The Great Gatsby

Jul 31, 2007 svnh rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: noch-einmal

After six years of these heated and polarized debates, I'm deleting the reviews that sparked them. Thanks for sharing your frustrations, joys, and insights with me, goodreaders. Happy reading!

In love and good faith, always,
Savannah

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May 18, 2013 Nataliya rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: my-childhood-bookshelves, 2013-reads

Oh Gatsby, you old sport, you poor semi-delusionally hopeful dreamer with 'some heightened sensitivity to the promises of life', focusing your whole self and soul on that elusive money-colored green light - a dream that shatters just when you are *this* close to it.

Jay Gatsby, who dreamed a dream with the passion and courage few possess - and the tragedy was that it was a wrong dream colliding with reality that was even more wrong - and deadly.

Just like the Great Houdini - the association the...more

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May 17, 2013 Ian Graye rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fitzgerald, read-2013, reviews, reviews-5-stars

The True Value of Monopoly Money

Capitalism tends towards monopoly.

No capitalist welcomes a competitor or rival. Having attained wealth, the desire is to retain it, not to concede it; to increase it, not to share it.

A competitor is perceived as a threat, and will be treated like a virus invading an otherwise healthy, but vulnerable, body.

The Great American Dream

"The Great Gatsby" is often described as a paean to the Great American Dream.

This Dream supposedly sustains the average American. It of...more

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Oct 23, 2007 Gina rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: pans-labyrinth

Over drinks, I’ve observed—like so many smart alecks—that much of The Great Gatsby’s popularity relies heavily on its shortness. At a sparse 180 pages, Fitzgerald’s masterpiece could be argued to be the “Great American novella.” Gatsby, like so many other short classics, is easily readable, re-readable, and assessable to everyone from the attention-deficient young to mothers juggling a kid, a career, and a long-held desire to catch up on all those books “they should have read but haven’t gotten...more Over drinks, I’ve observed—like so many smart alecks—that much of The Great Gatsby’s popularity relies heavily on its shortness. At a sparse 180 pages, Fitzgerald’s masterpiece could be argued to be the “Great American novella.” Gatsby, like so many other short classics, is easily readable, re-readable, and assessable to everyone from the attention-deficient young to mothers juggling a kid, a career, and a long-held desire to catch up on all those books “they should have read but haven’t gotten around to yet”.

I’ve now read Gatsby three times, and I admit that on my first reading during (like handfuls of others) my senior year English class, I wasn’t particularly fond of the book; I believe I used the adjective “overrated” on numerous occasions. Daisy Buchanan seemed like a twit of a woman, and I found Jay Gatsby to be pathetically clawing in his attempt to attain her. Nick, my guide, only annoyed me further with his apparent hero-worshiping of a man I found one-dimensional and his adoration for the kind of woman I’ve seen other men purport to be goddesses, but in fact, are dim-witted simpletons with nice figures.

Over my two subsequent readings—pushed along by friends whose judgment I trusted and who swore the book was “so funny and ironic”—I discovered within Fitzgerald’s fable a sardonic social wit and a heavily layered critique of the American Dream: the poor, working (wo)man rising above his or her social situation to discover money conquers all.

Fitzgerald has a discerning ability for sharp critiques of the economically privileged and, like Jane Austin, has an ear for realistic, bantering dialogue. Through Nick’s narration, we see a world that so many Americans dream of (its enviableness only further accentuated by our open disdain for it): a life of endless parties, delicious food, beautiful clothes, and Paris Hilton. Nick who’s paradoxically drawn to his cousin, Daisy’s, and her husband, Tom’s, lifestyle with gloating contempt echoes the contemporary American idolization of an elite lifestyle that none but a select few attain.

We watch Daisy with her voice that “sounds of money” flit about with uncompromising shallowness and vivacious school-girl frivolity, and through her, see so many of the inconsequential remarks and actions others (as well as ourselves) have made for the sheer sake of “having a good time”. In spite of her frivolity and weak disposition, we become, like Gatsby, “overwhelmingly aware of the youth and mystery that wealth imprisons and preserves, of the freshness of many clothes, and of Daisy, gleaming like silver, safe and proud above the hot struggles of the poor.”

Through Gatsby’s veneration of Daisy, we not only imagine what so many Americans desire (success), but also we see the goal and glittering fixation of all humanity: beauty. And like many Americans in the throes of Capitalism, Gatsby believes that money can buy beauty as well as love. Fitzgerald articulates this disillusion with haunting force, particularly voiced through Nick’s obsessive repulsion with the extravagant society his social status has allowed him and the sadness he finds while watching a “working man” attempt to enter it.

One critique of The Great Gatsby, which could also be argued as a positive, is the limited scope of action and themes Fitzgerald chooses to encapsulate. We only see the wealthy elite (or people wanting to be the wealthy elite), and only Nick really has any depth of characterization. Unlike a tome, such as War and Peace, Gatsby fails to have numerous interwoven plotlines within a grand historical context. Yes, the Jazz Age is the novel’s backdrop, but Fitzgerald fails to engage in any discussion beyond a summer among the wealthy youth partying into the wee hours of the night in the West Egg. Yet, the control with which Fitzgerald expresses his limited themes makes the novel’s lack of scope forgivable.

Gatsby is short and easily accessible, and I have no doubt these aspects of the novel do lend to its everlasting popularity. At the same time, it should never diminish its truly admirable ability to tease apart some of the most confounding qualities American culture values: money, beauty, youth, hard work, and the ever effusive, love. (less)

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Jun 25, 2012 LooseLips rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: the people who live in upstate egg.

Shelves: hmmm, re-reading

The eh Gatsby

Classic. Yes. THE great American novel. Hmph, so I heard. I suppose it should make one more interested, or at least feel more compelled to read something (or re-read as is the case here) when it has "classic" and "everyone else loves it!" stamped all over it. And has a movie made out of it, though what beloved novel hasn't these days? Of course, I originally read FSF's Gatsby because I was expected to for a high school English class. So, even though I was never the type to do homewo...more The eh Gatsby

Classic. Yes. THE great American novel. Hmph, so I heard. I suppose it should make one more interested, or at least feel more compelled to read something (or re-read as is the case here) when it has "classic" and "everyone else loves it!" stamped all over it. And has a movie made out of it, though what beloved novel hasn't these days? Of course, I originally read FSF's Gatsby because I was expected to for a high school English class. So, even though I was never the type to do homework, I read The Great Gatsby because it had a neat cover, Fitzgerald is fun to say, and, of course, the legend of Zelda.

Unfortunately for Meredyth, my thoughts on Gatsby 10 years ago are pretty similar to the thoughts I have on it today: How pretty. Pretty decedant. How drippy. How zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

It's not that I was completely uninterested. It's that my interest was never piqued to the point of really giving a shit. Sure, who doesn't love a hot mysteriously wealthy man with serious heart ache for a serious material girl? What about those rich dudes who may be crooks but no one can figger out how crooked they are exactly because how crooked can you be if you throw such mean hoedowns?!

