A review by i_llumi
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

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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