Kylie Posted June 11, 2010 Share Posted June 11, 2010 I've read it a couple of times and I think it's wonderful. I love the time period it's set in (the 1920s). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesilbeach Posted June 11, 2010 Share Posted June 11, 2010 I read the book about 20 years ago and don't really remember it very well (unusual for me) but I was quite bored by it and glad to get to the end. There's actually another thread about it here --> http://bookclubforum.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=8602 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nienna Posted June 11, 2010 Share Posted June 11, 2010 I read the book about 20 years ago and don't really remember it very well (unusual for me) but I was quite bored by it and glad to get to the end. There's actually another thread about it here --> http://bookclubforum.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=8602 BAZ LUHRMAN FILM?! Oh em gee. =D Sounds like it would be spectacular! Yeah there were some great comments in that thread. The book has an actual aura that I think everyone that read it picked up on, but either disliked it or accepted it. I guess to like the book you have to be able to read books that aren't feel-good or happy and still get the message, still enjoy them for the reason they are... maybe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted June 11, 2010 Share Posted June 11, 2010 I've merged the threads now so it's all in one place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidr Posted June 20, 2010 Share Posted June 20, 2010 Just finished The Great Gatsby and I really enjoyed it. I felt really immersed in a world that may not exist anymore (but I suppose there are still very rich people over indulging, and people who came by their riches in a not totally legal manner!). But I thought it was a great read but yes a bit depressing at the end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adz3 Posted August 2, 2010 Share Posted August 2, 2010 The way the novel presents society I found it really brilliant. You can read the novel today and be isntantly transported to a period of American society that is so different from the present day. I think that's where the "greatness" of the book lies. On the other hand, all of the characters in this book are incredibly flawed. Even Gatsby, with his love for Daisy, feels like a flawed doomed character.However, I couldn't find a single character that I could actually root for. Maybe that's why some people don't find the novel to be so great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willoyd Posted November 20, 2010 Share Posted November 20, 2010 Had the misfortune to have to study this for A-level. Didn't like it then and, forty years, still don't. It completely turned me off all things American for a while (literarily speaking), which took some time to overcome. I just found myself bereft of any empathy with any of the characters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yellow Wallpaper Posted November 20, 2010 Share Posted November 20, 2010 Well, I recall asking myself this question while I was reading it in high school. I don't remember enough of the story to analyze whether it had any literary merit, but I recall that it did not hold my attention. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donna Posted November 20, 2010 Share Posted November 20, 2010 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. I have to agree. The 'roaring twenties' were all about glamour, glitz and spetacular parties. Everyone who is everyone wanted to throw themselves into this lifestyle, but I think what Fitzgerald shows is that although on the surface this lifestyle seemed so carefree and modern, it had a seedy underbelly. Class differences were still rife. The Great Gatsby is a tragic story, one with a moral undertone (or so I've always believed). It always breaks my heart. It's one of my favourite classics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Some more details are out about the upcoming movie. Leonardo DiCaprio will be Gatsby, Tobey Maguire will be Nick Carraway and Carey Mulligan will be Daisy. It's going to be filmed in 3D. Article and irate comments here. I don't know what to make of this. It will either be a disaster or brilliant. Hopefully, knowing Baz Luhrmann, it will be the latter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karrokick Posted January 13, 2011 Share Posted January 13, 2011 Like others, I too had to read it for a high school class assignment. Honestly? I felt it was too contrived. It couldn't hold my interest and I could barely read more than a few glimpses here and there so that I could write the assigned essay. I have never known what the fuss was about. I disliked every character, their actions, their dialogue. I didn't even care for how the story went or ended. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hayley Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 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. I thought exactly the same thing until I had to do an essay at uni for it. Doing the research made me realise the amount of detail that had gone into such a short story. There are entire journals just on the use of colour (e.g Gatsby is often associated with gold, Daisy always with white); my tutor told us that in a short story, every word has to really mean something and I think it does in Gatsby! I still wouldn't put it up there with my favourite books but Fitzgerald definitely deserves the prestige the book has gained in my opinion Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mashunja Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 This book is fantastic. You get into it as soon as you pass the first page. But to me it seemed like a detective/love intrigue book. Of course, it carries a thought which can be understood, that is really appealing. I had this thought that Gatsby was gay for Nick when they first met. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Persephone1821 Posted April 11, 2012 Share Posted April 11, 2012 I found that The Great Gastby was very well written and fairly engaging.. however, when I finished it I did not feel satisfying. Granted it had a sad ending BUT even when I read tragedies I get a sense that I've learned something or witnessed a new perspective or...something, ANYTHING! Yet with this novel I felt nothing... perhaps that was the intention? In which case, congrats Mr. Fitzgerald! Overall, I cannot see why this is deemed a classic other than the detailed descriptions of the 1920s in America. Perhaps that is because there are no other decent novels that take place in this era? Please correct me if I am wrong! