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What are readers saying about The Great Gatsby?
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-04-27 02:39:23.
(Language: English)
 
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. 
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Stephanie posted a review at 2009-12-30 03:07:36.
(Language: English)
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.
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Gareth posted a review at 2010-02-28 01:03:31.
(Language: English)
I think I've been meaning to read this for years.Fitzgerald is HST's favourite writer, although I can't remember whether its this book in particular that he loves, and anything that he was into has got to be worth a try (as long as it doesn't involve guns). But on the other hand I saw the start of a US TV adaptation when I was a kid and it left the impression of a stale period drama on me and that has kind of put me off. Turns out that neither of these impressions was of much relevance to the book I read here, which seems felt to me like a dark Breakfast At Tiffany's, but that statement is just as misleading as those earlier. Its an interesting book. Doesn't seem that anything's going to happen at the start and I was beginning to think that the farcical situation that was building was going to become annoying. So he ends it tragically and unsatisfactorily and so you really start to like it about ten minutes after finishing it.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-10-16 08:32:48.
(Language: English)
I absolutely love the idea that a person can fall in love more than once-- and Gatsby has proved this through his relationship with Daisy. . I long to believe that hard work, independence, and strength in moral character can allow a person to become a legend more than his monetary worth. I think that Fitzgerald was trying to persuade his readers into agreeing with just that: money doesn't mean anything on its own. It is what you do with that money and so-called "fame" that really defines who you are, as well as your potential to do the right things in life. Was Gatsby's death glamorous? No. Was his life? The true parts weren't. Did he need all of that extra "fluff" to get Daisy back? We know he didn't-- so why does Fitzgerald continue to spin yarn after yarn about Gatsby's incredible endeavors? To show the readers that in his weakest moments, Gatsby is simply human. How else might we relate?
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Danielle posted a review at 2010-02-04 11:27:27.
(Language: English)
Like 'A Christmas Carol,' I wish I were able to read this book when it was first published to fully understand the impact it had in the 1920s. But then again, did it have any? I haven’t fully researched this book to understand what exactly it is about it that makes 'Gatsby' the classic it is today, but I can speculate. Not all classics of today were appreciated when they were first published, but gradually gained a following over time. But I imagine that one aspect that makes a book a classic is the impact it has on its generation. Two would be how it holds up today. I think 'Gatsby' holds up tremendously well today because many of its themes are transcendent to current day, and many of the lessons taught are still relevant. Even the simple line, “Let us learn to show our friendship for a man when he is alive and not after he is dead” is timeless in its own right (180). Having said that, this book did not affect me as much as I wish it had – as much as a classic such as, say, 'Of Mice And Men' did. This may be because I am reading it for the second time (the first time being in high school), but I don’t remember it having that big of an impact on me back then, either. I did enjoy it, however, and I really like Fitzgerald’s writing style and diversity in characters. I also like how it is not formulaic. The story is headed in one direction and then, suddenly, veers off in another, ending on a very unexpected note.
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Kelsey posted a review at 2009-04-03 01:51:45.
(Language: English)
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.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-08-22 02:49:30.
(Language: English)
My AP lit teacher once told me that no one could ever possibly love The Great Gatsby as much as I do, and I'd have to agree, because this book is a little bit of a sickness with me. Anyone who's ever talked to me for five minutes will tell you that this book is the foundation of my life. I don't know what it is--maybe the 200 (literally) times I've read it, maybe it's the huge poster I have in my dorm room (yes, I have no life), maybe it's the fact that I own four different copies in case of emergency...or maybe it's the fact that I carry my original copy with me at all times, so I'll never be away from it. It's insane, but this book changed my life. It's actually tricky to read now, because my mind says the next word on the page before I read it, so I have the thing stored on memory. I can't even talk about it without getting choked up. So know that you know about how it's such a huge, huge part of me, I hope that speaks for itself. The problem with the book, though, is that many people love it and gush over it because they think it's about flappers and millionaires and hoity-toity New York society and wild parties and therefore totally miss the point, or they HATE it because that's all they think it is, and therefore also miss the point. So the thing is, most people either love this book for what they think it is--wrongly (the glamour & parties) or hate it for the same reasons. In my experience, most people I know fail to "get it" and just like it because it's shiny or whatever. But if you do get it, then I KNOW that you will love it--and for all the right reasons, too. This is my all-time favorite book (maybe I'm being redundant), to the point that it's not even a book to me. It's a part of me. EVERYONE should read it.
