3.82 AVERAGE


Too hyped but well-written
dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I adored this book. The Great Gatsby is a highly acclaimed work of fiction written in the 1920s that tells a perfect story in the most fascinating and beautiful language possible. This is one of those classics that everyone has heard of but few people know a great deal about thus I was somewhat sceptical when I chose to read this work, but I was pleasantly surprised. Everything from the insanely written imagery to the beautiful plot and highly flawed characters is perfect, each element reflects and refines the others to form a truly great novel.

The imagery was amazing, like nothing I have ever read. Fitzgerald drops you straight into the world and life of the 1920s United States and paints emotions with his beautiful descriptions of the landscape, world and character’s mental space. The reader is entrenched in the excitement, freedom, love, and colours of life following the First World War while also deliberating on the darker themes emerging and the greyness of life without meaning. At first, a dreariness is described, mimicking Nick’s emotional and mental state through the colourless life and the ash fields. But once Gatsby is introduced and even more so when Gatsby and Daisy meet the colours explode as if someone turned on the light. I am impressively reminded of the switch from black and white to colour in the 1939 film The Wizard of OZ.

I cannot describe how impressed I was with this book. How the colours stretch and drench the reader, how emotions are expressed simply through the imagery, and how the characters are brought to life in this beautiful world. I was awestruck by the beauty of this prose.

The characters themselves fit their roles beautifully. The magic of this book is that it is little more than a dream, filled with deception in the most fascinating way. Nick is almost an unreliable narrator due to his lack of knowledge and insight but he stands as a voice of reason surrounded by dreamers and liars. You will fall in love with this novel and then it will tear you down.

I also note a slight warning to future readers that, as in many novels written at the debut of the 20th century and before, many statements within the novel are politically incorrect. This does not have any impact on the plot or characters and there are not many instances thus I am not considering this in my rating.
dark sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
dark emotional reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I feel like an idiot sometimes when I take in a classic piece of art and my review is just "yeah that was pretty good, I liked it." Anyways I think Great Gatsby is pretty good and I like it.
emotional reflective slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
adventurous mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

There's a reason this book is considered a classic. It's beautifully written. Knowing Fitzgerald's background only deepens the fascination with the story. I highly recommend this timeless novel to everyone.