The Great Gatsby

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Summary: The essence of the American Dream
Review: I've yet to read a better crafted book than The Great Gatsby. It is simply the most beautiful book you can come across. The prose is gorgeous and deceptively simple, all the more stunning for its simplicity, because it almost makes you believe you could write a book like this yourself. You can read the novel on many levels. Few readers can avoid finding symbolism. Daisy is the untouchable American Dream, perhaps, and Gatsby is the immigrant who, like all new Americans, throws himself fully into the idea of America while ignoring or hiding his own and America's reality. The opulence and decadence of 20s America is brilliantly conveyed, and there is also a considerably amount of realistic description of the time. The Great Gatsby more than any other book made me realise just how pervasive and persuasive the idea of the American Dream is, and just how empty the reality can often be.

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Summary: The Great Gatsby Review
Review: The Great Gatsby is a true classic, which you will enjoy is you are a fan of books containing love and tragedy. The book is very well written, and I loved The Great Gatsby because the story held my attention. The setting for The Great Gatsby is outside New York City, in the 1920s. The story is told by Nick Carraway, who is visiting his cousin Daisy Buchanan and her husband Tom. When you read the book, you have something in common with most of the characters. At the beginning of the story, no one knows who Gatsby even is. That is a mystery everyone is trying to find out, and once you solve the mystery of Gatsby, you uncover a new mystery. This mystery includes Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan. To solve these mysteries, you should read The Great Gatsby. F. Scott Fitzgerald did an excelent job with details. Everything that is described in the book, you can easily form a mental picture of; especially such things as Gatsby's house and Mr. Wilson's Garage. The Great Gatsby, somewhat, reminds me of Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. Both Books involve the return of a long lost love, which was slightly secretive. Wuthering Heights is a little harder to follow then the Great Gatsby, but I enjoyed both of them. I recomend reading The Great Gatsby if you enjoy books that are exciting, suspensful, amusing, and tragic. What more could you ask for in a book.

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Summary: Wonderful Book!
Review: Gatsby is a great book because it captures a certain age -- youth in the Jazz Age -- so well. Even though it was written 80 years ago it seems fresh today. The only comtemporary novel that comes close is Brauner's Love Songs of the Tone-Deaf, which even includes a reference to the similarity between youth culture in the 20's and today. How much has really changed? Read these two great books and compare -- great writing that deserves the highest recommendation!

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Summary: Review of "The Great Gastby" by H.K. at Pomona
Review: Jay Gatsby. The most sophisticated, popular, extravagant man on West Egg Island. The host of lavish, extraordinary parties, sprawled across the gardens of his enormous house, filled with aristocrats, vibrant colors, jazz music, laughter, and the tinklin of glasses. A personable young man if there ever was one. A friend to all, and fond of calling them "old boy." And above all, an Oxford man. Or is he? For it seems one can never fully trust Gatsby and the stories of his past. The occasional uncertainty d hesitancy in his voice, as well as frequent inquiries, investigations, and juicy rumors, contradict the his words. Jay Gatsby is the hero of F. Scott Fiztgerald's classic, The Great Gatsby, an captivating novel full of intertwining stories and characters, and the revelation of the first connection is intriguing enough to leave the reader begging for the next. A won rful story, The Great Gatsby is laced with mystery, and spiced with a dash of romance. The tale unfolds itself in 1922, on the Long Island provinces of West and East Egg Island, the latter being the more fashionable of the two, and the island where Daisy and Tom Bucanan reside. Daisy is a sparkling young woman and adored by all that meet er. She is sociable, polite, energetic, enthusiastic, and positively delightful, complete with a voice resembling lilting music notes. But this bright girl isn't all she seems; even lovely Daisy has a passionate secret. Her husband, Tom, is an athletic an, the epitome of arrogance. His eyes are always described as "flashing about restlessly." The former football hero demands dominance over all, especially over the women in his life; his wife, and his over-the-top, full-figured mistress, Myrtle Wilson. t is only when he feels denied of this control that he shows emotion. Across the bay, on the West Egg, lives Daisy's cousin, and Tom's college friend, Nick Callaway, who also happens to be Gatsby's neighbor (just some of the slew of intertwining connec ons between the characters). Nick is the narrator of the story, and does well in presenting an objective view of the string of events that take place. Perhaps this is because he lives by the rule to not criticize others. However, he is incredibly percep ve, and whatever criticisms and opinions he does take on become completely justified to the reader, biased or not. Nick is forever changed by his encounters with Gatsby, but still remains able to continue his normal life, leaving any stinging memories b ind. Perhaps this can be attributed to Jordan Baker, who can be considered the anchor of sanity, or the accomplice for the plot basis. Jordan, Daisy's good friend, moves through the story to become Nick's love interest, but also serves as the source of e missing pieces of the story, the glue between other characters, without being incredibly integral to the connections themselves. As said before, The Great Gatsby is a wonderful whirl of mixing and mingling pasts and presents. It focuses around Jay Gatsby and his quest to recapture the love he had and lost five years ago; Daisy, who loves him in return. However, between elaborate chemes and secret meetings, the two must conquer husbands, mistresses, death, tragedy, and pass the test of true love and loyalty. And despite how much readers come to wish them well, at times their happy fate is wholly uncertain. Through the tangled story of Gatsby and Daisy's romance, and the web of characters and events that surround them, Fitzgerald makes it painfully clear to his readers that people are interminably connected, and the actions of one can start a chain that e ects the lives of many. And, contrary to main-stream fictitious happiness, love does not always prove to be pure and true, or prevail over all. Although The Great Gatsby eventually proves itself to be a simply engrossing novel, the primary story line can be difficult to deeply fall into. The first seventy-five pages can seem dry and lagging, as they primarily consist of explaining how Nick cam to live in West Egg, and retelling seemingly unimportant encounters with several of the characters, probably simply a method of presenting them to readers. However, with the introduction of Mr. Wolfshiem, a shady character, as well as the conversation b ween Gatsby and Nick that precedes that meeting, the plot thickens tremendously. It is with these two events that the mysterious story and the intertwining pasts begin to unfold themselves, and readers will find themselves immediately entranced by the s uence of events to come. The Great Gatsby, though not entirely difficult, should also not be tackled by those who find expressive language and metaphors troubling. However, once readers have become aquatinted with Fitzgerald's writing, his exquisite use of language and metapho will become apparent. They will find the lavish words find even necessary to match the sophisticated nature of the characters. He makes exceptional use of metaphor, best exemplified by his description of Daisy's voice. It is praised time and time again, nd is said to retain the quality of music, notes that will never be played again, the sound of tinkling money, and glowing and singing noise, the sort that the ear follows up and down. Jordan is also frequently said to "balance objects on her chin," def ing the way she holds herself. And just outside of New York is an area where everything is apparently made from ashes, and the piercing blue streams of sky are solely referred to as "the eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg." These metaphors help to paint a wo erfully vivid picture, making sounds and sights come alive, full with depth and meaning.

