A review by jenmaysiereads
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

challenging emotional reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

5 out of 5 stars 
 
It almost goes without saying but every time I read ‘The Great Gatsby’, I fall in love with it that little bit more. 
 
It’s difficult to not get drunk on the atmosphere of the narrative within ‘The Great Gatsby’. Fitzgerald effuses the novel with a magic and majesty that is truly intoxicating. Following the journey of story’s narrator; the reader can’t help but be submerged in the whimsy of this sparkling, discomforting story alongside Nick. 
 
The shimmering mirage of ‘The Great Gatsby’ is a cruel facade. Behind the glitter and glamor lies a story of discontent, obsession and the greed of man — throwing the nature of human desire into a harsh, all too revealing light. 
 
At the heart of the story is Jay Gatsby, the man who has everything. It’s impossible not to feel the same bone-deep draw that the novel’s narrator feels toward him. There is something unknowable about Gatsby — something unreal and intangible that makes him all the more desirable. Like the green light at the end of a dock. 
 
The tragedy of his loneliness, of his longing, is a knife to the heart. Gatsby is a character that wants and dreams as deeply and profoundly as any of us. It’s painful to watch as everything he has ever wanted and all he has worked for come so closely within his grasp, only for it to slip through his fingertips, drawn away by the cruelty and carelessness those he purports to love. 
 
Reading comprehension be damned; they could never make me hate you, Jay Gatsby. 
 
“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 —— So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” 
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