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Alexis posted a review at 2010-01-11 07:12:11.
(Language: English)
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.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-06-16 07:57:58.
(Language: English)
While this book wasn't bad, it was, as is the major flaw of many other pieces of American fiction, too dependent on the circumstances of its time. However, it hits closer to home these days because the extravagance of the 1920's is in many ways alive and well now. It's all about the struggle of rich people (against themselves) to find happiness. The lie, the worry too much about what others think, they stop themselves from going out and getting what they want, and those who do are reprimanded. The book censures the affluent life, pointing out its absurdity. I personally didn't like the writing style. I didn't think it was very "literary," especially since Fitzgerald didn't bother using complete sentences often and, in the unabridged version I read, he simply ignores (or forgets) proper mechanics and grammar. The style would be fine if he was, say, writing a book review under 1000 characters, but he's not. He's writing a full novel, and it's hard to handle the abuse of English that long.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-08-16 12:08:26.
(Language: English)
The protagonist takes you through the highs and lows of 20th Century high society. The protagonist, introduced to polite society by an acquaintance (Gatsby), shows you the landmarks and windfalls alongthe road to dinner parties, and points out the many trappings of culture and conscience that befit a beautiful young fool surfing the upper crust of industrial-age America.Much of this book draws from the writer’s own life, as he watched his own wife suffer from many of the same symptoms of society as his book’s characters; obsession with the trappings and trimmings of the social elite; greed and spite; treachery and manipulation; alcoholism and insanity. This genuine point of view is distilled by careful selection in a tour de force of the ballroom lifestyle.The author’s style relies heavily upon narrative, and his descriptions are potent. He mingles Western cultural artifacts (billboards, warehouse districts) and signs of life in America’s dustbowl (parked cars) to spot the low and high income parts of metropolitan culture like the warm and cold spots in the river. All in all, this is a book which draws its power from subjective interpretation of the narrative; very little is decided for the reader, who feels much like a back-seat passenger in Gatsby’s car, listening in and seeing the sights.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-10-16 04:49:55.
(Language: English)
The title character of The Great Gatsby is a young man, around thirty years old, who rose from an impoverished childhood in rural North Dakota to become fabulously wealthy. However, he achieved this lofty goal by participating in organized crime, including distributing illegal alcohol and trading in stolen securities. From his early youth, Gatsby despised poverty and longed for wealth and sophistication—he dropped out of St. Olaf's College after only two weeks because he could not bear the janitorial job with which he was paying his tuition. Though Gatsby has always wanted to be rich, his main motivation in acquiring his fortune was his love for Daisy Buchanan, whom he met as a young military officer in Louisville before leaving to fight in World War I in 1917. Gatsby immediately fell in love with Daisy's aura of luxury, grace, and charm, and lied to her about his own background in order to convince her that he was good enough for her. Daisy promised to wait for him when he left for the war, but married Tom Buchanan in 1919, while Gatsby was studying at Oxford after the war in an attempt to gain an education. From that moment on, Gatsby dedicated himself to winning Daisy back, and his acquisition of millions of dollars, his purchase of a gaudy mansion on West Egg, and his lavish weekly parties are all merely means to that end. Fitzgerald delays the introduction of most of this information until fairly late in the novel. Gatsby's reputation precedes him—Gatsby himself does not appear in a speaking role until Chapter III. Fitzgerald initially presents Gatsby as the aloof, enigmatic host of the unbelievably opulent parties thrown every week at his mansion. He appears surrounded by spectacular luxury, courted by powerful men and beautiful women. He is the subject of a whirlwind of gossip throughout New York and is already a kind of legendary celebrity before he is ever introduced to the reader. Fitzgerald propels the novel