Great Gatsby, the; (Us Import Ed.)

Nick Carraway is our main character. He is a young man who graduated from New Haven, went in to the war, came out, and moved from the West to Long Island Sound's West Egg Village. He now makes a meager income selling Bonds. His neighbor is the supremely rich Mr. Gatsby, whom nobody seems to know much about, but whom everybody whose anybody has been to his outlandish parties. Just across...more

Nick Carraway is our main character. He is a young man who graduated from New Haven, went in to the war, came out, and moved from the West to Long Island Sound's West Egg Village. He now makes a meager income selling Bonds. His neighbor is the supremely rich Mr. Gatsby, whom nobody seems to know much about, but whom everybody whose anybody has been to his outlandish parties. Just across the bay is the distinguished East Egg, where Nick has a cousin Daisy. He often visits her and her husband Tom, their small child, and their friend, the golf star, Miss Carraway. Tom also is supremely rich, and it turns out he keeps a mistress. Poor Nick is the unwilling observer to all. He becomes Gatsby's friend and finds that Gatsby has been chasing the past for several years. He is in love with Daisy, and in fact dated her 5 years ago. This all sounds a bit too romantic, but I promise you that between the alcohol and party antics, you will be kept interested. Borne back ceaselessly indeed.   hide

Thank God for SparkNotes. I really don't know if I like the book or not. The writing was sometimes amazing, and sometimes not. The plot was...random sometimes. Lots of symbolism and a very tragic story. Confused while I was reading it, and still confused now. Rating: 3***? Edit:// We dissected this book in class. Now, I'm not so confused anymore. It actually is a very good book, now that I'm...more

Thank God for SparkNotes. I really don't know if I like the book or not. The writing was sometimes amazing, and sometimes not. The plot was...random sometimes. Lots of symbolism and a very tragic story. Confused while I was reading it, and still confused now. Rating: 3***? Edit:// We dissected this book in class. Now, I'm not so confused anymore. It actually is a very good book, now that I'm looking back on it. It really is a masterpiece. The thing flows. There were times when, as you were reading it, you went huh? But when you look back on it, everything fits. It's like looking at a pointalism painting. Look at it up close, and all you see is dots, but when you step back, it's this gorgeous picture. It is a good book. However, unless you can pick out the deep meanings or is prepared to dissect it, I do not recommend it.   hide

My 12th grade teacher pretty much summed up my feelings on it: You read one Scott Fitzgerald story and you've pretty much read them all. Basically you're better off reading one of his short stories since you'll get the same thing but spend less time on it. I liked the book, but it sort of all felt... pointless. I was pretty disappointed when I found out that the Gatsby talked about for all of...more

My 12th grade teacher pretty much summed up my feelings on it: You read one Scott Fitzgerald story and you've pretty much read them all. Basically you're better off reading one of his short stories since you'll get the same thing but spend less time on it. I liked the book, but it sort of all felt... pointless. I was pretty disappointed when I found out that the Gatsby talked about for all of the first chapters did not turn out to be so great after all, and the blatant symbolism isn't really to my taste for such a modern novel. All of the characters were pretty much hollow and superficial, as that was Fitzgerald's impression of the times I'm sure, and I couldn't exactly muster up the appropriate sympathy for anyone involved in the story. Overall, it's readable--actually it was a relief to read after having to read older literature with murkier prose--but it's not the most enjoyable story, at least in my opinion. It's simply not my type of book.   hide

I've just finished reading The Great Gatsby, and i LOVED it! As with all of my favourite novels, it was completely different to how i had expected it be, a real surprise. Gatsby is at once a stubborn, self-indulgent man, and yet incredibly vulnerable and strangely lovable. He is the underdog whose single-minded determination to better himself is the classic ideal of the 'American Dream'. And...more

I've just finished reading The Great Gatsby, and i LOVED it! As with all of my favourite novels, it was completely different to how i had expected it be, a real surprise. Gatsby is at once a stubborn, self-indulgent man, and yet incredibly vulnerable and strangely lovable. He is the underdog whose single-minded determination to better himself is the classic ideal of the 'American Dream'. And yet, this is no 'God bless America' story of good triumphing over evil, of the poor man finding happiness in a land of opportunity, of 'truth, justice, and the American way'. Instead, it's Fitzgerald questioning the true meaning of the American Dream, and indeed whether it really exists. I got the impression of a writer somewhat disillusioned with 1920's America, and almost disgusted at the flippant attitude towards others of the wealthy chattering-classes. The writing is beautiful and perfectly paced, all written from the point of view of Nick Carraway, an emigre of the mid-west to New York, who we would suspect is based more than loosely on Fitzgerald himself. This deserves its accreditation as one of the great American novels. It's a study of America, and Americanism, and just exactly what those terms mean to a person living not only in the 1920's, but in the America of today.   hide

I liked this book, but I didn't just love it...so why did I rate it 4 stars? The truth is that - though it wasn't "great" - I liked that it made me think. This book reminded me of how much I truly detest pretentious and snobby people. I despise people who can't be true to themselves and those around them, and who put more stock in material things and impressing people than actually being good...more

