Balázs Kalcsó
Dear Nick,
I’ve been thinking about the way you talk about Gatsby, and I wanted to write back to you because your mix of admiration and confusion really interests me. You keep saying you’re not one to judge, but the way you describe Gatsby shows you are very curious about him. And I see why there’s something magnetic about someone who believes so fiercely in a dream, even if the rest of the people have given up on theirs.
What I find amazing is how you swing between being impressed by Gatsby’s hope and frustrated by his blindness. You keep trying to figure out whether he’s a fool chasing something impossible, or someone brave for holding on when everything around him is only lies. The truth is, your fascination says as much about you as it does about him. You’re drawn to his optimism because you see so little positivity elsewhere. Certainly not from Tom and Daisy, with their careless swinging, or from anyone in the crowd that rolled in and out of Gatsby’s house every weekend.
It’s clear that you respect Gatsby more than you admit, even though he has his flaws. You recognize that underneath his showmanship, he actually cares about something or someone so deeply that he’s willing to risk everything for his vision. And maybe that’s what stayed with you the most: not the lavish parties, not the interesting rumors, but the fact that Gatsby believed in a future that he imagined and may have been living out inside his head. When he met Daisy again he was kind of shy, but when you left them alone he envisioned the future there and then.
Anyway, I just wanted you to know that your honesty about him matters. It makes your whole story feel so real. I hope you found this letter amusing and I look forward to your reply.
Best regards,
Balázs