The Great Gatsby

Rating:
Summary: The Great Gatsby.... Not so great!
Review: First let me start out by saying that I am a high school student who was forced to read this book during summer, which is the first downfall. The Great Gatsby is a story of a man, Jay Gatsby, who wastes his life away throwing parties, hoping his first love, Daisy, would maybe attend one of these parties. The narrator, Nick, finally meets Gatsby at a party and since Nick is Daisy's cousin, Nick is pulled into a plot that ends in a very tragic way. I was more interested in Nick than Gatsby or any of the other characters. Gatsby is a character that really isn't defined besides the fact that he loves Daisy. Also, along the way readers are introduced to characters at parties that have no signifigant role in the book. Another problem with The Great Gatsby was that it seemed to progress so slow. The plot didn't keep my attention like it should have. The ending is a little surprising but not enough that could redeem the rest of the book. Although this is a highly acclaimed book, I found out it's not a book for everyone.

Rating:
Summary: Great American tragedy
Review: I was first assigned "The Great Gatsby" in college but I hate being "assigned" a book and held off reading it until now.


I am very happy I came back to this book, truly a classic. It is not your classic love story and Fiztgerald captures the snobby life of these rich people perfectly. He brings them down to human levels despite all their riches and shows how we all suffer the same regardless of our monetary value.


The first chapter or two can be a bit of a challenge to get through since it deals mostly with the setting up of their snobby environments, but if you stick with it puts everything into perspective further in the book.


Without giving anything away, it had one of the best ending I have ever seen (or read rather). You read this book and never truly know how you felt about the characters, wether you loved them or hated them, at the end, all you can do it pity people like them.

Rating:
Summary: Thin plot...incredible writing
Review: Called "required reading" by so many people...it better be good right? If it isn't than why are so many children being forced to read it? The plot is none too exciting, in fact it's rather thin and stretched. For me, it was not the reason that I kept turning the pages--it was the amazing use of the English language that kept me going. For once I agree with the educators, who say this is an American classic that should be read by all students...not for the plot or even the characters but for the way F. Scott Fitzgerald uses language.

Rating:
Summary: The American Dreamer
Review: There is something about Jay Gatsby that is quintessentially American. When I was a younger reader, I simply put the character down as shallow. He's a phony, sure, but it comes from the idea that he can remake himself in his own image, godlike, into something better than he really is... and even reshape his own past. What is the American Dream, but the idea that you can transcend your background and origins to become whatever you want? To transcend barriers of class, wealth and breeding? Of course, the cost of such a dream sometimes ends up as more than most of us would be willing to pay, and the dream often crashes upon the rocks of reality. F. Scott Fitzgerald does not shy away from that.

Rating:
Summary: The American
Review: No more perfect American book exists. Jay Gatsby pursues the American dream with a single minded zeal and the closer he gets to his dream the emptier he is. The greatness of the book is both in this theme and in the way Fitzgerald makes Gatsby stand for all of us Americans. In his later works Fitzgerald falters but here every last detail is in its proper place. The narrator Nick is the perfect voice for this story. Through his eyes we may see that Gatsby is not all that Gatsby wants to be but like Nick we let ourselves be seduced anyway. The most superficial creature in this book, Daisy, is the object of Gatsby's lifelong obsession. She is about as weak as that flower and no more complex. Only Gatsby with his undying ability to dream which is unmatched by any character in fiction and the reason we all love him can imagine she is anything more than the common flower of her namesake. Everything functions and happens exactly as it should. No plot, I suggest, can be repeated by more readers. I put this in a tie with Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises for greatest book by an American. Hemingway's book is equally great though for quite different reasons. I think in his next book Tender is the Night Fitzgerald is trying to cover Hemingway's terrain but unlike Hemingway Fitzgerald does not really belong in Europe. Hemingway uncovers what it is to be American by showing Americans outside America and in contrast to Europeans. Fitzgerald never brings his Americans abroad in contact with anything but each other. But in this book he is brilliant. I just wish he would have stayed put.

