Rating: 
Summary: The Great Gatsby
Review: I really enjoyed and would highly recommend reading The Great Gatsby. Overall, it was an easy read, and for the most part, a light-hearted, entertaining story. It had an interesting plot with remarkable characters to support it. Even though it was written almost a century ago, it is still easy to appreciate Fitzgerald's ideas and style of writing.
The book was very well written for many reasons. I liked the fact that it was a first person narrative. I personally enjoy first person novel because I think that the insight of the narrator makes the reader relate to the story more, as opposed to the neutral position of a third person story. The narrative offered details vivid enough to easily imagine the setting. I was not familiar with the setting in New York, but the descriptiveness was clear enough for me to picture the scenes. Also, the writing style was excellent at using setting as a device to convey emotion, and in a few instances, foreshadowing. The plot is fast moving and I really enjoyed the unexpected plot twist towards the end. The small side plots that arose between the supporting characters sustained my interest also. The story was very much to the point, and did not at any time drag on.
The strongest part of the writing was the development, connections, and introduction of the characters. Nick Cattaway fits the role of the narrator perfectly and provides a central connection among all the other characters. It allowed me to feel more sympathetic towards the characters because of Nick's sympathy for his friends. The order in which he introduces the characters and then slowly revealed how their lives were intertwined made for a very interesting story. My favorite of the introductions was the surprisingly low key intro to Gatsby. However, this character was the only one that I wasn't satisfied with, and proved to be the only flaw I found with the book.
The lack of development of the character of Gatsby was very disappointing for me. After such a unique entrance, in addition to the title, I expected much more than the book offered. Although more is revealed about Gatsby as the story progresses, I still didn't feel a connection to the character. Since Gatsby was intended to be a mysterious character, that may be the reason the lack of information about him. However, there seemed to be a true depth missing that was hinted at, but was never fully communicated. This was especially true in the relationship between Gatsby and Daisy. The intensity of Gatsby's feelings seemed to be glanced over.
Besides that minor negative point, the book was very good, and as a said before I recommend it to anyone looking for a short but enjoyable book to read.
Rating:
Summary: Still Great
Review: Many years have passed (alas!) since I read this American classic in college. So, I decided to give myself a treat and reread. Here is some of my marginalia: "Not a great paragraph. Nice image and flow. Could Gatsby be so successful while being such a clumsy liar? Anti-Semitic image. Great scene. Great chapter. Thought is confused. Another terrific chapter." So, what am I saying? Fitzgerald writes with flawless lyricism when the subject is money and society. But when his subject doesn't evoke this lyrical mood, his writing can become choppy while his attitude toward certain types of people becomes superficial and harsh. Regardless, it's amazing the book is nearly eighty years old, since it still conveys what many people probably regard as a contemporary experience. My advice: Read Gatsy again!
Rating:
Summary: "The Great American Novel" - Hunter S. Thompson
Review: I would have to agree with Mr. Thompson on this one. I can't add any new words of wisdom that haven't been written already by one of the other 600+ reviewers of this book. This deserves 6 stars, and is the quintessential american novel, putting the American Dream under the microscope and finding the ugly truths that lies beneath the glammor. The jazz age of the 20's is the perfect setting for a novel like this, about the American Dream, and the people who would do anything to acheive it. This is the era of bootleggers (how Gatsby got his money) and the sort of reckless spending and investment that sent the country into the Great Depression. If you are in high school, you should definitely read this book, and most high schools make you read it. I read it back in high school and didn't think too much of it, but after reading it again on my own, without useless worksheets or stupid deadlines, I got a lot more out of it, and that's what I suggest, read it on your own. If you are over high school age and haven't read this, shame on you. Pick this book up now, and read it front to back. No cheating! Do yourself a favor, and pick up this american classic, old sport.
Rating:
Summary: A Jazz Age Classic, Old Sport
Review: The Great Gatsby is a classic novel of the Jazz Age about aspiration in America. As V.S. Naipaul was recently quoted in the NY Times Book Review: "The only valuable life is one that is shaped by the anguish of aspiration and that is engaged in a struggle against the void of nonachievement." Gatsby's life personifies the aspiration of a young man who has just returned from World War I so poor that he wore his uniform after his discharge because he couldn't afford to buy new clothes. Through his own entrepreneurial talents he rises to attain an immense fortune, which he hopes will renew the affection of his much beloved object of desire, Daisy Buchanan. She once jilted him because of his abject poverty and married another wealthy man. Now that Gatsby is rich, he wants Daisy to become his wife at any price. He asks her to forsake her relationship to her wealthy, philandering husband. The denouement of the novel is opulent in its irony. Gatsby's demise and the response of his many friends to it is truly memorable. Fitzgerald as Nick Carraway is an intelligent, articulate, noble and faithful narrator in this great American novel. At a time when so much focus has been placed on the hubris of American CEOs, the message of this novel about the unbridled pursuit of material wealth plays with as much high fidelity now as it did in the Jazz Age. This brief but important and beautifully crafted novel is a must-read for anyone who seeks to know the best work of one of America's most legendary writers.