Oh, and I love a good morally ambiguous-protaganist/narrator-who-hates-parties-and-society-but-just-can't-seem-to-stay-away as much as the next person, but Nick, our hero, just wants to be liked so very much, and unfortunately, he reads like a sap. And when all the other characters are unforgivable bores, I would prefer that my ambiguous, socially mandated narrator manage to keep me awake.

What about those three stars? You ask. Well I can't lie. I do think Fitz had a way with words. I did find that those subtle nuances of the variations in lifestyle during the depression to be very much in effect, and I would be happy to visit any fictional small town called West Egg. Or East Egg for that matter. And I get the kind of crazy he was going for in his more psychopathic character, George Wilson, who, because he was in love, becomes the bastiOn of normalcy even when he is driven to murder and his own suicide.

FSF did manage to be believably compassionate towards his seemingly less insane characters, (who are all on the brink of insanity) (but still made me drowsy). There is definitely a part of me that sees how one could be drawn into the twinkly lit world FSF created, supposedly, out of his own reality, and I have noted his passion for the beauty of the unfolding story, such as it is.

But I was disappointed 10 years ago by the story's inability to convince me it wasn't nap time, its unwillingness to point out the the relevance of the individual over society, and the irrelevance of the world Gatsby inhabits, and I was disappointed again this past week.

In summation, be sure to keep an eye out for this writer. Once he writes something more appealing to the masses he's sure to bust out onto the scene soon. You heard it here first.(less)

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Mar 10, 2008 Alex rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Great Gatsby is your neighbor you're best friends with until you find out he's a drug dealer. It charms you with some of the most elegant English prose ever published, making it difficult to discuss the novel without the urge to stammer awestruck about its beauty. It would be evidence enough to argue that F. Scott Fitzgerald was superhuman, if it wasn't for the fact that we know he also wrote This Side of Paradise.

But despite its magic, the rhetoric is just that, and it is a cruel facade. Be...more

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May 24, 2013 Jonathan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: personal-favourites, classic-literature, 1001-books-to-read-before-you-die, classic-challenge-2, books-with-films-2, historical, popularity-contest-2

Why do I love The Great Gatsby?

A lot of people would likely agree with me when I say that F.Scott Fitzgerald's writing here leaves only a little to be desired. The characters themselves seem shallow and empty, lacking in morality and you could take all this into consideration and instantly go: 'well that's a shallow book if ever I've heard of one.' But in my eyes, The Great Gatsby is a scathing social commentary that explores the fruitlessness of pursuing dreams that in reality are nothing more...more

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May 09, 2013 Lou rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: adapted-to-screen, best-reads

Check out the new trailer for the forthcoming release of the Movie in 2013 @ http://more2read.com/review/the-great-gatsby-by-f-scott-fitzgerald/

Gatsby, Jay a millionaire who just throws his money around a tycoon of sorts bites off more than he can chew. Fitzgerald is trying to show us maybe how shallow these rich characters are how they play against each other and how their friendships are paper thin badgered by suspicions, envy and jealousy. Gatsby leads a lavish and hedonistic lifestyle. The...more

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May 25, 2010 Kemper rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: plain-old-fiction, 100, classic-lit, favorites

Jay Gatsby, you poor doomed bastard. You were ahead of your time. If you would have pulled your scam after the invention of reality TV, you would have been a huge star on a show like The Bachelor and a dozen shameless Daisy-types would have thrown themselves at you.

Mass media and modern fame would have embraced the way you tried to push your way into a social circle you didn’t belong to in an effort to fulfill a fool’s dream as your entire existence became a lie and you desperately sought to re...more

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May 16, 2013 Cecily rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, american-canadian

I don't know if my appreciation of this should be tempered by the fact I was about three quarters of the way through before I realised I'd read it before (though I think it was many years ago)!

PLOT
It is (mostly) set in Long Island in summer of 1922, amongst the young, idle, amoral rich, playing fast and loose with their own lives and indeed, those of others. All very glamorous, self-centred, and shallow, but the possibility of darker things lurking holds interest and tension.

CHARACTERS
Even if y...more

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Sep 27, 2011 Stephen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: easton-press, audiobook, classics-americas, literature, love-those-words, 1900-1929

Casual, self-absorbed decadence, the evaporation of social grace, money calling all the shots and memories of the past holding people hostage from the future that lies before them. Yes, Mr. Fitzgerald has nailed it and written one of THE great American novels.

This book was a surprise. I LOVED it and all of the deep contradictions swimming around its heart. At once a scathing indictment on the erosion of the American Dream, but also a bittersweet love letter to the unfailing optimism of the Ame...more

Casual, self-absorbed decadence, the evaporation of social grace, money calling all the shots and memories of the past holding people hostage from the future that lies before them. Yes, Mr. Fitzgerald has nailed it and written one of THE great American novels.

This book was a surprise. I LOVED it and all of the deep contradictions swimming around its heart. At once a scathing indictment on the erosion of the American Dream, but also a bittersweet love letter to the unfailing optimism of the American people. Call it dignified futility…obstinate hopefulness. Whatever you call it, this novel is shiny and gorgeous, written with a sort of breezy pretension that seems to mirror the loose morality of the story. Rarely have I come across a book whose style so perfectly enhances its subject matter.

Set in the eastern United States just after World War I, Fitzgerald shows us an America that has lost its moral compass. This fall from grace is demonstrated through the lives of a handful of cynical “well-to-dos” living lavish but meaningless lives that focus on nothing but the pursuit of their own pleasures and whims.

Standing apart from these happenings (while still being part of them) is our narrator, Nick Carraway. As the one honest and decent person in the story, Nick stands in stark contrast to the other characters. “Everyone suspects himself of at least one of the cardinal virtues, and this is mine: I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known.” Nick relays the story of the summer he spent in Long Island’s West Egg in a small house sandwiched between the much larger mansions of the area. His time in Long Island is spent with a group that includes his second cousin, Daisy Buchanan, and her rich husband Tom who live in Long Island’s East Egg. At one point in the story, Nick provides the following description of the pair which I do not think can be improved upon:

They were careless people, Tom and Daisy--they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.

In addition, we have Jordan Baker who is a poster child for the pretty, amoral, self-centered rich girl whose view of the world is jaded and unsentimental. Basically, she’s a bitch.

The most intriguing character by far is Jay Gatsby himself, both for who he is and for how Fitzgerald develops him through the course of the narrative. When we are first introduced to Gatsby, he comes across as a polite, gracious, well-mannered gentleman with a magnetic personality who our narrator takes to immediately.

He had one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life. It faced, or seemed to face, the whole external world for an instant and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor. It understood you just as far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself.

