I just completed the Great Gatsby. Quite honestly, it was one of the greatest works I have read in my entire life. F Scott Fitzgerald writes such strong characters that it is impossible to not believe them. He seems to paint a picture so perfect that he holds your emotions in the palm of his hand. Every word is written so beautifully, is chosen so carefully that it makes me shudder. To tell you the truth, I think that I have just read one of the greatest literary works of all time.
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Ewww. I never liked it much, maybe just because we read it in school, but I could never believe anything his characters did. They just seemed like they were out of their minds the whole time... it was really surreal, but not in a good way because it didn't seem to mean anything. It was just like a tabloid: glamourous people misbehaving. And some not-so-glamorous people, but still. It's mostly about the fame and the money and every aspect of humanity that's disgusting and makes you want to shoot yourself, with only a few misguided nods towards sanity (like the part when Gatsby is outside looking at the stars-- that seems like the only time anyone did anything that made sense throughout the whole book, imho).
Eh. To each his own.
((haha, almost typed "to eat his own"))
When I first read the book I have to say I didn't enjoy it at all, but it was one of our exam texts this year for AS Levels and by the end of the course, after I had read it a few times, I loved it!
I think it was mainly because there are parts of it which are just so fantastically and beautifully written, as Gahks said the end paragraph is one of them! Fitzgerald just managed to depict an emotion or a single feeling so perfectly. I rushed it the first time i read it because I didn't particularly want to read it so I kept putting it off. The next few times, the more detail I noticed the more I liked it. I missed out on so much first time round!
I found it incredibly sad, though
I am surprised to find so many Gatsby-haters here. I guess I thought it was more or less universally well-liked.
I agree wholeheartedly.I love this book. It made an indelible on my life, because reading it was this experience that immersed me in beauty (sounds so cheesy, but true!). It also made a mark on my writing. I love that it kind of has no plot, but yet something really significant does happen.
I'm not going to lie... I hated every minute of it. It is not my favourite by Fitzgerald... and by far the most dull. I dont know about you but if I was Daisy I wouldnt be thowing shirts around and crying because they are such beautiful shirts...
With The Great Gadsby, I enoyed at the parts when there was sadness, but I am one of those poeple who seek out the melancholy shall we say. His characters were quite something that is for sure. I am not quite sure if I like them or not.
At points I believed in the characters and could connect with ease to the predicaments, exept of course the death. I have only had people I know die when I was terribly young. From then on it has just luckily been pets. But other times I found I could not connect with them at all. Some of them just started to sound whiny to me, and ever so annoying.
I have to agree with Larkin though, his writing and prose was phenominal at times.
It is hard for me to say at the moment, but I believe I have read more captivating stories though this one was fairly well written.
~Incognito
I guess it's a love it or hate it thing, but I couldn't agree more with the OP. It is one of my favorite books of all time and I think probably one of the best written in the English language. I'm young (I did just join this community, after all
), so I guess it's rather bold of me to make such a broad statement, but I think it's true. F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote prose with a poet's mind and I think The Great Gatsby was so gorgeous it kind of vibrated off the page.
I'm about 3/4 of the way through it atm, and it's doing nothing for me.
-Removed-
I loved the book, and even though I read it a few years ago I remember why I loved it. It was because of the characters that I enjoyed reading the book.
Interesting, what I thought was so great about the book was the fact that the characters were so true to life. So dishonest, so bad, and most of all so cynically described.
You took the words right out of my mouth.
Now that I'm older, I can also look back on the book and appreciate it's setting. The time period was so dynamic and significant to a changing America that it is one of the reasons why The Great Gatsby will forever remain an American classic. My favorite line in the book was a quote from Daisy to her newly-born daughter.
I hope she'll be a fool—that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.
It's an excellent line in the book and is, in my opinion, the most important. It shows a lot about how Daisy's character is and how she reacts to her social standard. Also, it reveals the time period of women becoming more independent and had begun gaining more rights. It may have referred to flappers of the time period, as well, with young women losing their virtue.
Anyway, I adore the book. The Great Gatsby is one of my favorites and I can't wait to re-read it in high school, because maybe then I'll have more of an in-depth analysis of it.
This is a classic. Such a powerful book with a powerful message.
The last paragraph is simply beautiful.
Interesting, what I thought was so great about the book was the fact that the characters were so true to life. So dishonest, so bad, and most of all so cynically described. And I think that the point he was trying to make is that they are meant to be annoying. He sees most of the world as annoying, which is a prospect intrigued me to no end. I think that F Scott Fitzgerald actually hated people and you can see this through the book.
As for the plot, I thought it was genius as well. It was the conflict between Nick's cousin and her husband, and how they are perfect bourgeoisie and end up being portrayed as horrible due to their own selfishness. But as you say, to each his own.
I enjoyed the book, actually. I don't think it's one of the greatest ever written, but it certainly makes its point, and that's admirable.
Heh, I absolutely abhorred this book. I normally love classics, but I found Fitzgerald's characters to be annoying and unbelievable. The book really had no plot and was mind-numbingly boring.
To each his own. Glad you found a book you liked!
But enough of that.
Meh. Once again, school ruins literature.