[EDITING] [DramReading] The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald-mtf

[benderca]

Got it queued

Great! Thank you so much!

[LCaulkins]

Hi, TJ!

I love how carefully you've crafted the mood in this project. I remember that from the other chapters.

At 32:14, there is one word substitution that I feel is your call on whether you want to change it or not, but it is a line from the book that is very often discussed in classes and essays. Listeners who have worked with the book would likely notice that substitution.

• "tracing, like the leg of transit (I hear "compass"), a thin red circle in the water."

If you like notes on the listening experience, there are a few spots at the end where the mood felt a wee bit interrupted:

In the stretch between 29:09 - 29:57, the speaker seems much quieter than narrator bits.
Also quieter speaker in the stretch 31:15 - 31:20
At 32:30, it felt like "saw Wilson’s body a little way off in the grass" was a little rushed, just wanting more pause in front of it after the narrator.

Let me know if you're not looking for these kinds of notes and I'll ignore them on future chapters. (I just noticed how meticulously you'd worked and thought you might like them?)

[benderca]

Hi, TJ!

I love how carefully you've crafted the mood in this project. I remember that from the other chapters.

Thank you so much!

At 32:14, there is one word substitution that I feel is your call on whether you want to change it or not, but it is a line from the book that is very often discussed in classes and essays. Listeners who have worked with the book would likely notice that substitution.

• "tracing, like the leg of transit (I hear "compass"), a thin red circle in the water."

This is strange because my script says "compass," but the source text I linked to says "transit" -- I wonder if there are two versions of this... I'll check.

[EDIT: Well, I found the sparksnotes version has "compass": https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/gatsby/full-text/chapter-8/
I'm going to look into it a little more to see why there are two versions. Thanks.]

If you like notes on the listening experience, there are a few spots at the end where the mood felt a wee bit interrupted:

In the stretch between 29:09 - 29:57, the speaker seems much quieter than narrator bits.
Also quieter speaker in the stretch 31:15 - 31:20
At 32:30, it felt like "saw Wilson’s body a little way off in the grass" was a little rushed, just wanting more pause in front of it after the narrator.

Let me know if you're not looking for these kinds of notes and I'll ignore them on future chapters. (I just noticed how meticulously you'd worked and thought you might like them?)

Yes!!! I definitely want these kinds of notes. One of the reasons I've taken so long to finish this project because I have spent a lot of time tweaking, trying to match the quality of the various audio contributions into a seamless whole. So please point out all inconsistencies you notice -- I greatly appreciate it. Also if you notice a pause is too long or too short, feel free to mention. (You don't need to do any extra work, just if it jumps out at you... ). Thank you.

[LCaulkins]

OK, so this is super interesting to me regarding the "transit" "compass" switch.

I found a citation explaining that Fitzgerald said in an April 10, 1925 letter that “transit” would do, but he "really meant compass." So apparently an editor in the mid-1950s decided to change it to compass. I can't find anything about whether that was the first edition with that change.

I guess when you're roaring drunk 2/3s of the time, you choose different words than you mean sometimes?

[benderca]

This is both intriguing and hilarious!

"Compass" makes more sense to me -- and since he wrote the letter in 1925, I think we can consider it public domain.
(I was wondering if Fitzgerald's comment, “transit” would do, but he "really meant compass," might have been a polite way for him to say the typesetters made a mistake, or had trouble reading his writing? ).

[mightyfelix]

This is both intriguing and hilarious!

"Compass" makes more sense to me -- and since he wrote the letter in 1925, I think we can consider it public domain.
(I was wondering if Fitzgerald's comment, “transit” would do, but he "really meant compass," might have been a polite way for him to say the typesetters made a mistake, or had trouble reading his writing? ).

This is indeed an intriguing bit of background information on the text. However, I think we need to stick with what was actually printed in the 1925 edition of the text. We are not editors and have no call to change what is printed, even with evidence that the author meant it so. I would be especially leery of including a change that was introduced in a later edition that could have incurred a newer copyright.

(All that being said, I didn't read enough in the script/conversation to know who said this line or how easy or difficult it will be to have them re-record it. If we can, though, we should make this change.)

(This is also the reason that ONLY the approved PD version of the text should be used for making scripts. For future DR projects, please be diligent to follow this rule.)