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Summary: a classic with something "extra."
Review: This remarkable book is one of the chief reasons I am such an avid reader of classic fiction. The reasons for this novel's greatness are unexplainable and somewhat mysterious to me. i.e., I have no idea why I love it so much, but I do! With this masterpiece, I believe that Fitzgerald has captured some unknown and unpracticed form of writing that is seldom equalled. With a style all his own, he took an ordinary, everyday setting and plot, with your average "next door" characters, and created something exceeding the extraordinary. Nick, the narrator, has a refreshing, honest way of letting the reader know exactly how Gatsby's story played out, and at the same time bringing us into his own life. I found myself sympathizing with Gatsby, and his love for Daisy, as I would with a member of my own family, and even having feelings, not present in the book, that a man in Gatsby's situation would likely have. It is easy to see, however, how one could misunderstand the book, or have a low opinion of it. There are a number of time-line and grammatical errors, but if it is read for what it is, it will be a cherished favorite forever.

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Summary: The Truly Great Gatsby
Review: I've just finished reading this book in my 10th grade Honors American Lit. class. I can easily say that it's one of the most beautifully written and intricate novels that I've ever read. To those of you who hated it - well, my advice is to quit watching so much MTV and take a couple of hours out to lose yourself in Fitzgerald's masterful style.

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Summary: True Poetry, but clearly not for everyone
Review: The Great Gatsby is the greatest work I have read so far in my short life. However, I do not presume to know the book merely because I have read it. Clearly, from the reviews on this page, many people read The Great Gatsby and miss much, if not all, of the poetry behind the story, the delicate beauty that Fitzgerald fluidly crafts with a cynical yet hopeful hand. I urge, I implore any and every one who reads this book to give it more than a chance. If you read it and believe that it is "boring" or "terrible" or "meaningless," consider briefly that maybe, just maybe, eighty years of endurance and praise might not be wrong. If you find it boring, please, don't read it. But don't dismiss it either; come back to it in a few years, a few decades even, whatever it takes. Only don't assume that because, in ninth or tenth or eleventh or whatever grade, you didn't enjoy it, that it means that Gatsby is not a good book. If you are reading this far and have not read The Great Gatsby, please, give it a shot. The ten dollars you spend may be the best you ever will. Maybe you won't like it, but isn't the possibility of such an incredible experience worth that small investment? Read this book. I don't care how, I don't care when, it must be read. You owe it to yourself.

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Summary: It's all about the Green Light!
Review: This novel is an extremly remarkable book that has so much to do with devotion and trying to attain a goal that any cheesy romance reader should love it. Gatsby believed in the green light, and he knew that one day he would have Daisy, and the symbolism precribing to this is wonderful! However, it is not mush that you can read without thinking, otherwise it would be a cheesy romance novel. If you are involved with the novel you are reading, it will come to you with a bang, the true meaning leaving a smile on your face. Great job by one of the greatest American novelists of all time!

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Summary: What Glimmers in the Distance
Review: Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby" may at first glance seem to be merely a book on the idle rich in New York. They hold parties, get into arguments, become unhappy in love, and unhappy in life in general. However, in the end, one feels sorry for these tragic characters who represent not only the small group of people who they are, but everyone. They are all of us, searching for what makes us feel complete, whatever that may be. We too wonder at the green light that glimmers off in the distance that we just can't reach.

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Summary: Interesting
Review: This is a very interesting book in that it starts out all subtle and gradually involves you so that you feel completely sympathetic toward the characters. It is not for those who want an easy read.