Rating: 
Summary: A below-average effort from a below-average author
Review: This can hardly be called a novel. It is, at best, a novella at roughly 150 pages. The craftsmanship that went into choosing words is obvious, but it is equally obvious that Fitzgerald didn't have much of an ability to create and tell stories. The novel moves ahead predictably, with nary a twist. Similarly, the characters are flat, each painted with an overly broad brush. None of the characters is multifaceted enough to maintain reader interest beyond the bounds of this tiny book.Clearly, this novel deserves the lack of attention it received when first released. It's too bad the 1950's gave rise to a class of pretentious persons who lifted this book up from the slime into which it had deservedly descended. It is thanks to them that school children across America are subjected to this tripe in the name of education. How many more children will have their budding love of reading destroyed by being forced to read such purile and juvenile garbage as this? Fortunately, I had been reading much longer, more complicated novels for many years by the time I was required to read this one in my Sophomore year of High School. I hated it then, but I thought at the time that it was I who was at fault. Now, some 15 years later, I've re-read the novel, and I find it to be almost completely without merit. It's a good thing I was already a reader by the time this garbage was inflicted upon me, or I might never have acquired a taste for books, thinking this was representative of the works available. Not many children have been so inoculated against poisonous works such as this one. Is it any wonder why American kids don't like to read?
Rating: 
Summary: Awful.
Review: I read this book expecting much more. What I got was complete disappointment. There was absolutely nothing that appealed to me in this book. The story was boring, the characters were boring. This was truly one of the worst books I have ever read. I must be missing something because I seem to be one of the only ones on this earth who found the story to be awful. It was painful for me to get through this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Great writing poor drama
Review: I guess that this novel come into the hands of today's readers mostly due to the fact that it has been designated as one of the U.S. literary icons of the XX Century. Undoubtedly, the precision to detail and the smoothness used by the writer to convey its ideas is fantastic. My problem with it, is that the drama in which the love story is build seems rather silly. We have a character like Gatsby who is a young fellow who decided to become rich the fast way (smuggling and other unidentified dirty business) to gain social recognition for the sole purpose of being worthy of a rich girl of whom he had fallen in love. Nevertheless, the author never takes the effort to outline why in ruthless 20's, when wild capitalism was on the rise and pragmatism was the only name of the game, a person like Gatsby, who is the living symbol of those forces, who have laid more women that he can remember and who have "known the world" from every possible angle, decides to waist his life in pursuit of a romantic love and challenge the husband of her beloved with the tact and style of a 14th year old. Such situation just takes away all credibility to the drama. I guess the novel became important for the reasons so many of the other reviewers have expressed. He provided a frame of reference for the people of the 20's to perceive their own time.
Rating: 
Summary: The greatest work of fiction in the history of mankind
Review: Ernest Hemingway wrote of writing one true sentence. I believe I have found it: The Great Gatsby is the greatest work of fiction in the history of mankind.
Rating:
Summary: Long Island Glows in this Classic
Review: We listened to this while driving through Long Island reviewing wineries for About.Com, and it was the perfect accompanyment in so many ways. Fitzgerald's writing style is incredibly evocative - stirring vivid images in your mind of the mansions of East Egg, of the complex individuals that lived there and how they interacted. Each person presents one face to the world, while hiding a wealth of fears and desires. The scene where a car looses a wheel is one of my favorites - the witty way Fitzgerald turns words and plays with the individuals is just fantastic. This is definitely not a book to read 'on assignment', forced to hunt for meaning. It's a book to read in your 20s or beyond, when you see the way old loves can still call to you, when temptation strikes sometime to try to turn back the clock. But of course, you can't, as Fitzgerald demonstrates with such a wonderful style. There were so many scenes in this book that stood out as stellar, that sparkled in our minds. I think it's hard for a younger person to identify with some of the themes in here, just as it's probably hard for an older person to truly remember what it's like to be a teenager. It's the kind of book that, if you've lived through love and loss, battled years to achieve something you realize later wasn't worth it, you finish a passage and say ... "Yes. That is it exactly."
Rating:
Summary: A legendary novel
Review: It is generally assumed by many that a book being considered a 'classic' is good enough reason to readit. This frequently is not the case, as everyone's idea of a classic is different. However, in the case of "The Great Gatsby", I would state that this book should be read by all. It tells the seperate stories of a number of people, but its focal point is the hidden love Jay Gatsby holds for Dasiy Buchanan - married, elegant and charismatic. As Gatsby pursues shady deals and his doomed obsession with Daisy, F. Scott Fitzgerald distills the essence of the Jazz Age and the empty heart of the American Dream. The novel is tragic, yet witty, with people and stories that tend to linger in the readers mind long after the book has been put down. Wonderful.
Rating: 
Summary: WAY too over hyped
Review: yes, the great gatsby is an american classic. yes, the great gatsby touches upon the major themes of american literature. BUT IT IS WAY TOO OVER HYPED. when i read the book in school, i was expecting to be blown away, and when i finished it, i was very disappointed. sO, i do recommend the book. it IS a good book, but NOT great. if you REALLY want to read a good book, read gabriel garcia marquez' cien anos de soledad. :) have a nice day!
Rating:
Summary: No Longer Required Reading- Fully Appreciated This Time
Review: I read this book over twenty years ago as a high school senior; unfortunately, I was too young to appreciate the author's style and the depth of the story. This time I found myself enamored with some of the passages, "So he waited, listening for a moment longer to the tuning-fork that had been struck upon a star. Then he kissed her. At his lips' touch she blossomed for him like a flower and the incarnation was complete." What more is there to say? True literature.
Rating:
Summary: Good style very weak drama
Review: With 381 reviews before me, it is clear that this one is superfluous, but since your eyes are reading these lines. Let me tell you what I think. I guess that this novel come into the hands of today's readers mostly due to the fact that it has been designated as one of the U.S. literary icons of the XX Century. Undoubtedly, the precision to detail and the smoothness used by the writer to convey its ideas is fantastic. My problem with it, is that the drama in which the love story is build seems rather silly. We have a character like Gatsby who is a young fellow who decided to become rich the fast way (smuggling and other unidentified dirty business) to gain social recognition for the sole purpose of being worthy of a rich girl of whom he had fallen in love. Nevertheless, the author never takes the effort to outline why in ruthless 20's, when wild capitalism was on the rise and pragmatism was the only name of the game, a person like Gatsby, who is the living symbol of those forces, who have laid more women that he can remember and who have "known the world" from every possible angle, decides to waist his life in pursuit of a romantic love and challenge the husband of her beloved with the tact and style of a 14th year old. Such situation just takes away all credibility to the drama. I guess the novel became important for the reasons so many of the other reviewers have expressed. He provided a frame of reference for the people of the 20's to perceive their own time.
Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Book Full of Meaningful Symbolism
Review: "The Great Gatsby" might be one of the best books of our time, it's a must-re
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