The Great Gatsby

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Summary: The Great Book
Review: I wanted to start reading this book because I kept hearing about how good it was and all. And sure enough after reading it I thought it was more than great it was awsome! The characters are so real and unique. And its very exciting to read at well. I thought that last few pages of the book were so beutifuly wrriten. The ending is very sad and I just dont know what kind of mind would write something like that. But it was a really great book. After reading it I went out and rented Robert Redfords version of the movie. I found that the book was much better than the movie as most of you other reviewers say and it is very true.

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Summary: Life a Soap Opera -- only better!
Review: The idea of reading a classic did not appeal to me, but I was persuaded into reading "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I am glad I did. It turns out "The Great Gatsby" is now one of my favorite books.

The beginning of the book is a little hard to get into. Fitzgerald does use some difficult words, but it was not as bad as I thought it would be. I imagined the book to be filled with outdated 1920s words, terminology, and scenarios, but this was not the case.

Although I found the book hard to concentrate on in the begging, it shortly picked up. The truth is the story line is not at all outmoded. The plot of the book, is in-fact, very interesting and modern. The book is a story of love, deceit, murder, affairs, deceit, and heroism. Much of what you would find in a modern day soap opera! Nick, the narrator, tells the story. He is associated and friends with all of the other major characters in the book, and because he is the only honest person in the novel, Nick provides an interesting viewpoint.

"The Great Gatsby", is also has some symbolism. Some of the symbols are different colors, such as a yellow car and a green light, but the biggest symbol in the book is a billboard of T.J. Eckelberg's (an optometrist) green eyes.

Another reason this book is interesting is because of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Not just because of his writing ability, but also because of the similarities between the book and his life. If you know anything about his life, you can draw many parallels between him and the characters and story lines. However, if you don't know anything about Fitzgerald, most copies of the book include a brief biography at the end. The book is very interesting and enjoyable. I definitely recommend it! In addition, I would like to make two other book recommendations: The Losers' Club by Richard Perez, [e-mail] by Tom Grimes. All 3 novels are about the same length, all 3 are excellent, in my opinion. A good pick-up on Amazon.

Rating:
Summary: Just a thought
Review: Perhaps the reason that no film adaptation of Gatsby has been well-received is that no director could possibly compete with the pictures Fitzgerald paints in the reader's mind. If you haven't already, read this and lose yourself in this Jazz age Greek tragedy. And enjoy the movie in your mind.

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Summary: He was great.
Review: Gatsby was great. Actually, it wouldn't be master, if it is written now. At that time, however, it was one of the best masterpiece.

Tom, who was Daisy's husband, seemed like that he was in full of seeking for worth, more than the love for Daisy. but Gatsby was not like him. Even though he had much more money than Tom, only thing that matter to him was Daisy. F. Scott Fitzgerald was trying to show us about how great his love, I think.

anyway, it is the great book. I really recomend you to read it.

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Summary: What is the American dream?
Review: This novel has been characterized as the quintessential American novel, and even as "THE" American novel. Whether or not I agree with that characterization, F. Scott Fitzgerald's short but dense tale is a masterpiece. That said, there is not much I can add to the years and years of analysis and praise. This book is simply stunning.

I will not rehash plot details here, but I will make a few comments. I studied this book as an English major at college, and just reread it for fun 10 years later. I remember reading it as a student, and learning about all the symbolism present. If you look for it, you can find symbolism contained in every paragraph. A few symbolic themes I remember studying were those of colors, the weather, religion and the Bible, and numbers. I remember learning that different colors represented different traits. White, for example, supposedly represents purity, while yellow represents artificiality. Therefore, the name Daisy is itself a symbol: a daisy is white on the outside and yellow in the center. Accordingly, Daisy appears to be pure but inside is tarnished and artificial.

While it is fascinating to study all the symbolism in this novel, this time I read it purely for the story. And the story is more than enough. Strip away all of the symbolism, and this would still be a masterpiece. This is the tale of a twisted perversion of the American dream--one of Gatsby's ambition to amass a fortune in order to win over Daisy. Yet he will never win over Daisy, for she will never love one who has to earn his wealth. It is the story of Gatsby's failure to win even one true friend, despite the fact that his house is always filled with people, and everyone "knows" him. Even the narrator only arranges Gatsby's funeral out of a sense of obligation and pity.

This slim masterpiece is beautifully and concisely written, and heartbreaking without ever being sentimental. This book has survived 75 years worth of critical analysis, and it still going strong. In another 75 years, people will still be studying this grotesque manifestation of the American dream.

