Hi August -- on Dec 26 2019 at 21:43, you wrote:

AA> Excellent! So, why couldn't Fitz just write that, eh?    The
AA> story is set in the 20's, so the English that people spoke wasn't
AA> *that* archaic.

He was a bit weird! :-)

AA> BTW, "to pull the door" would indicate to me that it was an outward
AA> swinging door that he was trying to close from the inside and the
AA> "against" may be attempting to imply a heavy rain beating at the
AA> door at the moment.

To make matters worse, in this country and in the US, most front doors
swing inward so as not to hit the person standing outside!

AA> If I recall correctly, the narrator is staying in a cottage next
AA> door to Gatsby's mansion.  The cottage may have only had a flimsy
AA> door that the rain could beat against very easily.

I'd think the quality of the door would have less to do with raining
beating than would the presence or absence of a roof or overhang on the
outside?

AA> For a read consistent with the season, try Dicken's A Christmas
AA> Carol. There are few archaic language samples in that one!

Good recomendation - although quite a few cultural references won't be
very clear!

Cheers... Dallas

--- timEd/NT 1.30+