Rating: 
Summary: Classic? I don't think so.
Review: To put it short, The Great Gatsby is a soap opera with depth. This book is obviously more than just a boy meets girl who is married to another boy book, but it is not much more. Sure, it raises interesting issues of consumerism and 1920's post war culture, but it never sets its heart on it. It touches it half heartedly, but it doesn't attack it like it should. Or as english teachers would say, it doesn't "commit murder". Fitzgerlad is too busy telling the story which happenes to be dull and unexciting at the most. The plot, the storyline, the story, and the execution of it is just poor. It's boring. It's futile. It's dumb. I fail to understand why Fitzgerald chose to use Nick, this incredibly dull and uninteresting character, as his narrator when he could have written it third person, or used a more interesting character for the narrator. Even the conversation and dialogue is quite useless. Take this for a sampler, "I read somewhere that the sun's getting hotter every year...or wait a minute- it's ust the opposite- the sun's getting colder every year." And this quote comes from nowhere and has to do with nothing. Gatsby was obviously drunk, or smoking marijuana when he was writing this book, and must have thougth that this book was pretty clever. It isn't. All I can say is that, I don't consider it a classic. It's just so haphazard and bad that people mistake it for being good.
Rating: 
Summary: Friends in Need...
Review: What a great book, a classic that can be read at any time....Fitzgerald style in writing is amazing, a book that is so easy to read and comeplete in one day... Nick builds a great relationship with his neighbour the great Jay Gatsby and they become the best of friends. Gatsby has the best parties in town, and people show at his house with no invitation...Gatsby's love for superficial Daisy is to be admired, he is calm in his ways, but makes sure that things are under control... Nick discovers the hard way what people are made of, how opportunist they are, and how they are driven by money and fame, they make it a point to be next to what they call a "friend" in good times, and you don't find any when things start going south...
Rating:
Summary: A sumptuous read - a period piece
Review: Finding the famous Robert Redford movie of this story intriging but somewhat confusing, I decided to read the relatively thin novel -- hoping to capture some of the same period glamor and calm. The book does indeed have much of the same feel as the movie, and provided a welcome Summer distraction. It also provides a more complete and satisfying version of the story. I had not realized at the time that this is considered an important piece of American literature. However it is a charming and well crafted work of art that deserves recognition. Like several American classics (such as Huckleberry Finn), it evokes a certain period in American in a personal way that a historical reference never could. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Green Light, Go!
Review: Green light means go. In The Great Gatsby, green light means don't go.. The green light is mentioned three times in the novel: at the beginning, at the middle, and at the end. Before I proceed, should I also mention that the The Great Gatsby is one of the most important novels in the American language. I emphasize, this novel is uniquely American. You will find no other work of literature that can hold a candle to this book. It may be required reading in high school, but oh what a work of art the world considers this book to be. Read it and be forever thankful this country can produce a novel like this. The style is decptively simple. When Gatsby says, "Old sport!" I think of Holden Caulfield saying, "For Chrissakes!" Salinger owes Fitzgerald a lot. Without The Great Gatsby, there can be no Catcher In The Rye. Nick Carraway is a grown up Holden Caulfield. Carraway is confiding in you. He is talking to you one on one. You listen to him because you want to be his confidant. Going back to the green light. The green light means the green American dream. How ironic that the road ends on your side of the intersection when the traffic light flashes go! Gatsby stands at land's end and stares at the green light hanging at the end of the pier behind Daisy's home. The road ends at his feet. He can get no closer to his American dream that this! All that money he has doesn't help him win Daisy one bit.. All those flashy shirts he pulls from his closet, all those different color sports cars he drives, all of it means nothing.
Money can't buy you love. (That;s a good title for a song!). That is what The Great Gatsby is all about.. Green light, go..... My copy of this hard bound Scribner edition of The Great Gatsby has the printed price of [price]. That is how long ago I bought it. I suggest you run out and buy this edition before the price goes any higher. The book is worth every penny.
Rating:
Summary: bv
Review: nb
Rating:
Summary: Gatsby nails it!
Review: The Great Gatsby is one of the best books for any reader, young adult or adult to read. The book is a wonderful idea of what the Jazz Age (1920s) were all about. Reading this book for AP English was one of the best selections anyone could have read for a class. The thematic touches, along with unforgettable characters make this book a sure win for any reader's heart. I would recommend this book for not only school study but for pleasure reading as well.
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