Rating: 
Summary: Money Can't Buy Happiness
Review: Supreme Court Judge, Oliver Wendell Holmes, once said, "In my thirty years of legal experience, I have never witnessed money helping a victim, although I have seen it pretending to help them." In F. Scott Fitzgerald's American masterpiece, The Great Gatsby, the main character, Jay Gatsby attempts to rekindle his long-lost romantic relationship with Daisy Buchanan, by flaunting his newfound wealth and success. During the time Gatsby and Daisy were apart, Gatsby works for and attains the American Dream-wealth and success. Despite this, Gatsby feels like he lacks love. Thus, he moves to Long Island and takes up residence across the bay from Daisy in the hopes that Daisy will become attracted to him and love him because of his wealth. By describing vivid settings and relationships and by displaying ever-changing tones throughout The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald educates the reader about the myth that money fixes problems of the heart, social problems and past problems. Fitzgerald paints a portrait of 1920's social status by pointing differences between the residences of Gatsby and the Buchanan's. Gatsby represents "new money" and lives on the less exclusive West Egg, Long Island. Tom and Daisy Buchanan represent "old money" and live on the more exclusive East Egg, Long Island. In addition to separating the "Eggs" by social status, the homes of Gatsby and the Buchanan's differ as well. The Buchanan's live in an older, more traditional estate. "Their house was even more elaborate than I expected, a cheerful red and white Georgian colonial mansion overlooking the bay" (11). On the other hand, Gatsby's mansion is a newer home that, "...was a factual imitation Hotel de Ville in Normandy, with a tower on one side, sparkling new under a thin beard of raw ivy..." (9). Case in point, the "old money" like the Buchanan's, frown upon Gatsby's "new money." Love and the problems it causes presents itself as the major theme in Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. The love of Gatsby and Daisy, as superficial as it seems, has a definite possibility of working out. When Gatsby does not return from the Great War, Daisy decides to marry Tom, a man of money and social status. Daisy gets caught up in society and thinks that Tom enables her to live a dream, "For Daisy was young and her artificial world was redolent of orchids and pleasant, cheerful snobbery and orchestras which set the rhythm of the year..." (158). Consequently, Daisy marries Tom and they climb the summit of the social mountain. However her relationship with Tom proves void of love. Tom fills this void with his mistress, Myrtle, who also finds discontent in her marriage. In fact one character relates the mismatched pairs, "...why go on living with them if they can't stand them? If I was them I'd get a divorce and get married to each other right away" (37). Fitzgerald portrays wealth and social status as false guarantees of success in love. The tone of The Great Gatsby reveals itself through an endless parade of parties and social occasions, which make the reader feel intrigued by the mystery, that is Gatsby. Partying, a definite theme in this book, pops up repeatedly. A refuge to the everyday loneliness that Gatsby feels, his parties are grand in scale and extravagant in taste. "Every Friday five crates of oranges and lemons arrived from a fruitier in New York-every Monday these same oranges and lemons left his back door in a pyramid of pulpless halves" (43) On the other hand, the first formal encounter between Gatsby, Daisy and Tom proves confrontational. Fitzgerald reminds the reader that serious feeling hang in the balance and the party has concluded. Gatsby has waited a long time to tell Daisy of his feelings and his anxiety permeates as an underlying tone. Anxiety yields to desperation, as Gatsby grapples with the seriousness of his feeling for Daisy, "She only married you because I was poor and she was tired of waiting for me. It was a terrible mistake, but in her heart she never loved anyone except me!" (137). It does not matter how much money Gatsby amasses because it will never erase the past between Daisy and Gatsby. Gatsby defines the victim in question as Holmes referred it. Wealth did not help Gatsby gain a foothold on the social status ladder. Wealth did not help Gatsby win back Daisy, or erase their past together. By using setting, relationships and tone, Fitzgerald wrote an incomparable novel that teaches the reader some of life's lessons. Fitzgerald breathed life in Gatsby, he absolutely embodied a 'green light,' in his hopes and his dreams. Fitzgerald made it clear that no matter how much a man acquires he always yearns for more and wants something he cannot have. Gatsby, as hopeful as the 'green light' he symbolized, never reached that vision of a future with Daisy. Instead he pretended that money would solve all his problems. Perhaps this is the most important lesson of all. The Great Gatsby brings new meaning to the saying "money doesn't buy happiness."