However, from that very first encounter, Fitzgerald slowly chips away at the persona and peels back the layers of the “Great” Gatsby until we are left with a flawed and deeply tragic figure that in my opinion ranks among the most memorable in all of classic literature. Nick’s journey in his relationship with Gatsby mirrors our own. “It is invariably saddening to look through new eyes at things upon which you have expended your own powers of adjustment.”

Through a series of parties, affairs, beatings, drunken escapades, the lives of the characters intermesh with terrible consequences. I don’t want to give away major parts of the story as I think they are best experienced for the first time fresh, but at the heart of Fitzgerald’s morality tale is a tragic love that for me rivaled the emotional devastation I felt at the doomed relationship of Heathcliff and Catherine in Wuthering Heights. In general, Fitzgerald’s world of excessive jubilance and debauchery is a mask that the characters wear to avoid the quiet torments that haunt them whenever they are forced to take stock of their actions. Rather than do this, they simply keep moving. "I felt a haunting loneliness sometimes, and felt it in others--young clerks in the dusk, wasting the most poignant moments of night and life."

In the end, Fitzgerald manages the amazing feat of creating a sad, bleak portrait of America while maintaining a sense of restrained optimism in the future. Both heart-wrenching and strangely comforting at the same time. I guess in the end, this was a book that made me feel a lot and that is all I can ever ask. I’m going to wrap this up with my second favorite quote from the book (my favorite being the one at the very beginning of the review):

And as I sat there, brooding on the old, unknown world, I thought of Gatsby's wonder when he first picked out Daisy's light at the end of his dock. He had come such a long way to this blue lawn, and his dream must have seemed so close he could hardly fail to grasp it. But what he did not know was that it was already behind him, somewhere in the vast obscurity beyond the city, where the dark fields of the republic rolled on under the night.

5.0 stars. HIGHEST POSSIBLE RECOMMENDATION!!

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Jul 31, 2010 Rolls rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Everybody and their mother

"The Great Gatsby" is considered by many to be the zenith of american fiction writing in the last century. I won't say that it is the best american novel I've read but I will say it is probably the most perfect.

Along with J.D. Salinger, Fitzgerald has got to be my favorite writer of fiction. As opposed to Hemingway's bluntness, and Faulkner's artiness, Fitzgerald's prose seems(to paraphrase Michael Chabon) to rain down from style heaven. His style in fact is like the ladies he writes about: cool...more "The Great Gatsby" is considered by many to be the zenith of american fiction writing in the last century. I won't say that it is the best american novel I've read but I will say it is probably the most perfect.

Along with J.D. Salinger, Fitzgerald has got to be my favorite writer of fiction. As opposed to Hemingway's bluntness, and Faulkner's artiness, Fitzgerald's prose seems(to paraphrase Michael Chabon) to rain down from style heaven. His style in fact is like the ladies he writes about: cool, lean and absolutely enchanting. He would never dream of overwriting and knows exactly when to hold back for maximum effect. His use of the language is assured and consequently eminently readable. For that alone this should be considered the Mona Lisa of prose.

What is astounding though is how he puts his sparsely elegant style to use giving his characters shade and depth. Fitzgerald is a true student of humanity and his skills of observation are razor sharp. He sums up his characters in sentences that read like aphorisms bulging with truth about the human condition. There's not a page goes by I'm not gasping at the depth of his vision and the economy he uses to express it.

So far I've dwelt on how he wrote and not on what he wrote. People who'd back another nag in the Great American Novel derby knock Fitzgerald's sophomoric (their word not mine) obsession with romance between men and women. They reduce his works to the level of melodramatic tear jerkers. This is a gross simplification of his talents. Yes "Gatsby" focuses on a doomed love affair but it does so to illustrate the errors in thinking that he felt marred his generation.

Gatsby is about the hollowness of the American dream as dreamt in the twenties. Fitzgerald looked around him (and in the mirror)and saw men and women locked in a frenzied and ultimatley doomed race for speed, money and sin. Gatsby and Daisy's love is doomed because their values have been distorted by money and comfort and opulence. They cannot see the depths because they are too easily distracted by shiny surfaces. When Daisy cries as Gatsby shows off his elegantly tailored shirts because she has never seen clothes so beautiful sums up perfectly how for her exteriors matter most. This is at the heart of the tragedy that unfolds before us in this delicious little novel.

There is no denying this is one of the GREAT BOOKS. If you haven't read it do so. I dare you to not fall in love with it.
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May 18, 2013 Henry Avila rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Jay Gatsby is a mysterious man, who gives extravagant parties on Long Island, New York.Outside his palatial mansion ,in the warm summer nights. That he doesn't know the people he invites. Not to mention the numerous gatecrashers, might make it a little strange! But this being the roaring 20's, anything goes.Rumors abound about Gatsby, bootlegger ? Who cares, as long as the free liquor ,great food and the beautiful music continues. Finally attending one of his gatherings and we discover that he's...more

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Aug 03, 2007 Jason rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: people who can read

Shelves: favorites

Most Americans are assigned to read this novel in high school. Few American high schoolers have the wherewithal to appreciate this novel in full. I certainly did not. It is on a shortlist of novels that should, every 5 years starting at age 25, return to any American's required reading list.

First things first: The opening of The Great Gatsby -- its first 3-4 pages -- ranks among the best of any novel in the English language, and so too does its ending. Both for their content and for their prose,...more Most Americans are assigned to read this novel in high school. Few American high schoolers have the wherewithal to appreciate this novel in full. I certainly did not. It is on a shortlist of novels that should, every 5 years starting at age 25, return to any American's required reading list.

First things first: The opening of The Great Gatsby -- its first 3-4 pages -- ranks among the best of any novel in the English language, and so too does its ending. Both for their content and for their prose, the latter of which is stunning and near perfect throughout the novel.

As for that between the novel's opening and conclusion, two things first. (1) History is fairly clear that the term "the American Dream" did not exist at the time Fitzgerald wrote The Great Gatsby, and regardless it almost certainly did not exist in the popular consciousness. (2) Few great American novelists after Fitzgerald have not attempted to write "the great American novel". Most of these efforts are absurdly long and often tortured. The Great Gatsby, on the other hand, is relatively short, fluid, and of seemingly effortless yet pristine expression. At a point in history where Fitzgerald's express focus could hardly have been a tale regarding "the American dream" per se or the writing of "the great American novel", Fitzgerald nevertheless crafts the definitive tale of "the American Dream", as well as, his successors' endeavors aside, "the great American novel". Period.

In not so many pages, Fitzgerald paints a brilliantly cogent picture of the potential pleasures, joys, and benefits an individual might deem achievable -- uniquely so -- in an America filled with possibilities. Paired with that picture, Fitzgerald besprinkles The Great Gatsby with the numerous pitfalls and evils that both stand as a barrier to what's imagined achievable in America, and threaten to accompany that which is achieved. Neither the quest for, nor (if possible) the achievement of, the American Dream is a thing untainted. Nor, in Fitzgerald's view, can it be.

