Reviews with content warning for War - The Great Gatsby

Didn't expect this to feel so plain? Lukewarm? Clearly something was there, but it felt like it was kept away at an arm's length and eventually my arm got tired of reaching. The Roaring 1920's vibes were definitely there, but not as vividly as I had hoped. A world of careless partying and glorious riches, but also one where beating up your wife and being racist is the norm. There was quite a lot of deep stuff between the lines, like how rich people can get away with anything yet money can't buy you love, but the stuff felt very surface-level and I don't quite get why this is such a hyped book.

I didn't really like Gatsby at all, so the ending pleasantly surprised me :') I was also kinda rooting for Nick and Jordan, but then again I didn't really like Nick either and I'm glad Jordan knew her self worth.

As a Finnish person I was pleasantly surprised to hear of Carraway's housemaid being a Finn, but oh, the hypocrisy of these American upper-class people! Being blatantly racist, they speak about the superiority of the white Nordic race which they deem themselves a member of, but the only person from an actual Nordic country, the Finnish housemaid, is repeatedly described as demonic, just a nameless creature muttering incomprehensible nonsense.

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reike's review against another edition

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reflective sad

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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maggiegirouard's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I think this book is overrated. I think it is weird how people romanticize Daisy and Gatsby. I don’t think they should be an example of a good relationship, or that they were intended to be.

She never knew who he really was, and left him to die and be blamed for a crime she committed without even giving him a clue. he was in love with an idea of Daisy that never really existed. he was obsessed and creepy.

The plot was decently exciting, but it took more than half the book to get there, then ended. I can say that the writing was good. But I think some of the things the book was centered on were not good, like false love, “reinventing” yourself by lying about your past, etc. And I know it was an old book but it was certainly misogynistic. Overall not really a fan but I’m glad I read it and know what people are talking about now. I would recommend to people interested in classics as a sort of you should read it just to know what it is thing.

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atamano's review against another edition

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reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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lqne's review against another edition

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sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Diverse cast of characters? No

4.5

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i_write_on_occasion's review against another edition

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challenging informative reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Beautifully written with an engaging story. The illustrations in this edition are stunning as well.

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graceslibrary's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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i_llumi's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

[rating will probably change]

I wanted to get out and walk eastward toward the Park. . . . Yet high over the city our line of yellow windows must have contributed their share of human secrecy to the casual watcher in the darkening streets, and I was him too, looking up and wondering. I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life.

yup mr and mrs fitzgerald’s writing is my favourite so far

I found this book at The Strand in NY and since the entire thing is mostly set in New York City I decided to read it all while I was here and boy, what a trip was that
(I’ve never had to read this book for any of my classes and since I never watched the movie either, I had basically no idea what the plot was except that it was about parties in the 20’s)

long story short, I enjoyed my time with this book. I still need to think about some things, but I can say that the portrayal of the US in the 1920’s stands true to this day and that yeah, the American Dream^TM is fake - a non-american born in brazil
reading this truly emphasized that humans never change and that we’ll probably never truly learn lessons from the past. the grind/hustle culture we have today is basically just a rebranding of the american dream and welp, we can see what that does to people (it’s about drive it’s about power we stay hungry we devour)

with all that said though, a more personal note: I actually liked This Side of Paradise more than this one. idk, there’s something about the former just speaks to me more. anyways, im running on 3h of sleep writing this on a [now crowded but once desolated] train station at 5 am so. im tired lol

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