Review: The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald

Where I got it: My collection
Rating: 3.5 stars  
Cover Rating: 2 stars (Looks like a boring classic.)
Genre: Adult
Publication Date: 1953/1925
Publisher: Charles Scribner's Sons
Page Count: 182 p.
Buy it: Book Depository | Indie | Amazon
Add it: Goodreads

I don't feel like I need to write a summary for this novel, because you either have read this or are not going to.

Nick Carraway was an interesting character, not a great writer though. His story jumped around a lot and sometimes it was confusing about how these random events fit together. (I suppose this is really Fitzgerald's doing, but I feel they could be one in the same.) Beginning of chapter four lists a bunch of names for quite a few too many pages. I understand that it's supposed to show all the various types that attended Gatsby's parties, but it just seemed dreadfully boring to me. They weren't even really people, so it didn't really seem all that important. I did love picture Gatsby's parties and his huge house. Gatsby and Nick were such real people. Even though Gatsby was very mysterious about his past, his present was endearing. You could hear the emotion in his words, even if he was cool.

There was plenty to like about this novel and I liked all those bits. There were a few slow parts though and a few parts I just didn't understand. Maybe a second read through will make things more coherent. Luckily this is a short novel, so it's one that you can stop and re-read parts of without taking a very long time to finish it. It was an enjoyable read for the most part.

Gatsby. He was a unique fella and so in love. So crazily, stupidly in love. I feel so awful for Gatsby. He tried so hard. He felt so much. In the end things don't always work out for people who may deserve it, even when the ungrateful hordes dance in the sun. That's what I took away from this novel. Is rich people get richer, while the poor get poorer. It doesn't matter if it's money of life. There are always grateful people and ungrateful people. Dreamers and those content to have life always be the same. We need those dreamers though, otherwise we wouldn't have any inventions and still just be cavemen.

I won't say much more; Gatsby is Gatsby. This novel is definitely worth the read, if only so you know that book that people mention now and again when they are trying to sound sophisticated. Who knows, maybe you'll love it...

First Line:
"In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind since."

Favorite Line:
"So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past."

The Great Gatsby | How things change as you get older

 So you might have all heard about this little movie that came out yesterday called The Great Gatsby. I remember that it was assigned reading in school and I hated it. It could have been because it was assigned reading and I hated being told what to read, but I never finished it. Since then I have never picked it up to re-read it because I thought I hated it.

Then, I hear that Baz Lurhmann has a new film coming out and it's a remake of The Great Gatsby. I was torn because I have this memory of completely despising the book, but I love Baz Luhrmann movies. I decided I might as well watch it. Then recently the soundtrack came out and I quite enjoy the direction it seems this movie will go in.

Anyways, so I started re-reading The Great Gatsby and strange because thus far I am actually enjoying it. I am only about a chapter into it, but I find myself very much enjoying the voice. This whole story is just a friendly reminder that if you didn't like a book in high school and it's been a fair handful of years, you might want to try it again because it might surprise you (it also might still just be terrible). So if you haven't already watched this movie and it's been awhile since you read the book and didn't like it. Maybe you should give it another shot.