Fitzgerald, frankly, writes all that need be written on this subject; whatever his successors' ambitions may be. And he writes it in prose so perfect, so impressive, and so beautiful, I occasionally find myself at a loss to name a novel in the English language constructed with greater skill, and apparent ease thereof.

In short: The Great Gatsby is an inimitable wonder of American fiction. And, for lack of a better word, an "application" of the English language that has few equals. The novel is astounding.
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Feb 08, 2010 Elizabeth rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: in-by-of-the-americas, reviewed

I saw this yesterday. I sat in a full theater in one of the most-self-importantly-intellectual capitals of the world and had it read to me for seven hours. It was an audience who would get off, in several ways, to say they had seen such a production. An audience that included Cornel West, and possibly less visibly famous intellectuals (there were a lot of very hairy men of an older generation in clothes of that aggressively inexpensive sort, all bought in the early eighties, all frayed miserably...more I saw this yesterday. I sat in a full theater in one of the most-self-importantly-intellectual capitals of the world and had it read to me for seven hours. It was an audience who would get off, in several ways, to say they had seen such a production. An audience that included Cornel West, and possibly less visibly famous intellectuals (there were a lot of very hairy men of an older generation in clothes of that aggressively inexpensive sort, all bought in the early eighties, all frayed miserably, all in shades of brown and green, at least). And I have to count myself among them (I can pick Cornel West out of a crowd after all) even if I don't like to admit anything of the sort - I'm not someone who talks about metafiction or deconstructs anything and I bolted when that guy tried to pick me up in Peets by telling me he was an author and his favorite playwright was Samuel Beckett.* But I'm in a theater to see The Great Gatsby, one of those books that gets called "the great American novel" without irony and we all had to read it in high school and, sitting there, in that theater that is growing warmer and warmer from all the hot air rising from the pre-production discussions, I had a moment of doubt. What if it isn't as good as I remember? (I remember it being the only novel I read in a high school class that I loved). What if it is overrated, pretentious drivel, with text that sounds like Hemingway educated at Princeton and platitudes about what we, as Americans, should think and feel, without the true realism of Steinbeck or the awareness of Ralph Ellison? What if it really should be regulated to high school classrooms where a good book is anything that can get through the obsessive self-involvement of the audience and the message is obvious enough that its light only has to shine through for a moment?

Then the play/reading started and I forgot all my worries. The moment Nick first held Daisy's hand and described her murmur as designed to get people to lean towards her, I was in love. I was in love the way we all are with Daisy at first. And then I was with Nick, on the outside, watching the parties, enjoying the cavalcade that surrounds him while he tries to maintain his middle-west propriety and rules of conduct, and we see him slipping, even if he doesn't. I flinched at the unthinking racism that dates the book. I watched as eyes rose over the ash heap and it shocked me again how much Tom reminds me of men I meet who really believe that Obama is ruining the country with his socialism and that we need to go back to a simpler time when they were less confused about their own place in the world (I'm not talking just about the ones on t.v. with tea bags stapled to their hats either). Tom is just as heart breaking as all the others. Tom, Wilson, Myrtle, Nick, Mr. Gatz, they all break my heart.

Having it read to you, you notice how many times Fitzgerald describes Jordon as "jaunty" and uses the word "wan." You can't help it. The flaws are there. But so is the power. When Nick says that this is a book about "the west" and describes the "green breast" of the land when it was first seen by the European settlers and asks us all to think about what it means to be an American, you can't help but think about it. It isn't a gimmick. It isn't meant as a joke or because the author felt he needed to ask to get published or to be considered an important writer. He was writing from his heart about what he loves and what he wants to understand and about the heartbreak of loss.

I walked home with my friend afterward and we talked about how his writing is akin to Heminway's in style, but that he was much more like Virginia Woolf with his sense of loss, the melancholy feeling that they both have, as they write looking back on events that they know will come to a tragic end. That "world-weariness" that represses any hope you might have when starting the book that things will work out well for anyone because, after all, we are human and therefore we will all die, one way or another. My friend, who is currently reading Mere Christianity talked about the difference between them and C.S. Lewis as the belief in Heaven. That Woolf and Fitzgerald don't believe in that better place to which we may all go, and to which we should all aspire. I was thinking about how much that sounded like something Mr. Gatz would have said (not the part about Woolf, or Lewis, about aspiring to Heaven, but don't tell her I said that).

I don't want to leave this page on that last discussion. This was not an intellectual exercise. Walking home in ten degree weather, bundling the scarf closer and turning up my collar and wondering exactly how stupid my refusal to wear hats is if I end up in the emergency room for frostbite on my ears, was as significant as the conversation. Having the conversation with this friend (she's actually the ex-girlfriend of one of my brothers) was significant. Her belief and my lack of. The streets we walked on, looking at the houses dating back and back (for us, US), a long time, and listening to the animated voices echoing off the dark houses in the clear night. The experience of the reading and thinking about what Fitzgerald was saying and bringing in the knowledge of other writers and their ideas and doing it all in Cambridge, of all places, was important, as important, as when I first read the book as a teenager and feel in love the first time.

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* This is a funny story. To get rid of him I told him mine was Tom Stoppard, which also happens to be true, and that I thought Shakespeare in Love was the best film ever made, which was a BIG lie. It was effective. No one should have to put up with Beckett fans while trying to have a cup of coffee.(less)

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Jan 31, 2013 Brandon rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013, classics, favorites, fiction

Yet high over the city our line of yellow windows must have contributed their share of human secrecy to the casual watcher in the darkening streets, and I was him too, looking up and wondering. I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life.

I thought long and hard about what I wanted to say in regards to The Great Gatsby. When I closed the book last night, I knew that it had reserved a spot in my top five favorite books of all time, I just di...more Yet high over the city our line of yellow windows must have contributed their share of human secrecy to the casual watcher in the darkening streets, and I was him too, looking up and wondering. I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life.

I thought long and hard about what I wanted to say in regards to The Great Gatsby. When I closed the book last night, I knew that it had reserved a spot in my top five favorite books of all time, I just didn't understand why.

When I compared it to what I consider to be my favorite book, The Stand, I couldn't put together a reason as to why it can stand on equal footing (no pun intended). The Stand is about 10 Gatsby's in length and is so thick with plot and sheer amount of characters that sticking it on the same proverbial shelf with such a smaller and much more simple book is mind boggling.

Sure, it has a massive amount of critical praise and is widely considering one of the greatest American novels of all time but why? On it's surface, the story about a charismatic and mysterious millionaire didn't appear to be anything original. It also didn't help that almost nothing happens within the first 50 pages. However, both of those points did nothing to explain why I couldn't put it down.

I thought about it for a while and decided that I'm simply going to have to blame Fitzgerald's writing. Anyone can write about parties, career choices and conversations over tea but to do it in a way that makes it hard to look away is wholly impressive. There were passages that I had to re-read and then re-re-read. The opener of this review may be one of my all time favorite quotes.