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Persephone1821 Posted April 11, 2012 Share Posted April 11, 2012 I thought exactly the same thing until I had to do an essay at uni for it. Doing the research made me realise the amount of detail that had gone into such a short story. There are entire journals just on the use of colour (e.g Gatsby is often associated with gold, Daisy always with white); my tutor told us that in a short story, every word has to really mean something and I think it does in Gatsby! I still wouldn't put it up there with my favourite books but Fitzgerald definitely deserves the prestige the book has gained in my opinion That's fair, I suppose I haven't given myself a chance to research and that I could have easily overlooked something (especially since I've only read the novel one time). I'll have to look into it more... just difficult to do so when I have no motivation from the story itself. Haha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruth Posted April 12, 2012 Share Posted April 12, 2012 Revisiting this thread has made me want to reread the book! As I said earlier, I really enjoyed it, although it is certainly not a comfortable read. I read somewhere that no-one enjoyed writing about failure more than Fitzgerald - and I can see that (not only in Gatsby, but in his other books as well). He pointed out the superficiality of the glamorous world that his characters inhabited. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 A trailer for Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby has been released. It looks awesome. Here's the trailer on . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruth Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 Thanks Kylie, I will definitely watch that. I liked the Robert Redford one, but preferred the Toby Stephens one. This version looks terrific too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 I liked the Redford version too, although I haven't seen it in quite a while. A lot of people seem to dislike it, though. I didn't even know there was another version (Stephens). Must look into that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruth Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 ^^^Oh, it's brilliant. I mean, I'm biased because I (really really) like Toby Stephens. But I lent my copy to a couple of friends, and both really liked it. Mira Sorvina plays Daisy. I think a lot of people found Mia Farrow's Daisy annoying in the Robert Redford film. But I always thought that Daisy was supposed to be an annoying character anyway. Tobey Maguire and Carey Mulligan seem like excellent choices for Nick and Daisy, in this new version Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deborah Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 (edited) I loved The Great Gatsby, such a moving story. The part where no one shows up at Gatsby's funeral gets me all the time... It's written in such a way that you end up feeling so enveloped in the tragedy. Can anyone recommend a good film adaptation? Have any been made that are worth watching? Edited June 3, 2012 by Kylie Added spoiler tags Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gabbie Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 It's nice to see that this book creates so different reactions. I, for one, loved this. I do. It's so beautiful and, like someone said above (sorry, I don't remember the names yet!) every word matters in this. Everything is thought out and through. And I think it says a lot about the talent of the author to carry the story, if you can sort of understand the characters even when you don't particularly like them. And that's what happened with Great Gatsby. (Another one is Anna Karenina. Gosh, she was annoying! Yet I "got" her, her reasoning.) I really need to read this again. Too bad I have far too much books waiting to be read on my shelf as it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hanananah Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 I've read this book a couple of times, kinda had to for A-Level English Lit but my god was it worth it. My teacher had told us it was his favourite book of all time and now it is one of mine. I can see why some people couldn't get into it and to be fair it did take me a few chapters. In answer to the original question, the way Gatsby is described, is somewhat magical. I remember when Nick first sees Gatsby, he's standing in the dark with a kinda mystical feel about him. Also at many of his parties no-one really knows who Gatsby is presents more mystery to Nick and the reader. Later through the book we are lead to question 'is Gatsby really great?' what makes him great? Then we have to remember that the story is told through the narrative of Nick, therefore we must assume that Nick admires Gatsby which becomes more and more apparent as the story goes on, especially at the very end. Not sure if that's the type of answer you were looking for but the actual book The Great Gatsby is great, I think, because it is fantastically written and totally encapsulates the time period with all the glitz and glamour as well as the dark undercurrent of the 1920s Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesilbeach Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 I'm going to have to give this book another try, I think. I read it when I was in my mid-teens (not for school, just for my own enjoyment), but I didn't like it at all. With so many great reviews and the Baz Luhrmann film coming out, I think I should read it and see if I can appreciate it more now that I'm all growed up. I still have my original copy so it's not going to cost me anything other than time ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 A trailer for Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby has been released. It looks awesome. Here's the trailer on . We saw that very preview last night at the movies. Looks like DiCaprio strikes again. I simply have to read the book now! Before we see the film. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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