The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

[Adriana]

So I've heard a lot about this book and it's been sitting on my bookshelf for a couple months. I'm not sure if it's my cup of tea but I'm gonna give it a try either way.

Has any of you ever read it?

[Ashlee-Dawn]

It is on my "to-read" shelf as well. I'll be taking it on for my book I was supposed to read in school week. I was terrible with this in school, read all the time, but didn't want to read what was assigned to me. I watched the movie to do my homework (and we're talking the old movie, not the one that just came out).

I'm excited to read it. A lot of my friends watched the new movie and said they saw the characters in a new way versus reading the book as a kid so I'm interested to see if I get more out of it this time around.

It's on almost every high school reading list here in the states.

[Adriana]

Ashlee-Dawn wrote: "It is on my "to-read" shelf as well. I'll be taking it on for my book I was supposed to read in school week. I was terrible with this in school, read all the time, but didn't want to read what was ..."

I'm being to realize that that's something that happens to a lot of readers! Though I've read almost everything that was assign, there were only a small books I've actually enjoyed.

I think that I've read a couple of books that are in most american high school reading lists and I've also have a good number that I want to read. In Portugal, the reading list for high school is the same throughout the country so it's not so vast. I just remembered that on my 12th grade English class we were supposed to read "About a Boy"! The teacher eventually decided to just show us the movie, get it over with and back to the grammar exercises!

My expectations for this book aren't very high (and I haven't watched the movies) but maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised!

[Corynne]

One of my favorites. If you decide to watch the film after, stick with the Robert Redford version.

[Adriana]

Thank you Corynne, I'll keep that in mind!

[Adriana]

That's great Marianne, I'm glad you're joining me on this one!

[Yasmina]

I am joining you for this one :)

[Marina]

I read this book only a few months ago because it was the topic in the bookclub at work. At first I thought it was just okay. Then I watched the movie with my boyfriend, and we found that there really is a lot to talk about, so it definitely is a good book for a bookclub.
My boyfriend knew a little about F. Scott Fitzgerald, and I did a little more research about him. That helped me when it came to analyzing the book and maybe understand it a bit more, so maybe you would find it helpful as well :-)

[Adriana]

Great Yasmina! :D

Marina, I usually research authors after I read their works or if I happen to stumble on random article about them. I always found something that makes me go "Ohhhhh! So that's why he/she wrote about this or that" and then I feel like I need to read the books all over again. I'll make sure to read a little about Fitzgerald before starting the book!

[Daisie]

I have read this book a few times. I like the book but it's not on my favorite list.

[Adriana]

I just finished reading it (yes, I'm really behind in the challenge!). I can't say I liked it. As some of you pointed out, there's a lot to talk about while analysing the book but still, I didn't enjoy it. I gave it two stars, you can see my (short) review here.