What's so great about The Great Gatsby?

[C.J.]

I'm in the same boat. I've read the book at least three separate times. The first was in school, and let's be honest, who actually enjoys what they're forced to read in school? But I read it twice as an adult, about ten years apart from each other. I still couldn't get into it. I don't know what it is, but it is certainly not anywhere near the top of my "must-read" list. I've never understood the hype and infatuation with this book.

[Jid]

I agree it’s pretty shit - I had someone I respect tell it was one a handful he’d read

[Anoushka]

hi there! i read the great gatsby a couple years ago, and I personally loved it. I never read it for school, maybe i would not have liked it as much if i had, haha. for me, what makes the great gatsby so great is the way it discusses the concept of the american dream, and how it does so through intensely personal interactions and discussions. it's a story about jay gatsby, sure, but it's also fundamentally a story about the nature of the american elite, and how our society ignores concentration of wealth, and the suffering that comes with it–– things i would argue have a lot of relevance today. i also really love fitzgerald's language and use of color symbolism, but that's just a personal choice. i understand that gatsby may not be for everyone––there are plenty of books out there that are just as insightful, if not more, so i would agree that perhaps it is a little over-discussed.

[Aahana]

great gatsby is a spectacular novel. it is truly a great American novel. what is most amazing about it is its language and the feel that it creates. love it.

[Adziah]

The Great Gatsby, I love the words;
"No. You were there all along... In every idea, in every decision." 😊

[Tom]

I think it's a great novel, if a bit slow in the beginning. It captured the time perfectly and is a great account of the failure of the American dream.

[Leta ☾]

C.J. wrote: "I'm in the same boat. I've read the book at least three separate times. The first was in school, and let's be honest, who actually enjoys what they're forced to read in school? But I read it twice ..."
Same

[Sophia]

Here is what is so great about Gatsby... economy of language. The author condenses 1 memorable summer and a carload of characters in approximately 130 pages. Every sentence counts. It was never a success in Fitzgerald's life time... only after. As an author, I aspire to the same poetry and style.... writing done well.

[Diana]

Apart from the symbolism and the great description of the Jazz Age and the American dream (or better said, the impossibility to achieve it without being corrupt in some way), I consider this book very important because of the way how the human character is presented. There are interesting characters who are not very likable and sometimes they even do questionable things. It shows us how we as people behave sometimes. We are selfish, we are judgmental even though we say we aren't. I think this is the true essence of the work and the reason why it is so timeless and relevant today even though it is set in a particular part of American history.

[Asreal]

Diana wrote: "Apart from the symbolism and the great description of the Jazz Age and the American dream (or better said, the impossibility to achieve it without being corrupt in some way), I consider this book v..."

well said. even though i also belong to the group of people who did not like the book so much, your explanation makes me think, oh maybe so.

[Monty J]

Sophia wrote: " As an author, I aspire to the same poetry and style.... writing done well."

Agreed.

(190 pages, actually, in my Scribner's edition. Either way, it's tightly wound.)

[Monty J]

Diana wrote: "I consider this book very important because of the way how the human character is presented. There are interesting characters who are not very likable and sometimes they even do questionable things. It shows us how we as people behave sometimes."

In TGG, Fitzgerald exposed the dark underbelly of a narrow social stratum known by its thin gilded veneer and material trappings. In doing so, he warned us about entrusting our money to Wall Street, but you won't see this portrayed in film, except the HBO version.

[Monty J]

Tom wrote: "Please try and change my mind, if you can."


My review should help: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Monty J]

Tom wrote: "Diana wrote: " I thought the American Dream was that hard work and talent are the true barometers of character?"

It's not so much about character as it is upward economic mobility, the quest for a better life. I don't think social class has much to do with it. Daisy was perfectly happy with Gatsby until she learned he was a criminal.

Here's a pretty good definition of The American Dream per Wikipedia:

The American Dream is a national ethos of the United States, the set of ideals (democracy, rights, liberty, opportunity and equality) in which freedom includes the opportunity for prosperity and success, as well as an upward social mobility for the family and children, achieved through hard work in a society with few barriers.

In TGG, Fitzgerald satirizes the American Dream by revealing Gatsby as a man of low character, a cheater, a common criminal. At the moment she learns of this, she rejects him (as should the reader.) All his accomplishments went out the window when the illicit source of his largesse was laid bare by Tom Buchanan, whose wealth was legitimate.

[Monty J]

Tom wrote: " You say above it is about upward economic mobility and not social class but in your review you say that Daisy's value to Gatsby lies in the social class she represents."

Here are my words: "I don't think social class has muchto do with it. " I did not say "nothing" to do with it.

Yes, Daisy's social class was important to Gatsby, but that's not the main theme, which is the corruption ("foul dust") attached to Gatsby's wealth. Gatsby was involved in a fraudulent bond scheme, and Daisy's social connections were a pipeline for Gatsby to gain access to them to peddle his worthless bonds. Gatsby needed wealthy people to come to his parties so his sales team* could have access to them. Daisy had wealthy friends and family. Hence her social status made her all the more important to him.

Gatsby is posing as a member of the wealthy class not because he wants to be one of them, but because he's involved in a scam to peddle them worthless bonds.

*Nick noticed the sales team (a group of well-dressed Englishmen) the first time he went to one of Gatsby's parties, even mentioning that they might be selling bonds. He devoted a small paragraph to these observations. It is puzzling that so many critics failed to pick up on this.

[Monty J]

Tom wrote: "...he does believe he loves Daisy; does he not gaze across the bay at the light from her house in one scene? Or is this just a pretence to fool the narrator?"