I liked this book, but I didn't just love it...so why did I rate it 4 stars? The truth is that - though it wasn't "great" - I liked that it made me think. This book reminded me of how much I truly detest pretentious and snobby people. I despise people who can't be true to themselves and those around them, and who put more stock in material things and impressing people than actually being good and honest people themselves. This entire story was tragic. First, there really were no likable characters because nobody was true to himself. And, along with that, there were no honest people in this book with the possible exception of Carraway. Daisy professed to love Gatsby, but not enough to marry him when he was poor; and though he eventually came to have money that likely far surpassed the wealth of Daisy and her husband, he still wasn't good enough for her because his money wasn't old enough or respectable enough. Furthermore, she lacked a backbone to stand up for her own wrongdoings. Tom professed to love his wife, but that love didn't preclude his need to carry on with another woman right under her nose. And still he had the nerve to feel "wronged" when he realized that his wife was carrying on with another man. Gatsby wanted to be accepted and have the "right" to run in the same social circles as the Buchannans, but never once would be honest about who he was and where his money came from. Even Jordan and Catherine were dishonest. Jordan in the controversy over her golf game, and Catherine lying about her own sister's moral trespasses. And finally, the "friends" of Gatsby - the hundreds of people who attended his weekly parties were all shamelessly pretentious and dishonest. Those who professed to be friends of Gatsby and yet not a single one of them could attend his funeral. The entire story was a tragic portrait of everything I detest and the reminder of those things is why I rated it 4 stars.   hide

So I finished this book in about a week, probably less but my brain isn't really around these days. LOVED it, found it slow for the first thirty or forty pages and then couldn't put it down. I found a few similarities in the beginning with Jane Austin, parties that neighbors attending, lasting all night, not necessarily knowing the host. From page 50 or so I couldn't put it down, I think the part...more

So I finished this book in about a week, probably less but my brain isn't really around these days. LOVED it, found it slow for the first thirty or forty pages and then couldn't put it down. I found a few similarities in the beginning with Jane Austin, parties that neighbors attending, lasting all night, not necessarily knowing the host. From page 50 or so I couldn't put it down, I think the part of the story I enjoyed most was the humor, I found the way Fitzgerald wrote to be really amusing, made it really easy to get behind the characters, all of them.   hide

Haven't read it? You should, and no, I'm not a repressed high school English teacher. This is one of the greatest books ever written. Fitzgerald captures the voice of the common man as his narrator spins and sips his way through the roaring twenties. Along the way, he bares weary witness to organized crime, adultery, and a Hellish revist to Babylon. Star-struck by the bad and beautiful Buchanans,...more

Haven't read it? You should, and no, I'm not a repressed high school English teacher. This is one of the greatest books ever written. Fitzgerald captures the voice of the common man as his narrator spins and sips his way through the roaring twenties. Along the way, he bares weary witness to organized crime, adultery, and a Hellish revist to Babylon. Star-struck by the bad and beautiful Buchanans, Nick Carraway helps the mysteriously successful rags-to-riches golden boy Gatsby reconnect with his pre-war sweetheart. Of course it all ends in tragedy, but we happily follow the yellow-brick-road of Fitzgerald's lyrical prose. This is a one-sit read, one, because it's short, and two because you won't be able to put it down once you start. If you have to read it for an English class, consider yourself lucky. If you were assigned To Whom the Bell Tolls instead, grab a copy of Gatsby and enjoy.   hide

This book is one of the most overrated pieces of tripe in the literary world. People claim that this is a masterpiece, that F Scott Fitzgerald accurately recreated the roaring 20s in this novel. That must have been easy, because HE WROTE THE THING IN THE 20s. The plot is laughable and unbelievable. I mean come on, a guy befriends a rich older recluse who likes to throw raging parties and...more

This book is one of the most overrated pieces of tripe in the literary world. People claim that this is a masterpiece, that F Scott Fitzgerald accurately recreated the roaring 20s in this novel. That must have been easy, because HE WROTE THE THING IN THE 20s. The plot is laughable and unbelievable. I mean come on, a guy befriends a rich older recluse who likes to throw raging parties and accidentally kill people with his Rolls. The entire book, which for such a masterpiece is written in a surprisingly simple prose (it took me about three hours of my life that I can't get back to finish), covers maybe two or three days worth of events. Maybe I missed the "this is meaningful" train, but the basic lesson I learned from the book is "Don't accidentally kill people with your car, and lots of parties makes mouths happy." And don't even get me started on the film version's choice of music - I don't care how it's dressed up, but the "Charlestown" will never be a worthwhile tune to dance to.   hide

Ugh. I don't understand how people can laud this as one of the greatest novels ever written. It is a description of the crazy, hedonistic days of the 1920's and little else. Fitzgerald interjects no opinion on the times, no aspect or feelings of what were happening and no likeable characters. At all. Nick Carraway is a pushover and a hypocrite, Daisy a complete and utter fool, and Tom...more

Ugh. I don't understand how people can laud this as one of the greatest novels ever written. It is a description of the crazy, hedonistic days of the 1920's and little else. Fitzgerald interjects no opinion on the times, no aspect or feelings of what were happening and no likeable characters. At all. Nick Carraway is a pushover and a hypocrite, Daisy a complete and utter fool, and Tom the straight-forward, racist brute. The only character you feel is even half-way redeemable is Gatsby, and that feeling isn't particularly strong. Most of all, at the end of the novel, there is a peculiar sense of "What was the point?" We were not reading it to find out what happened the characters, that's for certain. A mystery? Not at all. Was there a message, something the author was attempting to tell the world, something new and innovative? Nope. The Twenties' were some crazy, corrupt times. If you know that, then this book is pointless.   hide