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lydiardbell t1_je6z066 wrote

I'm a Kiwi and to me it's very American. Especially for something set in the 20s. There's no way you could misread Gatsby as a Kiwi

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bookatnz t1_je84piw wrote

Have to agree, it's really not a universal thing. If Gatsby was a Kiwi he'd be drinking with his mates and walking around without shoes rather than trying to show Daisy all his fancy shirts

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Different-Carpet-159 OP t1_je6zjc3 wrote

Are kiwis not ambitious? Dishonest? Obsessed with status? TBH most of what I know of kiwis is from flight of the Conchords. And yes, they are the antiGatsbys 😄

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lydiardbell t1_je713vo wrote

Historically, not as obsessed with status, certainly not as obsessed as Gatsby was. Those who have and flaunt it are (or, were) seen as a bit foolish. "Tall poppy syndrome" means that people will be cut down to size if they don't stay humble, although that's been changing since the 2010s.

Plus NZ didn't really have anything quite as extravagant as the Jazz Age was in the US.

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Different-Carpet-159 OP t1_je74ny7 wrote

True, you need a very wealthy society to even have that to aspire to. Remember that Gatsby's mansion was built by a beer tycoon, so he was really just replacing an older generation of wealth.

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