Frank Foley
The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald
3-Week Study Group - Canterbury
Starts Saturday 16th May 2026
F Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1941) was an American novelist and short story writer who captured the zeitgeist of the Jazz Age with his novels in the 1920s.
Regarded as one of the great American novels, to some extent The Great Gatsby is a classic tale of poor boy made good in the pursuit of love.
But wrapped in Fitzgerald's symbolism and intricate patterning, and filtered through themes of idealism and the American dream, it becomes one of the great works of 20th century literature.
"So we beat on, boats against the current,
borne back ceaselessly into the past"
This is a three week group consisting of three 90 minute weekly sessions.
We will explore the main themes and ideas of the book, as well as the structure, the main characters, and the key scenes. Whilst we will try to get a general overview of this wonderful novel, the real energy of the group comes from our open discussions and the meanings and ideas we create in real time. In this respect we are exploring ourselves - our perspectives, judgements, values - as much as we are exploring the novel itself.
Above all, this group is about celebrating literature, rather than analysing it. We will be true literature lovers, excitedly exploring one of the great novels of the 20th century!
The fee for this 3-week course is £36 - Paypal link below:
"He talked a lot about the past, and I gathered that he wanted to recover something, some idea of himself perhaps, that had gone into loving Daisy. His life had been confused and disordered since then, but if he could once return to a certain starting place and go over it all slowly, he could find out what that thing was..."
The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald