Rocketing through classics

A little browsing on Netflix brought me to a series of DVDs called Rocketbooks.  They seem to be some combination of onscreen text, audio text, and commentary of the form of Cliff’s Notes or Spark Notes.  I’m not 100% sure on that; it could just be text on the screen and reading aloud, but one DVD doesn’t seem long enough for that.  I am recording my pre-viewing commentary here for posterity.  Tomorrow I’ll provide a follow-up post with more accurate descriptions as well as some commentary on the quality.

I received the first of the Rocketbooks in the mail today: The Great Gatsby.  It’s a book I always heard great things about but never got around to reading.  I intend to view it after my wife goes to bed (as she has no interest in reviewing literature or teaching English classes).  I am eagerly curious about what mysteries this DVD will unlock.  I hope it’s worth the effort.