Daily Reading – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Today, I read the classic short story, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.”

It was written by Francis Scott Fitzgerald in 1922. Fitzgerald is most famous for writing “The Great Gatsby.” Have you read the book or seen the movie?

“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” was also made into a movie a few years ago. It stars Brad Pitt. (I haven’t seen it yet, but I noticed that it is on Netflix now… I’ll have to watch it soon!)

The original written work is an interesting story that was inspired by a quote from another famous author.

It is a pity that the best part of life comes at the beginning and the worst part at the end.

Mark Twain

This quote inspired Fitzgerald to consider: What if we lived life backwards? What if we began at old age and ended at birth?

It’s a strange question and it leads to a remarkable story about Benjamin Button.

As soon as I finished reading this story, I thought, “I must rewrite this so that English learners can enjoy this, too!” Today, I rewrote the first chapter.

Sometimes, English literature has “flowery” writing that can’t be used in conversation. I reworded it so that English learners can safely pick up any phrase for daily conversation. I also modernized the English (it was written 100 years ago!) and I removed the racist comments about black people and Jewish people (it was only written 100 years ago!).

Now, please enjoy this edited story with modern and conversational English.

To be honest, I wondered, “What genre is this? Is it a fantasy story?” It doesn’t feel like fantasy, because it doesn’t have the elements of magic or creatures or anything. When I checked google, I was relieved to know that it is labeled a fantasy.

But I was also surprised to see many people asking, “Is Benjamin Button based on a true story?”