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bethanwx's review against another edition
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
A damnation of the American Dream through the eyes of an unreliable, hard to pin down narrator. Nick is just as much of a mystery as Gatsby, changing his mind about people, judging yet connecting himself to some awful people, including the racist and abusive Tom.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Car accident
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Gun violence, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexism, Violence, Antisemitism, and Alcohol
abi_04's review against another edition
slow-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
enchantedobjects's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
- 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
5.0
This is one of my all-time favourite books. I suppose something you should know is that I am not a fan of classics. I have read a few and they don't quite capture me. BUT THIS BOOK! I have read this book maybe.....10 times in the 3 years since my first reread? I think you can read it like any book. Enjoy the words! Enjoy the dramaaa! Or you can read over every possible symbolism, foreshadowing, character motivations, and psychology of the 1920s. I could write essays about colour usage in this book alone! I delight in how Fitzy writes about the impossibility of the American dream and YET people still get the wrong message. I can also read this book and see Nick as a gay man but that's an essay and not in this review!
The characters are marvellously, subtly, and outrageously, horrendous people. ALL OF THEM! Gatsby and Nick are inescapably included. I've read this book just to point out how racist, sexist, rude, and morally grey Nick is. I've read this book to decipher how much does Gatsby really know?
But, I hold this book close to my heart on the words alone.
His count of enchanted objects had diminished by one.
In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars
“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”
“I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life.”
I COULD GO ON FOREVER!
The characters are marvellously, subtly, and outrageously, horrendous people. ALL OF THEM! Gatsby and Nick are inescapably included. I've read this book just to point out how racist, sexist, rude, and morally grey Nick is. I've read this book to decipher how much does Gatsby really know?
But, I hold this book close to my heart on the words alone.
His count of enchanted objects had diminished by one.
In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars
“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”
“I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life.”
I COULD GO ON FOREVER!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, and Car accident
Minor: Animal cruelty, Racial slurs, and Antisemitism