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bedcarp's review against another edition
3.0
just in case you somehow missed out on effectively one of the most popular works of literature ever written, the great gatsby, and really all of fitzgerald's novels, casts a refreshingly cynical eye on the decadence and moral emptiness of 1920s america (which still rings true today despite the novel's very slight datedness), the immutability of class and failure of the egalitarian american dream, basically everything that's been beaten to death by every high school teacher and university professor in existence.
as a historical document it's absolutely invaluable and possibly one of the most vivid fictional worlds ever inherited. as a story, too, the superficial love triangle conflict forming the key narrative of the great gatsby is suitably engaging and well-developed. as a work of literature, though, the great gatsby is really just alright -- fitzgerald employs a range of subtle witticisms and possesses a keen eye for detail and dialogue that really makes his prose (specifically his skill at establishing a particular setting, think gatsby's mansion in all its sprawl and empty glamour) come to life, and the great gatsby, for all its eventual pessimism and bleakness, is a surprisingly enjoyable read, even humorous at times. fitzgerald, i think, is ultimately a writer restricted by the scope of his ideas. you've read the great gatsby and tender is the night, you've more or less read them all. the story of jay gatsby's hopeless romanticism in the face of an impossible dream is, of course, the main aspect of the book that has penetrated the greater sphere of cultural renown, but i think the most remarkable thing the great gatsby is how it ties back to fitzgerald's own life (a far more compelling and tragic story, too, for what it's worth). without going too deep into detail, fitzgerald more or less projects his own life experiences onto gatsby (most of his main characters actually lmao), and the story of the great gatsby can be read a conflation of two of his relationships -- a failed romance with a socialite debutante fraught with classist divide and his own experience writing this side of paradise as a means of gaining the financial stability to marry who would become his first wife, ending in a disillusioned and loveless marriage driven and eventually drawn apart largely by wasteful indulgence.
in that regard i think the most remarkable thing about the great gatsby is how it serves as an outlet for fitzgerald to dramatise and subtly scorn himself, self-lacerating the most destructive aspects of his personality. gatsby's hopeless, floundering romanticism is as heroic as it is pathetic and laughable. the eponymous greatness of his character comes across as a slightly ironic hint that knowing fitzgerald, was likely intentional. the great gatsby, then, for all its "prescient social commentary", is really the portrait of a tortured author as critical of his society as he is invariably allured by it, a wounded breath of cynicism from a voice ceaselessly drawn back into the glittering naïvety of the past, in a world far too cruel and unjust for any idealism to ever thrive. it's fitzgerald, for all his literary sophistication and ability, lingering on the bitterly romantic, the aesthetically sombre, unwillingly trapped in days gone by and unable to move beyond it.
and something about that just strikes me as so poignant, so deeply tragic. the book's still mostly alright.
as a historical document it's absolutely invaluable and possibly one of the most vivid fictional worlds ever inherited. as a story, too, the superficial love triangle conflict forming the key narrative of the great gatsby is suitably engaging and well-developed. as a work of literature, though, the great gatsby is really just alright -- fitzgerald employs a range of subtle witticisms and possesses a keen eye for detail and dialogue that really makes his prose (specifically his skill at establishing a particular setting, think gatsby's mansion in all its sprawl and empty glamour) come to life, and the great gatsby, for all its eventual pessimism and bleakness, is a surprisingly enjoyable read, even humorous at times. fitzgerald, i think, is ultimately a writer restricted by the scope of his ideas. you've read the great gatsby and tender is the night, you've more or less read them all. the story of jay gatsby's hopeless romanticism in the face of an impossible dream is, of course, the main aspect of the book that has penetrated the greater sphere of cultural renown, but i think the most remarkable thing the great gatsby is how it ties back to fitzgerald's own life (a far more compelling and tragic story, too, for what it's worth). without going too deep into detail, fitzgerald more or less projects his own life experiences onto gatsby (most of his main characters actually lmao), and the story of the great gatsby can be read a conflation of two of his relationships -- a failed romance with a socialite debutante fraught with classist divide and his own experience writing this side of paradise as a means of gaining the financial stability to marry who would become his first wife, ending in a disillusioned and loveless marriage driven and eventually drawn apart largely by wasteful indulgence.
in that regard i think the most remarkable thing about the great gatsby is how it serves as an outlet for fitzgerald to dramatise and subtly scorn himself, self-lacerating the most destructive aspects of his personality. gatsby's hopeless, floundering romanticism is as heroic as it is pathetic and laughable. the eponymous greatness of his character comes across as a slightly ironic hint that knowing fitzgerald, was likely intentional. the great gatsby, then, for all its "prescient social commentary", is really the portrait of a tortured author as critical of his society as he is invariably allured by it, a wounded breath of cynicism from a voice ceaselessly drawn back into the glittering naïvety of the past, in a world far too cruel and unjust for any idealism to ever thrive. it's fitzgerald, for all his literary sophistication and ability, lingering on the bitterly romantic, the aesthetically sombre, unwillingly trapped in days gone by and unable to move beyond it.
and something about that just strikes me as so poignant, so deeply tragic. the book's still mostly alright.
likenirvana's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
tense
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
3.75
thomas_edmund's review against another edition
3.0
After about a million name drops, Facebook reading tests and dopey confusion with Marsden's the Great Gatenby, I finally read Gatsby over a Saturday afternoon.
Mixed reactions. Certainly set in an unusual time for the setting of a novel - the jazz age apparently - the time after the Great War, but before the Great Depression. It's odd for an author to focus on a time not automatically associated with great strife and suffering.
Or so I thought. What struck me most about Gatsby was Fitzgerald's portrayal of opulence was filled with this desperate hopelessness and lack of morality, a theme which carried right up to the end of the novel.
I'm no great literature connoisseur, however to me the balance of Gatsby was a little rushed. Almost everything about the setting and the characters of the novel were well set up. Our narrator Nick's earnest disposition, his friend Tom's darkness and Gatsby's mad optimism. However when the action truly started in felt like it was all over in a second.
Nonetheless, I will say the Great Gatsby has a unique flavour to it, quite unlike anything you will read today, and in a market where literature seems to mean languishing for endless pages over every detail, a novel where we as readers are thrown about in sudden events makes for pretty compelling reading.
Mixed reactions. Certainly set in an unusual time for the setting of a novel - the jazz age apparently - the time after the Great War, but before the Great Depression. It's odd for an author to focus on a time not automatically associated with great strife and suffering.
Or so I thought. What struck me most about Gatsby was Fitzgerald's portrayal of opulence was filled with this desperate hopelessness and lack of morality, a theme which carried right up to the end of the novel.
I'm no great literature connoisseur, however to me the balance of Gatsby was a little rushed. Almost everything about the setting and the characters of the novel were well set up. Our narrator Nick's earnest disposition, his friend Tom's darkness and Gatsby's mad optimism. However when the action truly started in felt like it was all over in a second.
Nonetheless, I will say the Great Gatsby has a unique flavour to it, quite unlike anything you will read today, and in a market where literature seems to mean languishing for endless pages over every detail, a novel where we as readers are thrown about in sudden events makes for pretty compelling reading.
lulabele04's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
luckyluna's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
noelle123456789's review against another edition
4.0
read it for school, i didnt really get the point of the story, at the beginning. but that hardly matters because it was written beautifully and im glad i read it. by the end i felt the point of this story was, dont hold on to the past. great book