The Great Gatsby

by F Scott Fitzgerald

Jay Gatsby is the man who has everything. But one thing will always be out of his reach ... Everybody who is anybody is seen at his glittering parties. Day and night his Long Island mansion buzzes with bright young things drinking, dancing and debating his mysterious character. For Gatsby - young, handsome, fabulously rich - always seems alone in the crowd, watching and waiting, though no one knows what for. Beneath the shimmering surface of his life he is hiding a secret: a silent longing that can never be fulfilled. And soon this destructive obsession will force his world to unravel.

• ISBN10: 0140620184
• ISBN13: 9780140620184
• Publish Date: 13 January 1994 (first published 14 July 1905)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 7 February 2011
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
• Imprint: Penguin Classics
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 192
• Language: English

Reviews

[starbell]

I was forced to read this book in 11th grade for English class. So, here I am now, at 24, and I think, "Oh, I'll give this book another shot, it must be better now that I'm older!" Nope, not at all. I hated it just as much as the first time I read it. I don't know if it just brought me back to how much I hated being forced to read books I didn't want to read for class, or if I just hated the book that much. But needless to say, I won't be trying to read this one again.

[Whitney @ First Impressions Reviews]

The Great Gatsby starts out slow, like the tortoise and the hare slow, but like the tortoise its a winner.

Nick Carraway, our narrator has just moved to the west egg of Rhode Island, in other words "new money" who happens to live next door to Jay Gatsby's party house. Gatsby first comes off as elusive but eventually opens up asking Nick for a favor, to invite Nick's married friend Daisy to tea in which Jay may just happen to pop in. It is this favor which allows events to spirals out of control. Essentially, the novel is about passion from afar.

Like I said, The Great Gatsby takes a while to easy into, until Daisy's husband Tom is seen having an open affair it was a bit like wallpaper paste. But then Tom slugs his annoying, snob of a mistress Myrtle in the face, and to be honest if he hadn't I would have found a way myself. Anyway, one run-on sentence later and we have one hell of a story!

The Great Gatsby actually reminded me of Wuthering Heights, none of the characters were likeable and both focus on wealth and class (hell both Cathy and Daisy chose dollar signs over true love). Also, there is a confrontational scene between Tom/Daisy/Gatsby that parallels that of Linton/Cathy/Heathcliff (and did you notice that both of the homewreckers go by their surnames?) Anyway, the confrontation involves a "who loves who" which climaxes like a good orgasm.

F. Scott Fitzgerald writes with such clarity that it is easy to imagine yourself in that era, sipping champagne with the glitz and glam of bootlegging and wealth. An exhilarating read!

[jeannamichel]

Another book for school. I loved this one- it was beautiful.
The beginning put me to sleep, but it was one of those books that you just have to have time to get into before actually loving it. I really felt myself connecting with Nick, the main character. I wanted to know more about him. Mr. Gatsby was very unique and original. Daisy- her character had no depth. The imagery in most of the book was purely amazing. If you ever have any time- go watch the movie. It was truly fantastic.

[alindstadtcorbeax]

Honestly may be in the minority here, but I really wasn’t the biggest fan of this story at all. Classic, eh, whatever. lol. I didn’t like any of the characters, which may have been an angle there? I don’t know. but yeah; I think I had to read each page like TEN times just to get through it!

The only thing I adored about the Great Gatsby was the glitzy (19)20’s

[mary]

I admit that I read this in-between two incredible classics that this book just didn't shine as much as I hoped it would. However, after the sheer bluntness of Brave New World and the informality of Catch-22, it was nice to read something written in a more elaborate style. "Making him nibble at the edge of stale ideas" for example. Overall it was spare and simple which is nice to come across after some reads. I believe it reflects the spirit of that time period perfectly. This is a satisfactory read that I would recommend to everyone.

[ladygrey]

If I was inclined to really long shelf names this would be on the books-i-read-in-highschool-and-didn't-really-enjoy shelf.

I don't remember much except that I didn't care for this book much.