Publication: May 27, 2003, by Scribner
Genre: Fiction, Historical
Pages: 184
Format: Hardcover
Source: Borrowed
Rating:
Jay Gatsby is the man who has everything. But one thing will always be out of his reach. Everybody who is anybody is seen at his glittering parties. Day and night his Long Island mansion buzzes with bright young things drinking, dancing, and debating his mysterious character. For Gatsby---young, handsome, and fabulously rich---always seems alone in the crowd, watching and waiting, though no one knows what for. Beneath the shimmering surface of his life he is hiding a secret: a silent longing that can never be fulfilled. And soon this destructive obsession will force his world to unravel.
My Thoughts:
The Great Gatsby has been on my to-read list on Goodreads for years. YEARS. I bet that I first added it when I opened my account... when I turned thirteen. I always had that fantasy that I would read the BEST books in high school, so I waited until this past semester of school where I discovered that I would be reading it. F. Scott Fitzgerald has created a literal masterpiece that I recommend TO EVERYONE. If you want to see beauty in terms of greed, corruption, forbidden love, and the famous American Dream. This is a quick read, however, the amount of events that occur in between the lines ARE IMMENSE.
This is the kind of book that hooks you midway. It's not something that you'll start adoring as you begin reading, or even after two chapters. Gatsby's story develops very slowly, like a metamorphosis (do you see my attempt to sound lyrical over there?). And after I watched the movie with Leo DiCaprio, I felt a greater connection to the novel as all became clear and I was truly able to appreciate the era in which it was written... an era I would love to travel back in time to: the Roaring Twenties. I would want to see what it was like to be a flapper, to attend extravagant parties with jazz music playing in the background... all of that. Since I cannot gain that experience, Fitzgerald did that for me; he created a gorgeous experience and setting for all readers.
The setting of the story is what continues to draw me in to this day. New York City is the most important from them all; even though it appears to be so luxurious and full of glitz and glamour, it is really corrupt. It's where crime and bootlegging happened... where some of the characters took their positions out of hand, where infidelity occurred. Then, we also had a division in Long Island, between West Egg and East Egg. Although both parts of the island contained individuals who you may describe as "filthy rich," they were practically polar opposites. West Egg contained the "new rich," including Gatsby and Nick Carraway, our novel's protagonist. The East Egg, on the other hand, contained the "old rich," those who are careless and didn't have to work for their money. This was made up of Tom and Daisy Buchanan, major characters of the novel.
AGH. There are many things I would do to receive some sort of sequel for this novel. It is a pure American classic that highlights the fact that money doesn't buy happiness; that humans are always striving for something more. And, in a way, this is a corrupt love story.
The Great Gatsby is a novel every human being must pick up at some point in their lives. Whether you're a teenager, or a middle-aged person, this book will formulate some kind of emotion in your heart. You'll get easily attached to Gatsby's world, and the rest will be history. You'll be talking about this gorgeous piece of literature for ages.
Have you read TGG? What is your impression of it?
