The Great Gatsby

The Margin
I have to say Gatsby, by Fitzgerald was another classic disappointment. Like Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises, both drew world-wide acclaim, but for me neither went anywhere. That is to say there was an absence of substance. Another tale by a sad author about pathetic rich folk in the 1920's. I suppose the story is worth reading just to lay claim to that fact, for boasting purposes. It is short and from time to time there is a smidgeon, contrary to what I said earlier, of depth.

Marvin Wiebener, author of The Margin. Click on the above icon and read about a rancher and a discovery and the consequences that follow. You'll enjoy it.

This book has over 1000 reviews. There is, essentially, nothing that I can say that has not already been said.

The novel is nice, well-written, and an enjoyable read. The characters are all plausible, believable, and entertaining. They are all three-dimensional, and none of them are useless. The book is extremely well-written, and I would recommend it to just about anyone. I wouldn't call it flawless, though.

Perhaps because of the hype, perhaps because it lacks some sort of jenais se quas, I can't quite bring myself to give this book five stars.

B+

Harkius

This is absolutely my favorite novel of all time. No matter how many times I go back and re-read this book (that I was first introduced to as a sophomore in high school), it never fails to take me to a different time and place.

I love the descriptions of the lazy and decadent ways of these characters and the struggle Nick Carroway has to be a part of them. I love the scandals that are around every curve. But, most of all, I love the easy-going manner of Gatsby himself. He's quite possibly the greatest character in all of American literature and I feel that, often times, he's the least appreciated too.

I've heard many say that this novel is "too slow" or "too descriptive". But, I really feel that Fitzgerald was trying to completely overwhelm the reader with excess. It's an underlying theme in this novel and his writing style makes the reader feel the fact that money can not buy happiness. Sure this novel is wordier than some - But there's beauty in each and every carefully chosen one.

Today is one of those days when I long for a book such as "The Great Gatsby"
It is inseparably associated with a point in history F. Scott Fitzgerald claimed to despise. He is both the quintessential Jazz-Age writer and probably his era's harshest critic. Complex and timeless. Who could ask for more?


My favorite passage -


"Most of the big shore places were closed now and there were hardly any lights except the shadowy, moving glow of a ferryboat across the Sound. And as the moon rose higher the inessential houses began to melt away until gradually I became aware of the old island here that flowered once for Dutch sailors' eyes--a fresh, green breast of the new world. Its vanished trees, the trees that had made way for Gatsby's house, had once pandered in whispers to the last and greatest of all human dreams; for a transitory enchanted moment man must have held his breath in the presence of this continent, compelled into an aesthetic contemplation he neither understood nor desired, face to face for the last time in history with something commensurate to his capacity for wonder."

At 26, I just finished reading this for the first time and I have to say it completely captivated me. F. Scott Fitzgerald's prose style was thoroughly engaging, and I was fascinated with how he downplayed (and at the same time characterized) the narrator of the story (Nick), by focusing on his observations of Gatsby and the other characters around him.

This is a novel I heard a lot about and I was ready for a bit of a disappointment, considering that it was so "hyped." This is one those few works of art that deserves its high praise however. There is truly a freshness to the story and yet a keen criticism of the times.

My only criticism (which prevents this from getting the "A+"): the climax of the story. I won't provide any spoilers, but it became a little too preposterous for me, both in terms of coincidence and the large-scale events that occur (relative to the intimate proceedings and narrow focus of the story prior to this).

Nevertheless, F. Scott Fitzgerlad definitely got his themes across and I find it remarkable that so many of them still apply so completely today, 80+ years on.