Then again, I could always blame his characters. Nick Carraway is an every man that you can easily identify with. As he explains the grandeur and majesty of Gatsby's parties, the caliber of guests it draws and the overall atmosphere of a post-war America; he does so in a way that leaves you longing to visit the era yet refusing to oversell it. How in the world can someone do that? It's not as easy as telling someone about how historic an event is and following it up with, "Yeah.. it was OK, I guess."

I could also throw blame in the direction of that scene in the Plaza Hotel. I'm not going to give anything away (and honestly, I don't think I could as I may be the last person to read this book) but the tension in that room was like nothing I've ever read. I almost couldn't deal with the awkward vibe that Fitzgerald projected here, especially when you consider the headstrong self-righteousness that Gatsby bases his whole existence on.

Look, this is a great book and certainly a classic. I doubt I brought anything new to the table here with my thoughts but I think if you ever have any reservations about reading this, you should toss them right out the window. I have been consistently prodded to read this book over the last year and for whatever reason, it constantly moved down on my to-read list. What an error on my part!

Side Note: I'm really looking forward to Baz Luhrman's film version. I have some serious reservations about Tobey Maguire playing Nick Carraway but the rest of the cast looks solid.

Review is cross posted at Every Read Thing(less)

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May 20, 2013 Huda Yahya rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: novels_novellas, the-american-dream, college-books

وأرى الآن إعلاناً رائعاً لفيلم يقوم ببطولته ليوناردو ديكابريو
ولأول مرة أجد لمحات من السحر الذي عشته في هذه الرواية
لذا أنا شديدة الشوق لمشاهدته

ترتبط هذه الرواية في ذهني بذكريات جميلة ودافئة
فلقد درستها في عامي الأول في الكلية
وكنت أقرؤها بلذة خالصة لن يعرفها من يقوم بقرائتها مترجمة

لا أجد رواية تقوم بتجسيد الحلم الأمريكي كهذه الرواية
وعليك أن تقارن فكرة الحلم الأمريكي في بدايتها بفكرة الحلم الإنساني ككل
هذا الشبق العظيم للوصول إلى القمة
الحصول على كل شيء
النجاح العظيم
والحرية المطلقة

فكرة الحلم الأمريكي ت...more وأرى الآن إعلاناً رائعاً لفيلم يقوم ببطولته ليوناردو ديكابريو
ولأول مرة أجد لمحات من السحر الذي عشته في هذه الرواية
لذا أنا شديدة الشوق لمشاهدته

ترتبط هذه الرواية في ذهني بذكريات جميلة ودافئة
فلقد درستها في عامي الأول في الكلية
وكنت أقرؤها بلذة خالصة لن يعرفها من يقوم بقرائتها مترجمة

لا أجد رواية تقوم بتجسيد الحلم الأمريكي كهذه الرواية
وعليك أن تقارن فكرة الحلم الأمريكي في بدايتها بفكرة الحلم الإنساني ككل
هذا الشبق العظيم للوصول إلى القمة
الحصول على كل شيء
النجاح العظيم
والحرية المطلقة

فكرة الحلم الأمريكي ترجع جذورها إلى البدايات
لحظة توقيع إعلان الاستقلال
والذي يجعل الرجال جميعهم متساوين في الحقوق
حيث خلقوا جميعاً من ربّ واحد بحقوق مستحقة
لاحظ هنا أن توماس جيفريسون ذكر
All men are created equal
وإن كانت لفظة men
تعني الإنسان في وقت ما إنما استخدام اللفظة عامة جعلها تحتكر الحرية على الذكور
فمازالت المرأة وقتها تعامل على أنها مواطن من الدرجة الثانية
وربما إلى الآن

يرسم فيتزجيرالد أبطاله بعناية
يدقق في تفاصيلاتهم الخاصة
يأخذك في دواخلهم ويداعب ملامحهم بلغته الماكرة الممتعة

~~**~~
ابتسم بتفهّم
بأكثر من مجرّد تفهم
وكانت واحدة من تلك الابتسامات النادرة التي تحمل صبغة طمأنينة أبدية فيها
والتي قد تأتي عبر أربع أو خمس مرات في الحياة
لقد واجهت
أو بدى أنها واجهت
العالم بأكمله في لحظة
ومن ثم ركزت على روحك بمحاباة لا تقاوم في صالحك
لقد تفهّمتكْ قدر ما تريد أنت أن تكون مفهوماً
آمنت بك بالقدر الذي تريد أنت به الإيمان بذاتك
و طمأنتك بأنها تأخذ نفس الانطباع الذي قد تودّ إعطاءه عن نفسك في أقصى طموحاتك
~~**~~

كانت طريقة الكاتب في الوصف هي الآسرة هُنا
فالقصّة ذاتها إن تجرّدت من سردها القيّم ستبقى عادية جداً
وتافهة لدى البعض
رجل فقير يحاول قدر ما يحاول إثراء ذاته للوصول إلى قلب المرأة التي أحبها
والتي تتصف بانتهازية ووقاحة وأنانية تجعلك تود سحقها احياناً

القصة لن تتفهمها جيداً إلا إذا كنت مهتماً ببدايات الحلم الأمريكي
وبدراسة تلك الفترة من عمر أمريكا القصير
فالرواية تدور في عصر الجاز
وتلقي الضوء على أوقات قريبة من بداية الكساد الكبير
و في وقت كان الإتجار بالخمور ممنوعاً
والذي انتشر فيه بيع وشراء الخمر بنهم كبير في السوق السوداء

تنقل الرواية المشاعر الإنسانية في أوجها
تجدها متجسدة في الحروف تكاد تنطق
بطريقة شديدة الخصوصية وبمهارة أدبية عظيمة

القصة أكثر من مجرد شباب وفتيات يعيشون المتعة واللهو
فهي تصور حيرة جيل مجنون بأكمله
يعاني الاغتراب والملل والجهل
يحاول الوصول إلى فكرة مستحيلة
إلى ثراء ومجد وحرية
حتى يتساقطوا واحداً تلو الآخر من التعب وخيبة الأمل
فكل واحد فيهم أراه قد مات في نهاية الرواية بطريقة أو بأخرى
بحيث لم يبقى ممن قد بقى سوى أشباح لم تعد قادرة حتى على التفاهات اليومية التي يغرقون أنفسهم بها

هناك أكثر من فيلم شاهدته عن الرواية
ولم يعجبني أي منهم
ولكنني أنتظر الفيلم الجديد
وأشعر أنه سيكون مختلفاً
وممتعاً

متعة الرواية تقل كثيراً في الترجمة
فالرواية الأمريكية تحتاج لقراءتها كما كتبت وبنفس الروح
و لقد تمتعت بدراستها ،وحصلت على تقدير جيد جدا سنتها
:D
ولذا تبقى في ذهني مرتبطة ببعض قطرات من سعادة
وبأوقات حلوة لا تُنسى(less)

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May 11, 2013 Noce rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classici, narrativa-americana

Quando ho letto per la prima volta questo libro, ero al liceo.
Mi ricordo che mi era piaciuto tantissimo e che mi aveva lasciato una gran malinconia. Ma all'epoca non avrei saputo dire qual era l'origine di tanta malinconia.