Rating:
Summary: a great book to read
Review: In the early 1900's there were two kinds of people, the rich and the poor. It was the period of time which was known as the Gilded Age. The Gilded Age could be used as a comparison to a gilded vase. Things during this time looked nice and perfect on the outside, while on the inside, things were rotting, diminishing, and disintegrating. The poor were becoming poorer, while the rich were becoming richer. The lives of the rich were perfect, for they had nothing to worry about. It was a time of fun , games, amusement, parties and women. However all was not as good as it appeared to be. This time was filled with deceitful men and women; it was the time of prohibition, where the so-called drug stores sold about every kind of liquor; it was a time when bribes ruled the way things were run; it was a time when the World Series was fixed, and the profiteer was not found. F. Scott Fitgerald's novel The Great Gatsby was written to show the lives of society of both the newly rich, and the ones who inherited the wealth, the ones that were born rich and stayed that way. To show their inside lives, and to depict the morality of these people, the author has used to depict the themes of Gold Imagery of moral corruption, misplaced idealism, and waste of potential in the lives of the fictional characters.
Rating:
Summary: The unforgettable Gatsby
Review: Wow. Age has nothing to do with appreciation of this novel. I had to read Gatsby last year, in the tenth grade, and I absolutely adored it. Fitzgerald did a wonderful job with this story. It is a light and simple read, while at the same time an intricately crafted and beautiful story of Gatsby, one of the most tragic and wonderful characters I have encountered in my seventeen years of reading. This book is worth reading a few times through. Thought-evoking, tragic, and beautifully written, it delivers a tale with a message that you are bound to remember. Classic.
Rating: 
Summary: Terrible
Review: Even though I'am in 10th grade and was forced to read this i still think it was bad. The beginning started out way to slow and i already hated it. Then i just goes into a bunch of affairs that are happening in the 1920's. Then when Daisy runs over Myrtle you knew Gatsby was in trouble. I think this book was too much like a soap opera. I did not like it at all. But then again I'm in 10th grade.
Rating:
Summary: The disintegration of the American dream
Review: The Great Gatsby is an important book, make no mistake. It is also the finest novel of a very fine novelist. At a time when America was just beginning to realise that it was as susceptible to corruption, greed and self-delusion as every other country on the planet, Fitzgerald wrote a book that really does capture the moment a nation founded on ideals realises that ideals are hard to live by. Gatsby, the central anti-character, is a mere shadow, a man who reinvents himself to win the heart of the girl he think he loves. The foundations of this infatuation and subsequent reinvention are rotten and the result must be rotten too. Fitzgerald writes beautifully, his words tinged with the sadness and quiet desperation that flavours the whole novel, and his characters all seem to sense that their lives are built on precarious ideas about success, happiness and love. The Great Gatsby is a very honest and acute portrayal of a nation built on the misbegotten assumption that you can be whoever you want to be, and the consequences that that belief holds. More importantly it is a brilliant and moving novel.
Rating:
Summary: A classic!
Review: I don't understand why so many people found the book so boring. The story carried a clear plot and a great view about the 1920s. I personally thought it was really well written. The language might be a little difficult to understand, but that's why there are dictionaries. The Great Gatsby was written 80 years ago, and it is still around today. If it was such an appalling novel, it would never have made it this far. But in any case, it has been passed on to generations, and that is what makes this book a classic.
Rating: 
Summary: See For Yourself
Review: This was a pretty good book about the sad and corrupt people of the 1920s. Don't be bullied by William T. Vogt's review, though, read it for yourself and form your own opinion. It is easy not to have any sympathy for the characters because of faults such as greed, brutality, and arrogance. But it is important that you look beyond those characteristics when reading. You must remember this is the 1920s, you must take into consideration the background of each character and their motivations (every scene is important), then you will understand them more and perhaps gain a bit of sympathy if not like for the character. Even the Great Gatsby has his faults (don't be fooled by the title). When reading the story, a question that you should try to answer is if this is truly a love story or the story of two people who think their in love (consider motivation and character). Another question to ask is why this is titled the Great Gatsby. Overall, this is an excellent commentary on 1920s life through the eyes of Fitzgerald.
Rating:
Summary: Timeless
Review: I have to agree with Mr Vogt (2/15). The negative reviews make me question the quality of the books that people read these days. The lyrical quality and economy of the writing are enough to make The Great Gatsby worth reading. And Fitzgerald's commentary on the "American dream" through the ironies of Gatsby's journey and ultimate fate really resonated with me. And the last two paragraphs....wow!
Rating:
Summary: don't bother
Review: terrible, terrible, terrible! This incredibly boring book, although considered an american classic, is dismal. Don't bother with it, and read Douglas Adams instead.
Rating:
Summary: a wonderful literary peice.
Review: The Great Gatsby is a unique work written by the american novelist F.S.Fitzegrald.I found my self,while reading it,living the twenties arestocratic society;Away from feeling sympathy with GATSBY.
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