A review by eli_tries_their_best
The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald
2.0
*Deep sigh*
I read this book for my brother, not for me. He loves Fitzgerald and sings the praises of The Great Gatsby whenever he can. I, however... couldn't bring myself to love it, or even like it. There are so many stories out there about self-made men, so many stories about the American Dream. So many of them bring the perspective of those rarely listened to. So many of them incorporate stories of triumph over true hardship.
This book is not one of those. The Great Gatsby describes the lives of the privileged in overly poetic terms, glossing over racism and antisemitism and sexism. To be fair, I couldn't have expected much given the publishing date, but still. I wanted more.
The Plot:
Nick watches from the sidelines as a man named Gatsby throws himself at a woman he's loved for years. That's it. That's the plot. Nick is just A Dude with homoerotic tendencies who is the audience to the soapy drama between Very Rich People who make fortunes out of dust in order to impress each other. If you're into that kind of stuff, read this book. It's good for what it is. If you're not, like me, stay away from it. It, in my opinion, was not worth my time.
The Characters:
I don't even... Look, Gatsby and Daisy and Tom and Jordan are eccentric in not very entertaining ways. The most I got from Gatsby was that he was polite and said "Old Sport" a lot. Nick was fine. He was sweet and plain and reminded me of some of my favorite characters if he were to have been fleshed out more.
The Prose and Pacing:
The writing danced around poetry at times, all told from the perspective of an observer. Still, I found myself skimming. Too many names dropped, too much pointless information slammed into the reader. I didn't like it.
Final Thoughts/Ratings:
2/5 stars
2/5 recommendability (I'd recommend to white men who liked the idea of being self made but wanted to also say they had emotional depth.)
***My next classic will be Picture of Dorian Gray. Hopefully I like it better.***
I read this book for my brother, not for me. He loves Fitzgerald and sings the praises of The Great Gatsby whenever he can. I, however... couldn't bring myself to love it, or even like it. There are so many stories out there about self-made men, so many stories about the American Dream. So many of them bring the perspective of those rarely listened to. So many of them incorporate stories of triumph over true hardship.
This book is not one of those. The Great Gatsby describes the lives of the privileged in overly poetic terms, glossing over racism and antisemitism and sexism. To be fair, I couldn't have expected much given the publishing date, but still. I wanted more.
The Plot:
Nick watches from the sidelines as a man named Gatsby throws himself at a woman he's loved for years. That's it. That's the plot. Nick is just A Dude with homoerotic tendencies who is the audience to the soapy drama between Very Rich People who make fortunes out of dust in order to impress each other. If you're into that kind of stuff, read this book. It's good for what it is. If you're not, like me, stay away from it. It, in my opinion, was not worth my time.
The Characters:
I don't even... Look, Gatsby and Daisy and Tom and Jordan are eccentric in not very entertaining ways. The most I got from Gatsby was that he was polite and said "Old Sport" a lot. Nick was fine. He was sweet and plain and reminded me of some of my favorite characters if he were to have been fleshed out more.
The Prose and Pacing:
The writing danced around poetry at times, all told from the perspective of an observer. Still, I found myself skimming. Too many names dropped, too much pointless information slammed into the reader. I didn't like it.
Final Thoughts/Ratings:
2/5 stars
2/5 recommendability (I'd recommend to white men who liked the idea of being self made but wanted to also say they had emotional depth.)
***My next classic will be Picture of Dorian Gray. Hopefully I like it better.***