From the Bookshelf of Should have read classics…

The Great Gatsby

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Start date: February 1, 2014

Finish date: February 28, 2014

Discussion: Group Book Discussions

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What Members Thought

May 04, 2013 Melissa rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013-reads

This isn't the first time I have read The Great Gatsby, but it has been awhile. It's pretty much required reading in lots of high school lit classes. I admit, this time around I was re-reading it in preparation for the upcoming movie. After reading I can totally see how a director like Baz Luhrmann would be perfect for a story like this. This is a story that just oozes with atmosphere. F. Scott Fitzgerald is a master crafter of words. The back jacket of my copy explains that he produces "breatht This isn't the first time I have read The Great Gatsby, but it has been awhile. It's pretty much required reading in lots of high school lit classes. I admit, this time around I was re-reading it in preparation for the upcoming movie. After reading I can totally see how a director like Baz Luhrmann would be perfect for a story like this. This is a story that just oozes with atmosphere. F. Scott Fitzgerald is a master crafter of words. The back jacket of my copy explains that he produces "breathtaking lyricism." I agree wholeheartedly. The writing in this short novel is absolutely beautiful. It seeps from the pages in a slow, lingering manner that pulls the reader out of the world we are in and into New York of the 1920s. I really, really loved the way that this story was crafted.

Here's the short story of what this story is:

Daisy is married to Tom.
Tom is having an affair with Myrtle Wilson. Everybody knows. Except for Myrtle's husband (maybe).
Gatsby is in love with Daisy.
Daisy is in love with Gatsby ... and Tom (sort of).
Things are going to end badly for lots of people here.

That's the basic story. It sounds like a soap opera, doesn't it? Well, in reality this is a story that makes the roaring 20s come alive. It was a time where the rich grew richer, often without thinking of the consequences of any of their actions. It was a time where people enjoyed life to its fullest ... while living in misery at the same time. Appearances mattered, and Gatsby was a master at creating the reality that he believed the people around him wanted to see. The whole story of his life is such a terrible American tragedy. What could have been the story of a self-made man who pulled himself out of poverty into a world of excess and wonder became the story of a man who was torn apart by a reality that he created in his own mind. His obsession with Daisy was so, so sad. Every decision he made in his recent past was made because of this vision of her that he had created in his head. In reality? She was selfish. Horribly, horribly selfish. In my opinion Daisy and Tom were the true villains of this story. They took what they wanted from life and never stood up to accept responsibility for any of their actions. I didn't like this pair at all. I wish that I could say that they got their just rewards at the end. Sadly ... not so much.

I can see why this is an American classic. It has an almost magical quality to the writing. It doesn't flow as quickly as many of the modern stories that readers gobble up like candy. It takes a bit of time to set up the story. But once the characters have been established and the atmosphere has been set up, the story flows very quickly. It did leave me with a lot to ponder as I finished. The parallels to the world today are almost frightening in some ways. I love a book that makes me think deeply about greater themes in life. Four stars! ...more

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Jul 22, 2012 Maria rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, american-literature, 2015, karinas-reading-challenge, classics, owned, 5-stars, bbc-big-read-top-100, bbc-big-read-200

For long I had heard the name of the book as well as the author but had never really known what it was before. One day it was calling out to me at an antique bookshop. I was surprised how short is was.
From the moment i dove into this book it consumed me. I loved every bit of it. My only complaint is that it ended.

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Mar 13, 2012 Stephanie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, beautifully-written, classics

I'm kind of disappointed in my fifteen-year-old self for not having been able to recognize how exquisitely written this book is. Fitzgerald was an artist; he set out to write something beautiful and he absolutely did. I don't remember appreciating the tragic love story or the poetic writing, and i was so into those things at the time that i think i must've actually skimmed the book the first time through. That's the only explanation for how little of an impression it made on me when i first enco ...more

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