forward through the early chapters by shrouding Gatsby's background and the source of his wealth in mystery (the reader learns about Gatsby's childhood in Chapter VI and receives definitive proof of his criminal dealings in Chapter VII). As a result, the reader's first, distant impressions of Gatsby strike quite a different note from that of the lovesick, naive young man who emerges during the later part of the novel. Fitzgerald uses this technique of delayed character revelation to emphasize the theatrical quality of Gatsby's approach to life, which is an important part of his personality. Gatsby has literally created his own character, even changing his name from James Gatz to Jay Gatsby to represent his reinvention of himself. As his relentless quest for Daisy demonstrates, Gatsby has an extraordinary ability to transform his hopes and dreams into reality; at the beginning of the novel, he appears to the reader just as he desires to appear to the world. This talent for self-invention is what gives Gatsby his quality of “greatness”: indeed, the title “The Great Gatsby” is reminiscent of billings for such vaudeville magicians as “The Great Houdini” and “The Great Blackstone,” suggesting that the persona of Jay Gatsby is a masterful illusion. Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. (See Important Quotations Explained) As the novel progresses and Fitzgerald deconstructs Gatsby's self-presentation, Gatsby reveals himself to be an innocent, hopeful young man who stakes everything on his dreams, not realizing that his dreams are unworthy of him. Gatsby invests Daisy with an idealistic perfection that she cannot possibly attain in reality and pursues her with a passionate zeal that blinds him to her limitations. His dream of her disintegrates, revealing the corruption that wealth causes and the unworthiness of the goal, much in the way Fitzgerald sees the American dream crumbling in the 1920s, as America's powerful optimism, vitality, and individualism become subordinated to the amoral pursuit of wealth. Gatsby is contrasted most consistently with Nick. Critics point out that the former, passionate and active, and the latter, sober and reflective, seem to represent two sides of Fitzgerald's personality. Additionally, whereas Tom is a cold-hearted, aristocratic bully, Gatsby is a loyal and good-hearted man. Though his lifestyle and attitude differ greatly from those of George Wilson, Gatsby and Wilson share the fact that they both lose their love interest to Tom.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-09-20 10:38:59.
(Language: English)
"The Great Gatsby" has been praised until death by virtually all critics - and it deserves every word of it. This is a novel that speaks of craftsmanship, passion and emotion, and remains one of only a rare few books to leave me almost unable to speak for a good long while afterwards. As the title suggests, Jay Gatsby is the core of this story. A dreamer to the extreme, he is obsessed with the facade he created for himself, an artifice that has led him to govern magnificent parties and make himself rich off of shady enterprises. But all his excess is empty, for he has given himself over to the lovely girl Daisy Buchanan - so completely in fact, that the discovery all his wealth cannot secure her love will shatter him. "Gatsby" is at its core a romance, for both a lifestyle and a woman, and a reader cannot help but be drawn in as he loses both of these things at the same time. More than the strength of the story, this book shows Fitzgerald at the height of a literary skill that is undeniable. The anecdotes about Fitzgerald's writing - going through his drafts with a thesarus to change repeated words, filling pages and pages of notebooks with plot changes and character traits - are all proven true. The use of Nick Carraway as a neutral narrator is the perfect conveyance of Gatsby's dreams and the jazz parties they created, and both Tom and Daisy are archetypes beautifully rendered of the rich Gatsby tried so hard to be a part of. The heart of "Gatsby," and the reason I keep coming back to it, are the visions Fitzgerald paints. The lights of the party, the unrest of young James Gatz and the final heartbreaking passage of "boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past" are sections that on every read pay Fitzgerald the ultimate praise: making writers envy they were not the ones to write them. I don't believe it's the Great American Novel - mainly because I plan to write it myself - but "The Great Gatsby" is one of only a few serious contenders for the title there is. It is, bluntly, a masterpiece.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-07-07 07:22:25.