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Summary: Dreamy Masterpiece
Review: The first word that comes to my mind when I think of this book is 'dreamy' The action moves in a liquidy laziness, as though every character has ample time and is in no hurry to clue us in on their motivations and lives. Another thing that adds to the feeling of dreaminess is Fitzgerald's use of language, it is amazing, he has the most poetic prose I've ever read. Most prose would sound fluffy and ridiculous with the words and structure that he uses but somehow, as if by magic, it all fits together beautifully.

This book is mainly about three characters, Gatsby, Daisy, and her husband Tom. Gatsby is introduced to us as a mysterious figure, throwing lavish parties attended by people he barely knows. Rumors about him swirl. This is very effective, it gives him an air of mystery that we find he really doesn't deserve. Once we begin to meet him more intimately he seems fairly mundane. We find later that he has been in love with Daisy since his youth and amassed this great fortune merely to please her.

Daisy and Tom also live in the world of the lazy rich. They are unhappy, unreasoningly unhappy. They seem to want nothing, and are unsatisfied by everything. Daisy is lazy and pampered. She is beautiful, but boring, in the way that conceited people can be exceptionally boring. Tom is common, prone to angry outbursts which are really unbecoming to people who are trying their best to be as apathetic as possible.

The tragedy in this book, at least in my opinion, lies in the uselessness and waste of life, the use of money or status or youth to create happiness. They all seem to know the truth, that it all fades or is wasted, but still strive for a tangible joy. This a great book! Also suggested (recent titles) ---> The Losers' Club by Richard Perez, [e-mail] by Tom Grimes

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Summary: Fitzgerald's Epiphany
Review: What a sham, what a demeaning story, what a creative piece of fiction...whereby all the characters lived in castles in the sky society. Yet, it is a piece of fiction, perhaps a portraiture of how Fitzgerald wanted life for himself. Was this story literary history? You decide. I enjoyed reading it as a slice of fake reality. I think human intelligence lifts us above the simplemindedness of silly social/economical ills of the rich and famous. Read and enjoy! Or, read and barf!

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Summary: A glimpse into Jazz Age
Review: This book is a glimpse into the jazz age and the glamourous parties of that time. The narrator(Nick) is very honest in his evaluations of other characters, which keeps the book fair, showing the good and bad side of all characters including the narrater himself.

The story is about a man(Jay Gatsby) whose past is very shady and the source to his wealth is unknown. He throws lavish parties and hope's to see his past love(Daisy) in one of those parties. Daisy is married to a rich man(Tom).

The story revolves around these characters with interesting twists keeping the readers guessing as to how will this book end.

It is a classic book that underlines the universal fact that do not run after the past, live in the present and create new memories.

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Summary: Fitzgerald's Great Gatzby is hardley as its cracked up to be
Review: Bottom Line is THIS: Twentieth Century Masterpiece, NO; 2 days of incrediably wasteful reading i will never get back, YES!!! Lets just say that I created my own "Valley of Ashes", its called a burnt up copy of The Great Gatzby in my dumpster outside my house. Upon finishing the novel found myself contemplating who was driving whose car, who was kissing who, and who shot who. Then an incredible idea dawned on me:I couldn't give two $#!ts. The book is a confusing roller coaster ride of creepy behind the scenes love affairs, convoluted past relationships, and the inconsequential and oddly enough santimonious attractions to mysterious green lights,wealth, and a never ending desire for the ultimate twentieth century American ideal: A big house, a big wallet, and a big Rolls Royce in the driveway. Twenty pages from the end when I discovered that the old windbag Gatzby had been murdered (YES!!! I do take pleasure in ruining the ending to millions of eager readers out there), I closed the book and ended the worhtless drivel once and for all. All in all, I have to say that I don't take any shame in saying that the only satifaction I got from reading the book was when i found out that Gatzby is dead. I guess I'll just make up the two days i wasted reading Fitzgerald's book by writing condolence letters to Fitzgeral'd unfortunate relatives. Anyone who is an ancestor to that worthless excuse of an American novelist should be offered sincere consoling and extreme sympathies.

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Summary: THE MIND REMENenSENCE
Review: fItZgerald,,herald, the future that you can gleem in symbols of far off,HIS GENUIS,REGRET given full amplification in symbolic descrptions of GLITZ EMPTY ECHOES IN PONIFICATIOns. POSTS given anchor on the pages,past each proceeding the other, he was surely on to something, terrible OF THE HAZARDS MINE FIELDS, STUMBLING ACROSS MOON SOAKED PLATEAUS, ode dizzy paves in broken glass, A PRODIGY FLEEIN A PREMATURE past FUTURE TO STEER CLEAR,THAT LURK ON THE SURFACE OF SEEIN THINGS like no one had ever done before.