bits and pieces—he throws lavish parties, cultivates an air of mystery, and enjoys referring to friends as “old sport. In fact, she was so crazy that Fitzgerald’s best buddy Hemingway encouraged her to drink heavily in order to be able to tolerate her better. You can play an 8 bit video game version of the book here.

The story of the fabulously wealthy Jay Gatsby and his love for the beautiful Daisy Buchanan, of lavish parties on Long Island at a time when The New York Times noted “gin was the national drink and sex the national obsession,” it is an... ” That extraordinary, beautiful, intricately patterned, and above all, simple novel became The Great Gatsby , arguably Fitzgerald’s finest work and certainly the book for which he is best known. The Great Gatsby is one of the great classics of twentieth-century literature. Self-made, self-invented millionaire Jay Gatsby embodies some of Fitzgerald’s–and his country’s–most abiding obsessions: money, ambition, greed, and the promise of new beginnings. At this more cynical age, I found Daisy to be a remarkable emotional void, and Gatsby’s quest to pour all of his hopes and dreams into such a shallow cauldron only confirmed his own vapidity. “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgiastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter–tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther…. It’s also a love story, of sorts, the narrative of Gatsby’s quixotic passion for Daisy Buchanan. His millions made, Gatsby buys a mansion across Long Island Sound from Daisy’s patrician East Egg address, throws lavish parties, and waits for her to appear. The pair meet five years before the novel begins, when Daisy is a legendary young Louisville beauty and Gatsby an impoverished officer.

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Fitzgerald describes Gatsby and his life, stating: “it was all going by too fast now for his blurred eyes and he knew that he had lost that part of it, the freshest and the best, forever” ( Gatsby , p. 133). This critique of America portrays society as forever looking to the next greatest thing or rediscovering the beauty of the past – all of it is futile. The true reason why it deserves to be called the pinnacle of American Literature is in the way that the characters and story tell the true tale of American life. He takes the quintessential self-made man, Jay Gatsby, and portrays him as a lovesick, depressed, monomaniacal child who throws a tantrum (or in this case, ornate parties) until he can meet his destiny face to face. Fitzgerald’s main concern is providing a voice to the Lost Generation, and disillusioning Americans from their ideal of the American Dream.

Gatsby In America News

Roaring 20s Recreated to Support the Arts

The Roaring 20s—as they were aptly known—were recreated Saturday at the Gatsby Garden Party for the Pelham Art Center. The annual spring benefit was a step back into the charm, finesse and elegance of yesteryear. “Everyone's in the mood to shrug off
'Gatsby' Casts Newbie Elizabeth Debicki, Tobey Prepares Hazing Ritual

You're still probably in the top quartile when it comes to literary prowess in America. I could paraphrase Lurhmann's thoughts on the casting decision, or I could pass on his words. Here they are: “It was a surprising result, but Elizabeth's grasp of
Sigourney Weaver speaks at the Civic Center of Greater Des Mones on Wednesday.

She chose her own unusual name in high school, after reading about Sigourney Howard, a minor character in "The Great Gatsby." She was a tall girl - 5-feet, 11 inches by age 14 - and school theater directors usually assigned leading roles to her shorter