In effetti non potevo saperlo. Per il semplice fatto che ero troppo giovane, e ancora non avevo alle spalle un passato significativo. Non potevo dunque immaginare che chiunque superata una certa età vorrebbe rispecchiarsi nelle proprie illusioni, oppure allargare tanto le bra...more Quando ho letto per la prima volta questo libro, ero al liceo.
Mi ricordo che mi era piaciuto tantissimo e che mi aveva lasciato una gran malinconia. Ma all'epoca non avrei saputo dire qual era l'origine di tanta malinconia.

In effetti non potevo saperlo. Per il semplice fatto che ero troppo giovane, e ancora non avevo alle spalle un passato significativo. Non potevo dunque immaginare che chiunque superata una certa età vorrebbe rispecchiarsi nelle proprie illusioni, oppure allargare tanto le braccia da poter abbracciare il futuro e farne una leva per ritornare verso il passato. Per riavere certe occasioni intatte, pure e piene di possibilità come se fossero ancora da scartare.

Gatsby è un grande. Perché in questa ricerca del tempo perduto ci ha creduto febbrilmente. Non importa che il sogno irraggiungibile fosse una donna che non aveva mai potuto avere. Alla fine impariamo così tanto a voler bene a un uomo che ha fatto della sua vita una farsa nel nome di un ideale, che il suo cammino nel suo personale "Sunset Boulevard", per quanto tragico sia, ci trova partecipi, solidali e commossi come il narratore. Ed è solo perché Gatsby potremmo esserlo tutti, ma forse non così terribilmente grandi nella perseveranza di volere a tutti i costi che i nostri sogni più improbabili si realizzino.

Volete una prova del fatto che è un libro che alla fine ci riguarda tutti? Ve la do volentieri.

Da adolescente ci avevo azzeccato su una cosa. Magari mi sfuggiva la lezione di vita ma in quanto a sensazioni, quelle non sono cambiate. Mi ricordo perfettamente che leggendo il libro mi veniva sempre in mente una canzone della Vanoni che a un certo punto fa così:

"Ecco
la musica è finita
gli amici se ne vanno
e tu mi lasci sola più di prima
un minuto è lungo da morire.... "

Anche adesso rileggendolo mi viene sempre in mente quel motivetto là.
Chi non ha mai provato questa sensazione alla fine di una festa? Bene, allora dovete leggere "Il grande Gatsby" perché è il racconto di quell'esatto istante in cui la musica finisce e noi ci ritroviamo seduti su una sedia o sui gradini delle scale, a fare un resoconto che va ben oltre la serata sconfinando nei nostri sogni di una vita.(less)

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Oct 11, 2010 Mariel rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: D'angelo Barksdale

Recommended to Mariel by: my mom

I thought about Daisy's little daughter a lot after finishing The Great Gatsby. I felt sorrier for her than I ever did for Jay Gatsby, in terms of winning or losing Daisy's love. They leave the little thing alone while they jettisoned to those fancy parties and trips... That made me feel really sad. (No, I don't blame Daisy for what Gatsby saw in her. It could only be the hard way because she was the physical representation of all his desires, for everything good and bad in life. No one can stan...more

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May 06, 2013 Kaethe rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: challenged

The rich are different from you and me: they behave horribly.

***

2013 May 6

With the movie upcoming my daughter had asked about it. I said, sure, it's a classic, many people think it's the best book they've ever read. I just don't enjoy tragedy much anymore. She ordered herself a copy with her gift certificate from the Easter Bunny. I recommended the short stories, instead.

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Jul 22, 2008 Martine rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: early-twentieth-century, film, modern-fiction, north-american

Like many people, I first read The Great Gatsby when I was too young to understand it. I appreciated the beauty of Fitzgerald's prose and his gift for describing scenes, but disliked quite a few of his characters and couldn't fathom why they inspired in each other the degree of devotion and obsession that they seemed to do. I also found the narrator a bit dull and the ending a huge let-down. In short, I was convinced Fitzgerald was a good writer (I actually went on to check out some of his short...more Like many people, I first read The Great Gatsby when I was too young to understand it. I appreciated the beauty of Fitzgerald's prose and his gift for describing scenes, but disliked quite a few of his characters and couldn't fathom why they inspired in each other the degree of devotion and obsession that they seemed to do. I also found the narrator a bit dull and the ending a huge let-down. In short, I was convinced Fitzgerald was a good writer (I actually went on to check out some of his short stories immediately afterwards), but couldn't see what all the Gatsby fuss was about.

I think I can see it now, having reread the book a couple of times since then. Yes, it's a novel about the American Dream -- a rags-to-riches story about a poor man who re-invents himself as a mysterious millionaire in hopes of winning the heart of the beautiful rich girl he has fancied ever since they were young. But it's also about the shallowness of that dream, and about the corruption inherent in it -- about the lengths to which people will go for success and acceptance, not necessarily in an admirable way. It's about the gap between dreams and reality, between reality and perception, and about how modern, status-obsessed America is increasingly on the perception side of the gap. It's an indictment of materialism, of the thin veneer of wealth which hides the moral decay underneath. And last but not least, it's a story about what makes us who we are. About how we are shaped by our pasts and backgrounds, and how, no matter how far we run and how hard we try to re-invent ourselves, we are what we are, what we always were. It's a depressing message for the would-be self-improvers among us, but a true one, I think.

Of course, the book also works on a shallower level. The Gatsby-Daisy romance is fascinating, even if both of its protagonists ultimately turn out to be rather vapid and deluded. And Gatsby's dream is nothing if not powerful. If it ends up failing, that's because it was based on wrong assumptions -- assumptions arising from ignorance and greed as well as hope. There's a lot of greed and ignorance in the book, and it makes for memorable (albeit heavily flawed) characters. (I actually believe Jordan Baker is the most interesting character in the book. I'd have loved to see a bit more of her, although I guess it's precisely her elusiveness which makes her so fascinating.) For his part, old-fashioned Nick proves to be an excellent narrator, whose 'provincial squeamishness' adds just the right kind of perspective to all the modern goings-on described in the book. Nick may be unspectacular and unreliable, but to my mind, he's one of the best narrators in the history of modern fiction. Now that I've learnt to appreciate the novel, his disappointment and disillusionment will stay with me for ever, as will his sad resignation. (If, in fact, that is what it is. One never knows with this endlessly subtle novel.)(less)

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May 10, 2013 Paul rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: novels

This is an all right-ish kind of novel, I suppose, but I always preferred Fitzgerald’s little-known prequel The Average Gatsby, although some people found the vision of Mervyn Gatsby, Jay’s obscure brother, living a reasonably okayish life as the manager of a carpet and upholstery warehouse in Des Moines a trifle dispiriting. I quite agree that The Bad Gatsby was a shameless self-ripoff which did Fitzgerald no favours. (The threesome scene between Warren Harding, John Dillinger and Gatsby was in...more

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Oct 26, 2011 Bonnie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Bonnie by: 1001 Books to Read Before You Die and BBC Book List

Shelves: classics, audiobooks, 1001, bbc-said-so, banned-books, literary-fiction

Interested in more of my reviews? Visit my blog!