(Language: English)
This was unexpected. On paper it's precisely the kind of thing I like and I've always been fond of the "Jazz-age" too. So it was a real shock when, halfway through it, I began to realise it wasn't quite as groovy as I'd been led to believe. By the time I'd finished it I totally reassessed that view. It was worse. I truly wish I could remove all memory of this from my brain. Except of course the memory that I'd read it and hated it. Dull, pretentious, completely unlikeable and unrealistic characters and pretty much nothing happens. For pages at a time. There is no plot. At all. All there is is incredibly beautiful passages of description which not only borders on the purple, but buys a whole tin of paint and dips the roller straight in. So what? If it's not ABOUT anything then it's about as appealing as looking at some really well-designed wallpaper. It's incredibly well-written. It's also incredibly over-rated. I can see why it was popular at the time, lots of award winning and briefly fashionable books ARE after all. Most of them don't get the long-term label "classic" stuck to their dust-jackets though. This has. I'm not entirely sure why. It is my contention that a classic really ought ot have more than one string to it's bow - that is it ought to have a good, intriguing plot, realistic and lifelike (not necessarily likeable) characters, a real sense of taking you to the time and/or place and be well-written. The characters are cardboard cut-outs, utterly unconvincing and unlikeable besides - that means you truly couldn't care less about what happens to them. Yes, it evokes the period, but in a hollow way. The only real area it succeeds in is that of writing. But without all the other aspects it's writing about nothing, which is dull. I've heard that the "style over substance" nature of the book is intended to be a critique of the culture of 1920s America. Hmmmm. That's a pretty convenient get-out clause isn't it? Write a story without a soul, without something to connect to emotionally, then claim that this is precisely the point. Keep a straight face. If you are believed then artistic credibility beckons. Oh, contrary to popular claims - it only gets worse on repeated reading. Different strokes for different folks, I suppose. I just wanted to make sure there was at least ONE mostly negative review.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-05-15 03:25:36.
(Language: English)
Jay Gatsby (aka James Gatz) has everything in life, money, power, possessions, but the one thing he does not and cannot possess are friends or love, thus is the sad story of the Great Gatsby. The events are narrated by Nick Carraway, a struggling Bond salesman in post WW1 New York and ends up moving next door to the Great Gatsby, and eventually befriends his well to do neighbour. It is from him that we learn of the true Gatsby and the terrible event that is Gatsby's eventual downfall. This novel has been widely claimed as the "supreme American Novel" a justifiable claim. The brilliance of Fitzgerald prose gives a voice to the disillusionment of post war America, illustrates a society failing morally and obsessed with wealth and status. This novel does more than this in chronicalling Gatsby's pursuit of his dream the author brings to the fore the conflict between illusion and reality. In the version I read (published by Penguin Modern Classics) there is a fairly tiresome 60 page introduction by Tony Tanner that serves only to spoil the story and bored me rigid. I strongly recommend that you skip the introduction and get straight to something worth reading.BRILLIANT!
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-04-21 03:13:23.
(Language: English)
Fitzgerald utilizes great prose to tell a tragic story. What's great about this book is its honest look at love and the many complications of human relationships. Lost love, marriage for security, the search to for the escape hatch from loneliness, and the triviality of money are all big themes in this book. What really last with you though, are Fitzgerald's masterfully crafted sentences. The problem with this book, is that it espouses a feeling of hopelessness. There are no characters to admire. While J Gatsby does have attractive qualities, ultimately he has put his whole life on the whim of his lost love. The narrator seems relatively normal, but in the end he is exposed as a modern skeptic, who has little to hope for in life.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-10-25 08:43:04.
(Language: English)
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.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-12-01 06:29:07.
(Language: English)
The Great Gatsby The American novel The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, focuses on the weakening of the American Dream in the 1920s. It is a story about a man named Jay Gatsby, who is rich and throws parties often to attract a woman, Daisy, whom he has loved for a long time. Daisy also likes Gatsby, but she does not know the truth about his wealth, and the major drawback is that she is already married to Tom. Despite the romance, the novel itself portrays the United States during the 1920s, an age where materialism played big role in the human society. The overall theme, the decline of the American dream, is portrayed with symbols and the setting. This novel takes place in Long Island, New York, during summer in 1922. 1920s appeared to be a decade of unlimited economic prosperity of the United States. It was also the time when the American Dream rose; people believed that with money, they could do everything. Gatsby is trying to gain Daisy’s love by showing off his wealth to people. However Gatsby’s wealth is corrupt, since people in the 1920s could easily make money due to the rise of stock markets after World War I. The author tried to represent the corruptness of this age by using Gatsby as a character who becomes rich by working for drug deals. There are symbols in The Great Gatsby that portray the 1920s. First, the Valley of ashes, which comes out in Chapter two, depicts the poor and the completely opposite side of wealth. The tone of the author, when he mentions this valley, is dark. “…Where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and, finally with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air” (Fitzgerald, 23). Fitzgerald shows that next to the wealth, there are always the poor by writing about the valley of ashes. Another symbol in the novel is the green light that portrays hopes and dreams of the people back then. F. Scott Fitzgerald uses setting and symbols to show the reader the reality of the 1920s. It was a decade when people got obsessed with money and tried to do gain everything with money. This gradually let people became corrupted and let people to become prosperous easily. Gatsby and his background is a perfect character that describes the 1920s.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-11-30 09:39:32.