If Fitzgerald wanted the reader to believe Gatsby truly loved Daisy, he's a good enough writer to make that clear. If he loved her he would tell her he loves her, which he never does. Instead, what we have is a string of dreamy speculations by Nick about how Gatsby supposedly felt. Yes, Gatsby gazed across the bay at her house, but that could as easily be the greed as love. We only have Nick's speculation.

Gatsby declares his love for Daisy only once, in the Plaza Hotel scene, but even then, he doesn't say it directly to her; he says it to Tom, her husband. reducing Daisy to a mere bystander to her own relationship.


Tom wrote: "If Gatsby is just a money obsessed con artist, I clearly did miss the point of the book."

This is a complex, multilayered novel, laced with subtext and symbolism. You have to read it more than once to get it. It has glaring flaws. Upon initial publication it was panned by critics and sold less than 20,000 copies. Twenty years later, the government printed over a hundred thousand copies and gave them out to troops during WWII. Then Fitzgerald died and in '49, Hollywood made a film starring Alan Ladd that made it a love story and ignored half of the book. Wolfsheim isn't even mentioned. Subsequent films also emphasized the love theme. Now everyone who reads it, goes in expecting a love story and finds what they're looking for.

You have to read every blinking word and backtrack multiple times to get it.

[Monty J]

Tom wrote: "Ernest Hemingway is overrated too...."

A fair assessment of a work of art involves consideration of the mores of its milieu of origin. Hemingway's contribution was to give a great shove of Western literature away from the florid style of the Victorian period. He was influential in the modernist breakaway from traditional ways of writing.

Today, his writing doesn't stand out much because his "minimalist" style has become widely used. He didn't invent it, but he helped promote it. And he was good at self-promotion, with his "he-man" antics and self-destructive habits

Also, society has moved on, so that his anti-semitism, homophobia and blatant sexism are generally offensive, making him a literary artifact, an example of what was wrong with society during his era.

[Monty J]

Tom wrote: "Thanks Monty you're quite right that an author's merit should be considered in its context. Have you read Washington Square? The prose is very spare; if you think you cannot get on with Henry James..."

Despite his reputation and my good intentions, I have yet to have the pleasure of a James novel, but will put this on my list. Thanks for the recommendation.

[Jhazway]

The language and tragedy are both heart-wrenching and gorgeous. Even the pain of the individual characters and Gatsby's death are beautiful thanks to Fitzgerald's words. I first read it 16 years ago, and I keep reading it and discovering more layers and depth each time. In my opinion the movies are garbage compared to the book-though I have to say DiCaprio came very close to perfectly executing Gatsby's pain and unique spirit, and Nick's annoying naivete did come through in McGuire's portrayal.

[Qed]

It's a great work in stating an important thing: the past never existed. In other words, being a reactionary or tory is retarded.

[Nick]

I've seen a few posts here that people didn't get/like this book. I was someone who enjoyed The Great Gatsby when I read it in school but many of my friends did not. If you also didn't love it/like it/get it, and IF you have the time and interest, I would recommend checking out John Green's short videos on The Great Gatsby from his Crash Course literature series. I think he does a good job of summarizing the themes and relevance of this book. It's on YouTube and elsewhere, if you type in 'Crash Course' and the book title. Also reading some history on the early 20th century through WW1 and the Spanish Flu could be useful. Good luck!

[[deleted user]]

personally i totally loved it, the style and the period its set in, the slow beginning and the story in itself, a truly great book about a great unrequited love and a beautiful, romanticible time period

[Marina]

Some people read books for plot, some for theme, some for language. The book bored the crap out of me but the language was like eating decadent chocolate.

"This is a valley of ashes—a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat . . . where ashes take the forms of houses"

“And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer.”

“He smiled understandingly--much more than understandingly. It was 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 eternal 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, and assured you that it had precisely the impression of you that, at your best, you hoped to convey.”

“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”

And my favorite of all:

"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 faded, each light deserting her with lingering regret like children leaving a pleasant street at dusk."

I rest my case.

[ClaraBertran23]

I read this book even before the movie with DiCaprio came out. But even then I liked it. Fitzgerald is a master of descriptions and even without a movie it was easy to imagine a picture of parties and all events. But the story itself is interesting about how the poor guy who got rich returned to win his love and was ready for anything. I even wrote a paper on this topic, having read all sorts of works at https://samploon.com/free-essays/the-... and even cried few times reading them. Plus Fitzgerald is a great writer. All of his books are easy to read. Especially reading them in the summer evening.

[lfreaton]

I read this every single summer….over and over the prose astounds and vitalizes me, inviting me into a world and a time where I gain from the reminder how all our illusory successes (and certainly our American grandiosity) masks the true definitions of what matters to be fully and honestly human. Bravo to Fitzgerald…now this book is what we mean by a classic.

[Elisabeth]

For me, I personally loved this book. Yes I was forced to read it in school, but I think my teacher pushing all of the imagery and metaphors from the book into my head really made me understand and enjoy it better. I did think it was slow at first, and to be honest it took me a while to actually catch on to certain details. But I personally loved the ending and messages that this book presents.

[Molly]

I think people who didn't really get the grasp of old money and new money in society back then wouldn't enjoy the book. The Great Gatsby explores that topic super well and the effects that wealth had on social status. I can see why it may not be a hit for some people; I myself struggled to connect to it but after I watched the movie adaptation it changed the whole meaning of the book for me.

[Ptera]

I wanted to like the book but found it hard to plow through. I admit the symbolism and settings are spectacular, but I didn't like the pace or the people. I enjoyed Fitzgerald's short stories much more.