The Great Gatsby Author:F. Scott Fitzgerald When F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote THE GREAT GATSBY in the early 1920s, the American Dream was already on the skids. Originally based on the idea that the pursuit of happiness involves not only material success but moral and spiritual growth, the dream had by Fitzgerald's time become increasingly focused on money and pleasure--a phenomenon the h... more »igh-living writer was only too familiar with. In THE GREAT GATSBY, Fitzgerald looks deeply into himself and his milieu to create the story of James Gatz, a self-educated nobody from North Dakota who has amassed a fortune and adopted the persona of Jay Gatsby, an Oxford-educated man about town, for the sole purpose of winning back the heart of Daisy, the woman he loved in his youth. Daisy is now married to Tom Buchanan--a brutal, ignorant racist who embodies the corruption that can come with unlimited wealth. As Gatsby, Daisy, and Tom--and the narrator, Daisy's cousin Nick Carroway, who serves as the author's spokesman--play out the drama in a small Long Island town (the East Hampton of its day), Fitzgerald makes it increasingly clear that life is meaningless when it is based on money and glamour at the expense of the solid American values of self-reliance and hard work--and Gatsby's sad end underscores the point. THE GREAT GATSBY has long been celebrated as the archetypal American novel, and, just as Fitzgerald's book grew out of the tradition that included Henry James and Edith Wharton, its influence on later writers from J. D. Salinger to John O'Hara cannot be overestimated. The book remains vividly alive and widely read years after its writing.« less
A classic, readable story juxtaposing the upper class with the lower. Fitzgerald shows how the rich act from the perspective of a non-wealthy character. I thought he illustrated pretty well the depth of Gatsby - even though he was a bit envied, he was still a fellow human. Recommended to classic fiction lovers as a light, easy read.
This novel was simply amazing. The ease of reading disguises the deep and meaningful questions sparked by Gatsby's life and the enigmatic title. Few books are truly life changing, but I would put The Great Gatsby on that list. Fitzgerald really highlighted how truly lonely one can be in a crowd, and the ethics of love of friendship as well as the social change of the 1920's in all aspects. The Great Gatsby was a book that I was forced to read for school and became one of my favorite novels, and upon each re-reading I learn another lesson or see a different aspect of this multifaceted, interesting, and well written work.
Fitzgerald is an excellent writer and this novel, which may seem simple in the beginning, is anything but formulaic. While I did not find this text to be one of the best of all-time, I highly recommend it to any reader looking to explore concepts of love, mortality, and morality. Flowing prose and serene descriptions add to Fitzgerald's well-crafted storyline.
An absolute American classic and a must read. One of the best lines in the book is when someone notes, "The rich are different"; and indeed Fitzgerald captures this beautifully in his depiction of Gatsby and other characters, all set against the Jazz Age.
For some reason, I never got around to reading this book until now even though I've had copies of it in the past and even lived for years near the Fitzgeralds' burial place in Rockville, Maryland. I recently saw the new movie version of this with Leonardo DiCaprio and was quite impressed so decided it must be time to read the novel. Well, I'm sorry I never read this sooner - a really great short novel that was easily readable telling the story of Gatsby who fell in love with Daisy during the Great War, then somehow became super wealthy, and who threw lavish parties during the jazz age in an enormous mansion all to impress and win his lost love back. Unfortunately, he found that he was unable to relive the past and of course the story ended tragically. Must read!
I had heard a lot of great things about The Great Gatsby but never read it before and was eager to finally read it. It was well done and an easy read even after all this time.
The tale is told by the neighbor of Gatsby. It is a twisted tale of adultery and adoration. Some say it is the quintessential American novel. Gatsby's neighbor tell us of Gatsby's quest to win a married woman's, Daisy's, heart. Daisy struggles with a husband who cheats on her with another woman and she married him for money. The whole tale ends in a tragedy not unlike a Greek play.
The tale was an easy and quick read and fairly engaging. Fitzgerald does an excellent job describing the era and the surroundings, making everything easy for the reader to picture.
The story quickly gets twisted and complicated with various characters involved with other characters that they aren't supposed to be with. The tragic ending is strangely ironic and suiting of all the selfish characters present.
I can understand how some might root for Gatsby and Daisy and their supposed quest for true love; but personally I found all of the characters to be selfish, shallow and deserving of what they got in the end. This tale truly shows an era of American decadence.
Overall a decent read and I am glad that I read this. I loved the ironic symmetry of the story, but didn't really enjoy any of the characters much. The story is paced well, has great description throughout, and is engaging. I wouldn't run out and read everything by Fitzgerald based on this book, but I enjoyed this book and am glad I can say I finally read this.
A very enjoyable read; Nick Caraway's narration draws you in and doesn't let you stop caring about the characters in the book. Full of symbolism and thought.
This is a great book to read. I had to read this book in English literature in high school some years ago. It still is a good read now. When I was in high school, I was fortunate to see the movie after reading the book.
I would recommend reading this book, especially to those in literature classes.
I tried to read this and thought it would be easy since it was so short, however, I just couldn't do it. I found it to be boring. I wasn't the least bit interested in knowing Gatsby's secret.
This is a radio discussion of the novel by Robert Redford, Jim Lehrer, and others. It is an excellent accompaniment to the novel and would be great to use in a classroom setting.
Story was interesting and easy to read. Many of the characters have good and bad qualities to their personalities. Definitely a good book for older teens.
It took far too long to find out that nothing really interesting was going to happen in this book, and so I was too close to finishing by then to stop reading it. From a writing standpoint, it's rather brilliant and easy to see why it's considered to be a classic, but that doesn't make it entertaining. The glimpse into the time in the 1920s was definitely well-captured, but that alone wasn't enough to make me truly like the book. It's fortunate it's so short, or else I wouldn't have finished it. As it is, I don't regret doing so, but I also cannot recommend it, unless one is simply looking for a look at life at that time in history.