(Language: English)
A classic -this novel is like a Greek tragedy, but one that readers can relate to because of its more modern setting.In this novel, which takes place during the roaring 20's, we see how wanting the wrong things, or the wrong people at any cost in the end destoys all who seek it. Daisy wants money, and ends up with an abusive, monster of a husband. Jay, wants Daisy, and sells his ehtics to get simply her attention - Fitzgerald makes clear how uncapable of true love was Daisy. i After making his fortune as a bootlegger, and finally getting her to notice him, their affair causes him to lose his life - although Fitzgerald in the novel conveys a melancholy, funerial feeling throughout the novelthat reflects his feeling that Gatsby had lost his life and soul long before his physical death - when he gave up his morals in order to satisfy Daisy's materialistic desires and attemp in vain to win her love.
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A Reader posted a review at 2011-08-17 04:45:33.
(Language: English)
Inspired by the movie "Midnight in Paris" I decided to read some Fitzgerald and Hemingway, starting with a re-read of this book which I hadn't read since high school. It's a short, easy read with many themes, including the moral decay of society in the roaring 20s. It's interesting how Fitzgerald recreated 2 sides of his own character in Nick (the narrator) and Gatsby. Another interesting theme is the contrast between nouveau riche (Gatsby) and old rich (Daisy and Tom). I hear that there is another movie coming out with Leonardo DiCaprio as Gatsby and Kate Mulligan as Daisy. I'm not sure if I ever saw the 1970s version with Robert Redford and Mia Farrow, but I may have to Netflix that so I can compare it to the new one. I think next I'll pick up Farewell to Arms by Hemingway. The only thing I can remember reading by him was Old Man and the Sea, and that's not really representative of his work.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-12-10 02:21:13.
(Language: English)
***SPOILER ALERT***This is one of the novels I think of as American classics along with "Catcher in the Rye", "On the Road", and "Huck Finn". It tells us the story of a self made man who throws great parties at his mansion on Long Island soul with the sole purpose of attracting the woman he loved and lost before he went off to serve in the War. She has married another man and also lives on Long Island sound - a fact known to Gatsby and the reason he lives there. He finally makes contract again with the woman via the narrator who is his neighbour and her cousin. The times recounted in novel tell of a great deal of wildness - the parties at Gatsby's house are massive with stage stars and entertainers but none of them are really his friend. The people portrayed are the rich and they seem very careless just as the narrator accuses his tennis playing girlfriend of being. Gatsby is a very mysterious character which adds to the allure some people think he is German, others think he killed someone - as mentioned non of them really know him and many attendees haven't actually met him. In the end Gatsby kills himself after he runs over a woman with his car and he realizes he will never be with the woman he loves. She and her husband retreat to their lives of wealth.
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Ben posted a review at 2009-08-08 01:55:56.
(Language: English)
The books reputation speaks for itself really. The author is reflecting on America and how it has turned into a materialistic, immoral country with wealth serving as the happiness of people. The novel as some may state is about Jay Gatsby but many forget the story's protagonist Nick Carraway, it is in his retelling of the events that happened during his life in Little Egg that change him as a person. The Great Gatsby has so many different meanings and can be read on so many levels. I guess this is what makes it such a classic and one of the best pieces of American literature to date. The book can not be read without a bit of brain analysing but neither can any excellent books can they? Like I say, its reputation should speak for itself, the film adaptation is also worth a watch. Read it... at least so you can say you have.
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Aaron posted a review at 2008-05-08 09:47:32.
(Language: English)
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.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-06-19 07:44:06.