One of the great classics of the 20th century... well, a statement like that will definitely get anyone interested in reading it. Many of you read this in school, but naturally I missed out on this one as well. This one is not only on the BBC Book List but the 1001 books to read before you die.

’For a moment the last sunshine fell with romantic affection upon her glowing face; her voice compelled me forward breathlessly as I listened – then the glow...more

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May 05, 2013 Gary rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Great Gatsby.....what makes it great?? You ask?

Spoilers involved here.....Fair warning.....

I believe it's great because the story is told from a different character's perspective of Gatsby,and Daisy,and all the other characters...Nick is the narrator....and what a great narrator he is....I think the book wouldn't have been nearly as effective, if Jay himself, told the story, or Daisy, or Tom, or even Jordan....Nick had a completely unbias opinion,and perspective that the other characters wou...more

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Mar 10, 2008 Lisa rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Anyone!

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I first read the Great Gatsby when I was sixteen. Gatsby’s relentless pursuit of unrequited love was enough to set my adolescent pulse racing and send me to the library with the grand ambition of reading everything Fitzgerald ever wrote. A decade later I am even more awed by the book than I was the first time I followed Gatsby’s story through the breathless pages of Fitzgerald’s modernist American classic.
The story takes place over the course of one summer, not coincidentally beginning just bef...more I first read the Great Gatsby when I was sixteen. Gatsby’s relentless pursuit of unrequited love was enough to set my adolescent pulse racing and send me to the library with the grand ambition of reading everything Fitzgerald ever wrote. A decade later I am even more awed by the book than I was the first time I followed Gatsby’s story through the breathless pages of Fitzgerald’s modernist American classic.
The story takes place over the course of one summer, not coincidentally beginning just before Independence Day. The narrator, Nick, moves to a peninsula out side of the city called West Egg which looks straight across to its physical double, East Egg. Despite the outward similarity of these two locations, the inhabitants of East Egg are from old money while the prosperity of the citizens of West Egg is due to much more recently acquired wealth. The towns are therefore described as, in actuality, bearing a “bizarre and not a little sinister contrast” to one another. This juxtaposition sets up a narrative of the push and pull of opposites: east versus west, new versus old, truth versus illusion.
The two worlds of West Egg and East Egg are brought onto a collision course through Nick who rents the house next door to James Gatsby’s enormous mansion and who happens to be the cousin of Gatsby’s love interest, Daisy, and friend to Daisy’s old moneyed, old fashioned husband, Tom Buchanan. As the summer unfolds, it becomes clear that none of the characters are whom they appear to be, Gatsby is not from a rich family nor is he an alumni of Oxford, as a matter of fact, when he first met and fell in love with Daisy he had almost no money at all. Tom is an outspoken proponent of the traditional family structure while he simultaneously carries on an affair, and Daisy is neither quite as brave nor quite as independent as she would like the world to believe. Even Jordan Baker, Daisy’s friend who has an affair with Nick that summer, is a professional golfer who has been accused of cheating and is described by Nick as “incurably dishonest.” Each character can also be understood to stand for a different arch type within American society, Tom is the wealthy patrician, carrying in his blood and his bearing decades of privilege and position, yet he has recently begun to read pseudo-science books about the impending fall of civilization. In other words, that civilization which has been shaped and protected by men in Tom’s social class is in jeopardy. Daisy is a modern woman, witty and provocative, she has even had sex before her wedding night, but when she announces to Nick that she is sophisticated he feels “the basic sincerity of what she has said.” Flappers of the twenties may have looked and behaved unconventionally, but when it came right down to it, most of them married men liked Tom who could provide them with material security. Jordan is more the truly modern woman, a professional who mostly takes care of herself, but she has achieved this position through various acts of dishonesty. Gatsby, of course, is the self made man, the challenge to the established order of society. It is not Gatsby’s existence that threatens the world of East Egg, America has always boasted of self-made men, it is the fact that he has suddenly come so close. He is just across the bay and his mansion, while gaudy and tasteless, is nevertheless every bit as big as Tom’s. Gatsby is finally in a position to make a claim on Daisy’s love, and therefore on Tom’s social superiority. He is so close to fulfilling the American dream he can almost reach right out and touch it.
Like Fitzgerald himself, Gatsby pursues his dream through the vehicle of fiction. Gatsby invents a new persona for himself in order to enter Daisy’s world; Fitzgerald created windows into the lives of the rich and glamorous and through these stories, became a figure of fame and fortune himself. In the end, Gatsby does not succeed in winning Daisy, but it isn’t really about her, it’s about his dream, his belief in limitless possibilities, that quality of bravery and ingenuity that has come to be known as the American dream. “The orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter—tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther...And one fine morning--"(less)

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Oct 28, 2009 Pollopicu rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is my least-favorite classic of all time. Probably even my least favorite book, ever.
I didn't have the faintest iota of interest in neither era nor lifestyle of the people in this novela. So why did I read it to begin with? well, because I wanted to give it a chance. I've been surprised by many books, many a times. Thought this could open a new literary door for me.
Most of the novel was incomprehensibly lame. I was never fully introduced to the root of the affair that existed between Gatsb...more

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view all 20 comments

Pollopicu Can't say I really respect the opinion of those who hide behind their profiles.. Especially those who obviously aren't educated enough to appreciate t...more
updated May 20, 2013 01:52pm

Georg I like to discuss books but I often wonder why so many discussions between readers are more emotional and heated than those between Arsenal and Manche...more
May 21, 2013 06:40am

Nov 29, 2011 Annalisa rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, movies, literary, favorites

The book starts off a little slow and I wasn't quite sure what direction it was taking, but by the end I'm left with such a melancholy feeling I wanted to devour it again the minute I closed it. Yes, it has it's place as an American classic.

I could feel the desperation of the American Dream in this short novel. Poor Gatsby, who dedicated his life to being good enough for a shallow girl with a magical voice when old money would never accept cheap money. His parties were so needy it was depressing...more The book starts off a little slow and I wasn't quite sure what direction it was taking, but by the end I'm left with such a melancholy feeling I wanted to devour it again the minute I closed it. Yes, it has it's place as an American classic.

