The Great GatsbyFitzgerald's most famous novel has a great deal of hype to live up to. Fortunately for the reader, it delivers.
The title of the book is the key to the heart of the story. Gatsby isn't "Great"; Gatsby is an illusion - he is a persona, worn, like his beautiful shirts and his pink suit, as a mask and a shield. Gatsby is successful and popular and is the epitome of the superficiality of the era he lives in. Consumerism is rife, and Gatsby fills his house with wild parties, movie stars, and the bright young things of New York society. Our middle-class narrator, Nick Carraway, is smitten with the lifestyle, the wealth, and the friendship offered by Gatsby, even while he suspects that all is not what it seems.
Of course, even among the super-rich upper-classes, there is a hierarchy at work. And Tom Buchanan, husband of Nick's cousin Daisy, sees his place as well above Gatsby. Born into fabulous wealth, Buchanan is a big man, defined by his brutish physicality. For all his claims of superiority and civility, Tom lacks self-control; he breaks his (married) lover's nose when she annoys him. His casual violence and personal amorality are so at odds with his view of himself, that he is exposed to the reader to be as much a fraud as Gatsby. At least Gatsby can lay claim to both self-inventiveness and self-awareness.
Fitzgerald is the master of the empty superficiality of the Jazz Age; his portrayal of a social class obsessed with style over substance, of things over self, a society rushing headlong into an inevitable crash is second to none. Although this novel is set during the prohibition years, alcohol infuses every page; fast cars play a key role; telephone conversations abound. In a present-day novel, drugs and private jets and shiny, shiny technology would be the order of the day. But the hollowness of the lives of the deeply superficial are not defined by time or era, and there's much that's as recognisable to a modern reader as to a contemporary one.
I've always thought reading F Scott is like reading silk. He has such an elegance to his writing, deftly combined with wit and yearning. His writing just shimmers. Reading anything written by him is a treat - reading The Great Gatsby is a privilege.
Posted at 12:38 - 21.08.09 by kittyfondue
Absolutely. The Great Gatsby more than delivers with respect to the hype still surrounding it.
The Jazz Age is exemplified in this novel. In fact, the details, settings, and characters almost make The Great Gatsby a time capsule preserving this particular age in American history. There are times when the novel is taught in high schools as both an example of modern literature and as a history lesson. It’s almost as if the Jazz Age and The Great Gatsby are synonymous with each other. For more on the historical background and The Great Gatsby quotes, visit Shmoop.
Posted at 15:30 - 06.10.09 by JasonStyris
I had to laugh the other day as I was reading what books that people have demanded in America to have banned - this was one of them. Obviously some people don't like good literature.
Posted at 18:25 - 08.10.09 by martin
My problem with the Great Gatsby is the narrator's complete passiveness. It's almost like he's not even there in the story as he simply recounts what he observes. He just seems too much like an invisible figure observing the events around him.
Posted at 03:54 - 16.12.09 by rnbguru
I think that what you said about the narrator being almost invisible helps the story rather than detracts from it. He isn't really passing an opinion, and this makes the story that bit more powerful, and more memorable.
Posted at 19:32 - 18.12.09 by martin
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Posted at 16:17 - 07.01.10 by autaiptfe
Its a great book. Every one should read it
Posted at 08:22 - 25.01.10 by sexywallpaper
Reading F Scott gives me a totally different feeling.
Posted at 09:43 - 04.02.10 by jake1496
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Posted at 03:14 - 31.03.10 by guccinewshop
Having taught this book to my sophomores, the kids seemed to really be split on their feelings about the book. The book has such amazing imagery that some of the kids just seemed blown away by it. Of course, it seemed like a lot of it went over their heads.
Posted at 20:17 - 18.04.10 by antler-luggage
Great review. I have not read this book for over 15 years back when I was in school. After reading this I'm inspired to give it another read.
Posted at 03:33 - 27.04.10 by steve1016
Great review. I have not read this book for over 15 years back when I was in school. After reading this I'm inspired to give it another read.
Posted at 03:33 - 27.04.10 by steve1016
great book, thanks a lot!
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A great review for a great book. I know that it may not be the easiest story to really get to grips with, but if you look at Fitzgerald's relationship to Zelda his wife you can see a direct corelation between the two. After that the story will fall into place and become unforgettable.
Posted at 17:47 - 23.03.09 by martin