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httpxgray's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
ameilah's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
starts slow but ramps up over time. this is not a love triangle, as i thought it'd be. it's a goddamn septagon . jesus christ. i drew a diagram of character relationships and couldn't get everything to fit. there's SO MUCH going on.
jadenmarie's review against another edition
4.0
This isn’t the kind of book I normally read, but I loved it!
duckie888's review against another edition
Did I finally finish the book after starting it right before COVID? Yes. Did I have to read the summary on Wikipedia to understand the ending? Also yes. Nick was a decent narrator, but there was something about the language that made it increasingly hard to understand the plot at the very end of the novel. Nevertheless, I did enjoy its commentary on American socialites after WW1.
pimplop's review against another edition
4.0
"Cuando sientas deseos de criticar a alguien, recuerda que no todo el mundo ha tenido las mismas oportunidades que tú tuviste"
Hace unos días me dieron muchas ganas de leer un clásico y leí este porque además tiene buenos memes
Hace unos días me dieron muchas ganas de leer un clásico y leí este porque además tiene buenos memes
gisele's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
tedski's review against another edition
3.0
I was disappointed in this book, after having read Tales from the Jazz Age. I couldn't really get in to the story or connect with any of the characters. I picked it up several times, managing only to read a couple dozen pages at a time, before setting it back down again. I didn't dislike the book, but it just seems that Fitzgerald had a better knack for short fiction, than he did for even this rather short novel. And it hasn't put me off reading his other works. I've got Tender Is the Night waiting in the wings.
audreyry's review against another edition
4.0
Considering that this is a book I was forced to read in school— twice—, I liked it a lot.
Honestly, in short, this is a story about bad people doing bad things, and rich people getting away with it.
To quote a classmate, “Gatsby’s crazy, Tom’s a racist, and Nick is annoying.” As a reader we’re bound to dislike each of the characters, whether it’s their cruelty, carelessness, hypocrisy, or dishonesty that eventually strikes a nerve.
But I think what makes this book so good is the fact that this was done on purpose. It wastes no time creating excuses for its characters, rather, it serves to demonstrate the moral corruption that exists underneath the glitter and riches in all of the people that we read about.
Myrtle’s death, Wilson’s bereavement, and Gatsby’s murder all demonstrate the futility of seeking an American Dream.
Daisy and Tom’s unscathed disappearance back into their wealth— and presumably still very imperfect marriage—, by contrast, exemplifies that wealth (and justice) are distributed unevenly, but happiness eludes even those who have money.
I might be seen as a downer for this, but I think that’s the point of the story. People have flaws, and they get caught up in them, and the more they obsess over what they want and what they don’t have, the less happy they’ll be.
The last line of The Great Gatsby is famous, but I think that the line before it gets overlooked:
“Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter—tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther. . . . And one fine morning——“
Gatsby died. Gatsby spent his life chasing an ever-receding conception of the future, never really achieving the happiness— the end goal— that he wanted. We can stretch our arms out further and run faster and try harder each tomorrow, but it gets further away each time.
We can waste our lives away chasing something impossible, perhaps something that we think will finally grant us happiness, but one day, we die. And The Great Gatsby dares us to question— quite fatalistically— what the point of it all is.
Honestly, in short, this is a story about bad people doing bad things, and rich people getting away with it.
To quote a classmate, “Gatsby’s crazy, Tom’s a racist, and Nick is annoying.” As a reader we’re bound to dislike each of the characters, whether it’s their cruelty, carelessness, hypocrisy, or dishonesty that eventually strikes a nerve.
But I think what makes this book so good is the fact that this was done on purpose. It wastes no time creating excuses for its characters, rather, it serves to demonstrate the moral corruption that exists underneath the glitter and riches in all of the people that we read about.
Myrtle’s death, Wilson’s bereavement, and Gatsby’s murder all demonstrate the futility of seeking an American Dream.
Daisy and Tom’s unscathed disappearance back into their wealth— and presumably still very imperfect marriage—, by contrast, exemplifies that wealth (and justice) are distributed unevenly, but happiness eludes even those who have money.
I might be seen as a downer for this, but I think that’s the point of the story. People have flaws, and they get caught up in them, and the more they obsess over what they want and what they don’t have, the less happy they’ll be.
The last line of The Great Gatsby is famous, but I think that the line before it gets overlooked:
“Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter—tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther. . . . And one fine morning——“
Gatsby died. Gatsby spent his life chasing an ever-receding conception of the future, never really achieving the happiness— the end goal— that he wanted. We can stretch our arms out further and run faster and try harder each tomorrow, but it gets further away each time.
We can waste our lives away chasing something impossible, perhaps something that we think will finally grant us happiness, but one day, we die. And The Great Gatsby dares us to question— quite fatalistically— what the point of it all is.
archiveofrasa's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I never read this in school (I went to a private school on scholarship so of course they wouldn't make us read it) but in a way I'm glad I hadn't because I doubt I would've appreciated it then. I loved the prose and the voice, there is a level of "unrealness" to it, especially in the more action-driven parts of the story, which I felt really enhanced its themes and what it was trying to say, although it did make it a bit difficult to know what was going on.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Infidelity, and Car accident
Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, and Antisemitism
Minor: Gun violence, Murder, and War