Why Is The Great Gatsby Great?

[Cougar]

I just finished this book, and felt like it was a interesting story, and really well written, but it felt empty up until the ending kind of wrapped it all together. Why is this book considered a great American classic? Is it solely because of its interpretation of wealth and glamour?

 

I think these reasons are to little to give it the credit it receives. Anybody have some insight for me?

 

Don't get me wrong, all in all, I liked the book.

[Echo]

I've moved this into the Classics section.

[Genevieve]

i cannot say why, but I was most depressed and was very sad that I read it. I don't like it at all , so my opinion is biased. I hope someone else can share,I am interested to know.

[Echo]

I loved this book when I read it in high school! I could sense the tension between the new rich and the old rich and each trying to find their place in a new American society. Daisy was the one in between, struggling between tradition and love. I just....I love this book!

[poppy]

I loved this book and loved the movie (the one I watched had Mia Farrow and Robert Redford acting)

I generally like this type of book but would not recommend it if you are feeling depressed. I reread it again recently and can't quite pinpoint what moves me so much about it. I think F.Scott Fitzgerald does an amazingly good job of capturing the spirit of the time and the book seems to have an undertone of inevitable tragedy about to happen. It's certainly a very interesting observation of life in the 20's and the division between the rather immoral and materialistic rich and the working classes.

[Genevieve]

Ah such good reviews, perhaps I will try again non?

I am wondering if, because I read his biography and found myself swimming in the ocean of tears and fatigued by the story that this influenced me in Gatsby. I cannot say.

[Freewheeling Andy]

Here's the thing. I've often wondered whether I was alone. I'm glad I'm not.

 

Gatsby is perfectly harmless and readable and nicely written, but I remember just being utterly underwhelmed by it all and wondering what all the fuss was about.

[busy91]

I read this about 2 years ago, and I honestly don't remember much about it. It didn't impress me. I think we've grown jaded as a society, and some of the books that were 'great' when written are just ok today.

[Guest ii]

I think F.Scott Fitzgerald does an amazingly good job of capturing the spirit of the time and the book seems to have an undertone of inevitable tragedy about to happen. It's certainly a very interesting observation of life in the 20's and the division between the rather immoral and materialistic rich and the working classes.

 

Exactly. It's a beautiful description of an era that was very different from what came before it and what followed. And I doubt something like the 20's will ever happen again. It was a period of so much opulence and glamour and living large, yet the social rules were breaking down, the Western society was recovering from WWI, there were some very 'modern' problems occurring. The old "golden" life style was disappearing, the safety of previous, well eras, in the lack of better term, and the modern world was happening. Along with the progress came a lot of bad, and no one really knew what to do with it. So they partied. (hey! don't badmouth that, it's a perfectly good escape strategy!)

 

Sorry, I got slightly carried away there.

[Smay]

When I read The Great Gatsby it had some kind of magical effect on me. I finished it without really remembering what it was about. I just knew i had a great story by one of the best writers in the world.

I'll read it again very soon!

[BookJumper]

I must say it never really grabbed me enough to get past the first chapter.

 

I used to feel guilty about it ('cos you're meant to like classics and all that), but over the years I've come to the conclusion that if Fitzgerald wrote a novel that fails to grip me so spectacularly it is his fault, not mine.

 

Guilt: poof!

[Smay]

I always dislike the feeling that we need to read an love all the old classics. Some of them just aren't that good or just don't interest you!

[LipGloss]

I've read The Great Gatsby during high-school twice and pretty much liked it a lot. In the beginning it seemed a bit, lets say boring but it became quite interesting as i progressed on reading. There was this sort of sadness between the love Gatsby and Daisy had, and once I had finished reading I ended up disliking Daisy.

[MuggleMagic]

Great Gatsby is my all time favourite book and I read it once a year. I love the way that it is written and the way that Fitzgerald captures the hopeless desperation of Jay Gatsby.

 

I always cry at the end without fail

[Montmorency]

I have just finished reading this and loved it. It is so sad at the end with nobody showing up for the funeral. Poor tragic Gatsby.

[pontesusie]

someone mentioned the book was kind of empty - for me that's the key. Everyone's life is empty in some way - Gatsby, daisy, Jordan, Myrtle - they all have a longing for something else and the rich try to fill it with parties and money. It gets to Gatsby in the end

[MuggleMagic]

I have just finished reading this and loved it. It is so sad at the end with nobody showing up for the funeral. Poor tragic Gatsby.

 

That bit is so so terrible All of those people that go to his parties and get sucked up in the glamour but not one of them will go to his funeral.

[KW]

My daughter has read this book until the pages in her copy fell out. I tried to get through it, but was unable to. However, due to some research I have to do, I'm going to pick it up again.

 

I like reading WHY everyone enjoys it so much, and will look for these qualities as I endeavor a second effort.

[Paul]

Great comments, all! They have definitely made me want to read the book after I finish This Side of Paradise. From the outside here, Gatsby's ending sounds like perhaps the point of it all -- a brutal condemnation of every single person involved?

[MuggleMagic]

My daughter has read this book until the pages in her copy fell out. I tried to get through it, but was unable to. However, due to some research I have to do, I'm going to pick it up again.

 

I like reading WHY everyone enjoys it so much, and will look for these qualities as I endeavor a second effort.

 

Your daughter sounds great My copy is also holding on by a thread

 

I just feel something for Gatsby... the last two paragraphs get to me everytime I read it.

[chesilbeach]

I read the book in my late teens and don't really remember it very well, except that I know I was glad to get to the end, and couldn't understand why this was a supposed classic book.

 

However, I've just seen on IMDB that Baz Luhrmann has a new film version of this "In Development". Luhrmann is my favourite director, so if he is going to make this film, I know I'm going to have to think about adding a re-read of this to my TBR list, although at least it's unlikely to be out until at least next year, if not two or three years time, so that will give me plenty of time to schedule the reading time in!

[davidr]

Has anyone read F Scot Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby recently. It is probably next on my reading pile, and would be grateful for any comments/recommendations on it.

[Nienna]

I read it I think about a year ago. It was a weird one for me because I thought it was a great book, but at the same time it was sort of an uncomfortable read - a credit to Fitzgerald's writing skills, I think, because I have a feeling it was meant to feel uncomfortable.

 

You get a sense of Carraway's awkwardness and confusion as he enters into the glitzy, materialistic social circles that seem to only care about appearance. He is uneasy when he begins to realise the hints of criminal activity, which he eventually becomes unwittingly entangled in. It has a real sense of a breakdown of moral integrity, which sort of makes everything a lot more tense because you're unsure of what some of the characters are capable of or whether they're fake.

 

Fitzgerald unfolds the characters slowly, especially Gatsby, so it's intriguing but also a little frustrating trying to figure them out. There's always that sinister undercurrent in the background which makes it quite a dark novel. A book with a lot of depth, I think. Enjoy!

[Ruth]

I second Nienna's comments. I thought the book was fabulous (I gave it 5 out of 5), but it isn't an altogether comfortable read. It definitely made me want to read more by Fitzgerald though.

[Kell]

I read it at school (5th year English) and adored it.