I could feel the desperation of the American Dream in this short novel. Poor Gatsby, who dedicated his life to being good enough for a shallow girl with a magical voice when old money would never accept cheap money. His parties were so needy it was depressing. I could visualize all those moochers who feed off his wealth for a good time when they were never there to accept him and even gossiped about him in his own home. Although Fitzgerald couldn't have known at the time how the opulence of the twenties would crash into the Depression of the thirties, I could feel a warning in his display of the overindulgence, the inability to see past oneself, the complete lack of moral and social consequence. If only we could learn from the past.

Not a single character in this book is likable, except for maybe Nick--who was too inactive to be too likable but I still liked his counterbalance to the overindulgence and his reality check on the American Dream--and Jordan who isn't so much likable as much as interesting. But all the characters are strong and quirky and classic. I particularly hated Tom. I was so angered with him at his last meeting with Nick that I wanted to strangle him. I wanted to see some fear or regret in him, but he couldn't see past his own nose. He couldn't see that the pain he felt was the same pain he caused. So shallow and self-involved it was almost sad. He and Daisy deserved each other.

Daisy was never worth the pedestal Gatsby put her on. Since I read this in high school, I've always pictured Daisy Buchanan when I think about unrequitted love, especially love that has warped over time to be something bigger than it originally was, something unattainable and unrealistic. I hated the way Daisy used up Gatsby and then spit him out when he wasn't worth anything to her anymore. And I hated that Gatsby let her, that he put her on that pedestal and spend five years trying to be something for her instead of for himself or his family or something other than greed and childish love. Gatsby is such a great tragic character, not only because of what happens to him, but because he is so naive about the wealth and people around him. It's what makes Fitzgerald's irony and satire of the American Dream so desperate.

I loved the New York Fitzgerald paints and his scarce analogy, leaving us the reader to define the novel. I loved this book in high school so much I read an anthology of F. Scott Fitzgerald's short stories (my favorite of which is Bernice Bobs Her Hair and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button). Along with Catcher in the Rye, I consider The Great Gatsby to be the Quintessential American novel and F. Scott Fitzgerald one of my favorite authors.

Reread 11/21-11/28/11(less)

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May 06, 2013 Blair rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, read-on-kindle, favourites

I rarely read classics these days, always feel I should be reading more, and always approach them with a certain amount of trepidation: will I enjoy them? Will I 'get' them? Does it mean I'm stupid, or just plain wrong, if I don't? These concerns evaporated as soon as I started reading The Great Gatsby: it's so seductive and atmospheric that I was instantly swept away and didn't want to put it aside or stop thinking about it. A luminous and haunting story with memorable characters, elegant prose...more

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Jun 02, 2012 Luana rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Titolo: Il Grande Gastby
Sottotitolo: Quando uno scrittore sa scrivere anche gli aspetti più ordinari della vita, scritti da lui, assumono il carattere della più completa fascinazione

Leggo 'Il grande Gastby' a 20 anni, Fitzgerald l'ha scritto a 29, in pratica io e l'autore abbiamo solo 9 anni di differenza, eppure in questo quasi trentenne c'è una consapevolezza della vita, una riflessione così fondamentale che me lo rende ancora più distante, che mi atterrisce e allo stesso tempo mi magnific...more Titolo: Il Grande Gastby
Sottotitolo: Quando uno scrittore sa scrivere anche gli aspetti più ordinari della vita, scritti da lui, assumono il carattere della più completa fascinazione

Leggo 'Il grande Gastby' a 20 anni, Fitzgerald l'ha scritto a 29, in pratica io e l'autore abbiamo solo 9 anni di differenza, eppure in questo quasi trentenne c'è una consapevolezza della vita, una riflessione così fondamentale che me lo rende ancora più distante, che mi atterrisce e allo stesso tempo mi magnifica. Fitzgerald è uno di quegli autori a cui è stato fatto dono, o che si sono conquistati - mi piace di più pensarla così - la capacità di rendere stra-ordinario ciò che è banalmente ordinario. Di arrivisti, di ricchi, di spregiudicati, di opportunismo ed ipocrisia non si sentiva parlare sono negli Anni Ruggenti, se ne sente parlare, li si può quasi toccare anche oggi, nel 2011, in Italia, lontani dall'America per terra e tempo. Eppure, attraverso il prisma Fitzgerald si leggono nuove prospettive, si sente il senso tragico di vivere una vita ad un gradino più su di quella che ci si può permettere. Le feste, la gente, la paura del silenzio, il senso opprimente del vuoto che si traduce in continuo bisogno di pieno, pieno e strapieno che cercano di colmare una vita di povertà, una vita in continua scalata in cui non basta impugnare una Montblanc per scrivere un nome diverso da quello vero che il destino ha affibbiato. La forza pungente di un amore per bene che trafigge un ragazzino 'per male', povero e malvestito e che conduce il per male a trasferirsi nel mondo del per bene senza nemmeno sapere se davvero, la nuova vita tanto anelata, ha lo stesso gusto delle case dei ricchi o se invece ha il sapore della solitudine e del grigio di New York. I pregiudizi e le radici, i due mostri sacri dai quali non si può sfuggire nemmeno quando si vive nella più totale sventatezza e nemmeno se si indossa una camicia di seta invece che gli abiti rozzi del contadino; il marito che tradisce non vuol essere un marito tradito, una donna frivola arriverà al 'punto di' ma non si muoverà verso l'oltre, mai, sopratutto se i soldi le han fatto da compagni di vita, quella donna preferirà i soldi all'amore. E poi Gatsby...
Pochi sono gli scrittori che ci hanno restituito attraverso silenzi, confessioni late, frammenti di verità ritratti così belli di un personaggio così intenso che mosso dall'amore arriva ai soldi e che dai soldi viene tradito perché i soldi non comprano le persone, sopratutto quelle che già li hanno.
Nick Carraway, il narratore, che alla fine di questo episodio ha capito che è meglio tenersi le proprie radici che andare a scavare in una terra fertile all'apparenza, ma arida sino al midollo, che ha capito che Jordan Baker appartiene a quel mondo di cui lui non riesce e non vuole divenire facente parte, unico personaggio che si salva dalla frenesia del Jazz e dalla corsa all'opulenza.
Un ritratto dell'America come un ritratto dell'umanità all'insegna della capacità di uno scrittore che sa inserire la parola 'pane' in una frase d'amore e farne comunque la frase d'amore più romantica mai scritta.
A Tom e Daisy, che si preservino nei loro pregiudizi, nelle loro finte infelicità, io mi getto anima e cuore a seguire l'insegnamento che Nick, vero amico e vera persona, mi ha dato.(less)

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Mar 10, 2008 Peter added it · review of another edition

The Great Gatsby is the story of a presidential primary.

—I’m sorry; my notes must be confused here. Ah yes. Let me begin again:

The Great Gatsby is the story of the emptiness of the American Dream. Set in and around New York City in the 1920’s, Gatsby explores the lives of the rich as they pursue fulfillment in an era of booming stock markets, prohibition, bustling crime bosses, and jazz.

Three figures dominate a cast of smaller, if no less compelling, characters, and the novel is narrated by the...more

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