The Great Gatsby
Ratings2,626
Average rating3.7
1860onwards challenge - Book 3 - The Great Gatsby (1925)
Slow and somewhat tepid start. Personally not super interested in the period or the setting. Sometimes hard to follow, the writing being quite wishy-washy in places. Last third more interesting, emotional, and enjoyable. However it wasn't worth trudging through the first two thirds.
Characters ***
Atmosphere **
Plot *
Emotion ***
Style **
2.2
This classic novel is full of imagery and themes for discussion. I think one reason it continues to endure as a school literature staple is that for students just entering the analytical world of literature the connections and themes painted within this novel are rich and easily identified. The author is a master of painting a visual picture. I was a sucker for the Robert Redford Film and it is one of the few novels I read as a student that came to life on the screen in a way that was much as I had imagined.
I lowered my rating to 3 stars because at the same time I felt like I wanted more. It felt like the characters were almost caricatures of the era, or perhaps props used as vessels to tell the store of the themes of class and privilege and money and power and appearance upon the glitzy backdrop of a by gone era. Lessons to learn within this novel I understand but I would rather have been taught them by more deeply developed characters.
Beautifully written. Can honestly say it is probably one of the best books that I have read.
It's absolutely devastating at the end, which I wasn't expecting (though I did start reading it with no idea what kind of a book it was). None of the characters are likeable but you still get quite attached to them.
It's face paced so that I found it really easy to read but I feel like you could also spend ages just analysing every word of it.
There were also definitely moments where I actually gasped (maybe because I'm a bit sad and am entertained too easily) but nonetheless, it's not the ending or character development you would expect.
No wonder it's a classic.
A short read, which doesn't make it any less of a master piece. A story set in 1920's. It's about a mysterious man, Gatsby, Who throws a parties every night that he never attends. His neighbor becomes good friends with and gets to know Gatsby. This book has amazing themes but the best has to be dissatisfaction, which is a driving force of why Gatsby was so successful among other things. I have read this book a few times and each time is has been though provoking to me
-8/2020
I'm hoping to re-read this
“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”
“I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life.”
Very anticlimactic ending that made my rating lower. The symbolism and allusions are wonderful to analyze, and the overall plot is quite interesting. However, I don't think Gatsby is the type of book I'd ever read out of my own pure interest, simply because it's main message is expressed in such a subdued manner.
Judgement is probably clouded but I read this in school and did not like it no matter how badly I wanted too
Beautiful writing, very short. Came in with very high expectations not knowing it was more of a novella than a novel so when it ended I kinda felt like thats it. PS: I recommend you read one of the reviews below on how Daisy is the best character. Definetely worth the time looking for it
2.5 if I was able to grade in halves.
I read this book for school and could not figure out why my classmates liked it. It was shallow, the eye metaphor was discussed as if it was this huge thing but it had no impact on the story, and the characters had no depth.
Did not like.
I read this book, first about 2 years ago. I have to say, I didn't like it very much at all.
When I saw the new movie adaptation on the weekend, I was determined to read it again because the story made so much more sense to me after seeing it on screen.
While I did enjoy the book a bit this time, I think it's safe to say it may be the only book where I actually like the movie better...
I had seen movies and plays based on the book but had never actually read the book until now. It was a real pleasure to read the book and felt I learnt and understood Gatsby much better from the book. Highly recommended.
Fitzgerald's writing style is beautiful from a technical standpoint. However, despite its strangely timely themes, the novel is painfully bland and features paper thin characters.
I think this is one of the only moments that I’ll say that the film is better than the book. It was a good read, with some chapters I found myself flying through the pages with wonder and interest, but I couldn’t help but end up bored with some passages and even chapters, especially the first chapter. It’s definitely a book everyone should read in their lifetime, but I can’t help but feel like I was forcing myself to read it sometimes.
This is my second time reading this book and it is still amazing! I always hate how it ends but I love it nonetheless. Fantastic.
Truyện không ấn tượng lắm.. tui lại thích phim hơn chắc do nhiều yếu tố hào nhoáng hơn.
Summary: This 1920s-era novel is the novel that defined the “Jazz Age.” It is told through the perspective of Nick, a visitor to his cousin Daisy and cousin-in-law Tom on New York’s old-money East Egg district. It doesn’t take long before Nick meets his extravagantly wealthy neighbor, Jay Gatsby, who lives in the West Egg district, and begins to slowly unravel the story of his past.
I think is a classic, it is beautifully written and the story, as simple as it is, is moving. The detail I liked the most is the reference of the green light, it is effortless ICONIC.
I think I am in the age of truly understanding and valuing the message told in this book, it talks about making your dreams come true, Gatsby worked hard to get there, only his means weren't honest and that's when he lost everything he truly cared for... the shallow things won't follow us to the grave, only the most important ones: love, friendship, people we left a positive mark on.
You see, Gatsby had his house filled with people every night attending his parties, but Nick struggled to find people willing to attend Jay's funeral in the end, and that tells us that you can be surrounded by people but that doesn't make you less lonely.
I watched the movie a long time ago and don't remember much of it except for the green light and the final scene. I will have to re-watch it and have a more solid opinion on whether the movie did justice to the book or not, as well as if they kept some details in the book that are more of a performance and less of quotes.
I enjoyed the book, it is fast-paced, nostalgic at times and I think it is the first book I've read that is written by a man that has romance in it, of course the genre is tragedy but still... it brings a nice POV.
I believe this book is misunderstood in some way, as people expect it to be a love story of some sort or took it as a chore due to it being assigned as an English class task.
It's slow, a tiny bit complex, and not as relatable as a story of today as it was written for another epoch.
But even more, it reflects the tragedy (or beauty) of the flow of time and the nostalgic longing for better times in the past.