(Language: English)
By all accounts, a great novel. However, it isn't the paragon of perfection that some people claim it to be. There are certainly grand ideas underneath this novel, but they aren't explored very satisfactorily, not well enough to make the reader feel a sense of closure upon turning the final page. Is the American Dream alive or dead? Is love worth sacrificing your life over? The novel seems to shrug its shoulders, not take a definite stand. A lot of this can be blamed on the narrator's apathetic worldview, but that's not necessarily a good thing. Those minor caveats aside, Fitzgerald has a way with words, and the book is very quotable. He is able to tell a concise and meaty story without adding fluff to give the book an artificially voluminous page count. He is able to paint amazing pictures with language, and manages the difficult task of balancing the stark reality of modernism with the more artistic conventions of symbolism and allegory. As a documentary of the 20's, it has few rivals. The good outweigh the bad. Even if the book's foundation collapses under its own instability, what's left standing is a very attractive structure. Buy it, if not for education's sake. Best book ever.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-08-22 11:31:36.
(Language: English)
The Great Gatsby, renowned as one of the greatest novels in the 20th century, in a time where everyone everywhere was finding some way to make a life, whether it's bootlegging, whether it's stealing. Where racial tension prevailed on every street, where the "niggers", as they were known back then, had to steer clear of the prevalent so-called Aryan race. The book was not about racism, but it was a feature in it. However, it's more than just that. This book is possibly one of the most perfect books I've ever read. Smooth, soothing, and tragic at end. Without giving anything away it's a rag to riches story, about the realities of life during that era. It's a brilliant book, absolutely mind-blowing. It's not explosive in content but gripping in sentence structures. The descriptiveness of this book is just beyond belief, absolutely in it's class of it's own. I really run out of words to describe this book. It's simply amazing, and Mr F. Scott Fitzgerald, my friend, you've found yourself another adoring fan of your literary work. Absolutely exceptional!
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-04-27 11:15:41.
(Language: English)
Under the Watchful Eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg In my younger and more vulnerable years I fancied myself in love with Robert Redford who played Jay Gatsby in the movie adaptation of this book, so of course I read the book and got very little out of it at the time. I didn’t even really enjoy the movie because Mia Farrow was annoying and Robert Redford really had a very small role in the film. I found myself sympathizing with Sam Waterston’s character, Nick Carraway, because he seemed to despise those around him as much as I did. On this second reading, I again found myself identifying a bit with the sober and reflective Nick Carraway, just as I did watching the film. Although Nick definitely experiences his own moments of moral ambiguity and does not take a strong outward stand against the behavior of others, we can at least feel his disgust of the events which take place around him. Unlike Nick, I am not inclined to reserve all judgments and I must admit that as a result of this book I find that I have no desire to have lived in 1920’s America, as people come across as either materialistic, artificial, shallow, selfish, reckless drunks with regard for nothing but their own pleasure or poor, downtrodden, lifeless, grey folk who live in the shadow and ashes of the wealthy. Of course we know up front in Chapter 1 that Nick has reached his limit on tolerance and is fed up with society of the Eastern United States and has moved back to the Midwest where, presumably, moral and social decay is not as prevalent as in the East. Maybe I can assuage my prejudices by reading another book from the same period of the Jazz Age that takes place in a Midwestern town. I also find that the attitude of the narrator has inflicted itself on me in such a way that I too have less disdain for the character of Gatsby than for any of the other characters brought to life in this book, although I would hesitate to call him “Great”. As Nick states, “Gatsby represents everything for which I have an unaffected scorn”. And yet, despite Gatsby’s vulgar display of wealth, illicit affair with Daisy Buchanan and the acquisition of his wealth from criminal activity, he is still presented to the reader as “The Great Gatsby” due to his loyal heart. Contributing to this idea of greatness, the author does not even introduce Gatsby, the man, until chapter 3. Until then, he is a mystery, whispered and gossiped about at parties, until he makes an almost theatrical entrance into Nick’s life. About Gatsby, Fitzgerald writes, “…there was something gorgeous about him, some heightened sensitivity to the promises of life, as if he were related to one of those intricate machines that register earthquakes ten thousand miles away. This responsiveness had nothing to do with that flabby impressionability which is dignified under the name of the ‘creative temperament.’—it was an extraordinary gift for hope, a romantic readiness such as I have never found in any other person and which it is not likely I shall ever find again.” While I do not identify in the least with the majority of characters, I did enjoy the book, perhaps because the aimless, immoral behavior of the characters ultimately end in tragedy as it should, rather than a “happy ending”, where such actions are rewarded. One image from the book that I really like is the eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg, painted on an old billboard, looking down as God might on the moral decay below. The image is both disturbing and thought provoking and sums up my thoughts on the society presented in the book quite nicely.
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