Rating:
Summary: Read it and see for youself
Review: To me this is literary perfection. It is the only book I know of that is complete: not a word should be cut, or added. It has a palpable mood in which the reader in engulfed: decadence, melancholy, longing, hope, failures, dreams, and an unflinching striving for something purer in a world that wants to drag us into its arrogant and indifferent corruption. Gatsby is THE romantic hero, and Nick the sensitive observer on whom the moral foundation of the book rests. The symbolism is simple and works unobtrusively. I love this book and have read it several times now. It is like a great painting or scene that holds in its smallest details the universal design or chaos if that be the paradox.
Reading some of the reviews I find people's opinions varying greatly. Some very intelligent people dislike it, even hate it while others love it, or think it good. The same can be said of not so intelligent people. As Nick puts it: "I was within and witout, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexaustible variety of life."
Do not be too greatly influenced by reviews or the book's reputation, simply read it and decide for yourself. In the end considering how short the novel is, how accessible, and if nothing else(I personally think it is much more) a literary phenomenom, it is worth reading for anyone interested in novels and literature

Rating:
Summary: Decades later, still great but on different terms.
Review: Having reread this book for the first time in 20 years, I can confirm that there's a reason that it's considered one of the very best American novels. However, my reaction to the story was different than when I first read it in high school. I recall that back then I was hoping that Daisy and Gatsby's love story would ultimately yield a happy ending. Now, I found them both to be such shallow creatures that they inspired no pity. While I considered the characters to be emotionally stunted, that dooesn't mean I was not impressed with Fitzergerald's skillful rendering. As in most forms of art, in literature it is more difficult to accurately and interestingly portray nothingness than to describe a richly endowed subject. At this more cynical age, I found Daisy to be a remarkable emotional void, and Gatsby's quest to pour all of his hopes and dreams into such a shallow cauldron only confirmed his own vapidity. One thing that hasn't changed in all these years is my amazement at Fitzgerald's ability to set a scene. His descriptive passages are truly poetic, and his command of word choice in unparalleled. All this made for a stimulating and delightful read.

Rating:
Summary: A man has everything
Review: In this book a certain Jay Gatsby has accumlated a vast wealth from nothing, having any material possession he might ever need. Yet, he lacks love. This is about his attempt at capturing his love, and all the strange things that a man might do to get it. The flashiness and greatness of the 20's are represented well in this book, with lavish parties and care free guests. It shows that the rich have problems as well, and many times their lives are more empty than the lives of those that are poor. Fitzgerald's writing style kept me very entertained, being very calm and relaxed throughout the whole book. The oddity in Gatsby's "style" kept me interested and thoughtful, such as the constant use of the phrase "old sport." I think this book deserves to be considered the classic that it is, and has earned its place among other greats.

Rating:
Summary: Floundering in New York
Review: This is just my simple opinion, but when I read The Great Gatsby, I found it to be 1) extremely difficult to follow, and 2) drastically overbearing. People describe F. Scott's Fitzgerald's writing as poetic, and indeed it is at some points in the book. However I believe that as a result of this, Gatsby is much more difficult to read and comprehend. I would have preferred a more traditional writing style instead of a over-embellished, over-done, and, most importantly, an overly-complex style of writing.

Rating:
Summary: Eek
Review: Yes, I'm but another unfortunate soul who had to go through this book because of the wretched school. Let me try to be fair, the book started decent. I thought the writing style of the author was good, but nothing egregrious. I was interested in finding out about the narrator, of course, the story turns and introduced a mob of characters from parties and dreaded plots. It was plainly, and simply and tediously S-L-O-W. Reading this book is a torture. Okay, that was my first impression of the book. After finally reading it through, however, I guess I should say it was better than I thought. The story speeds up a little, still retaining the air of elusiveness. It is hard to grasp the theme of The Great Gatsby. But perhaps when you do it is worthwhile to you. Though I still feel unable to relate this story very well. But different people have different opinions.