"The Great Gatsby"

I finished "The Great Gatsby" last night. I'm going to give it 4/5.


It was a quick read, and I really enjoyed F. Scott Fitzgerald's descriptive prose. It was almost musical to read:

"The lights grow brighter as the earth lurches away from the sun, and now the orchestra is playing yellow cocktail music, and the opera of voices pitches a key higher. Laughter is easier minute by minute, spilled with prodigality, tipped out at a cheerful word..."

I think my favorite example of his melodic writing is this:

"His heart beat faster as Daisy's white face came up to his own. He knew that when he kissed this girl, and forever wed his unutterable vision to her perishable breath, his mind would never romp again like the mind of God. So he waited, listening for a moment longer to the tuning-fork that had been struck upon a star. Then, he kissed her. At his lips' touch she blossomed for him like a flower and the incarnation was complete."

F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby" is the tragic story of Jay Gatsby, a self-made millionaire in the 20's. It is told from the point of view of Nick Carraway, who comes to the town of West Egg, Long Island for the summer to study bonds and ends up as Gatsby's neighbor. The story also includes Tom and Daisy Buchanan, who is Nick's cousin. It is the story of Gatsby's obsession with Daisy, whom he pursues like a prize throughout the book, which eventually leads to his unraveling. It is also ultimately the story of real people vs.the masks we wear; love vs. lust; desire vs. drive; old money vs. new money; snobbery vs. compassion. At what point does the desire to reconcile past mistakes become unhealthy? When does it cross the line into obsession? How do you know when it is time to leave the past in the past because you just can't change it, and shouldn't try?

All in all, it was a great read. I remember reading it in high school, so it was an interesting experiment to re-read it as an adult. I took so much more out of it at age (almost), 33 than I did when I was 16. It was definitely worth a second look.