Saturday, November 28, 2009

The Great Gatsby (book review)

The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a defining piece of literature for the Roaring '20's. Set near New York City, it tells the story of a young bond broker named Nick Caraway, who lives next to an enormous mansion owned by the mysterious and elusive Jay Gatsby. At a party one night, Nick has the opportunity to meet Gatsby, and they strike up a strange, curious friendship. Matters are complicated when Gatsby rediscovers his old lost lover, beautiful Daisy Buchanan, and they begin to fall back in love. But Daisy's husband is a jealous man, who will do anything to keep her to himself. And when a horrible tragedy occurs, it opens the perfect opportunity for Tom to get his revenge...

I thought this was a very good book. The characters themselves, as well as the interactions between them, were complex and many-sided. The plot was light and cheerful at points, but it had a distinctly dark undertone, adding to the suspense of the book. The ending was definitely a shock. The only problem I had with this book was that occasionally I found it confusing and hard to follow. But these moments were rare, and overall I greatly enjoyed it.

4 comments:

Amanda said...

For some reason I never had to read any Fitzgerald. I need to read something by him next year.

Carl V. Anderson said...

I have a confession to make: In my Junior year of High School I took a lit class and one of the assignments was to read this book. I was taking it independent study and got notes from the teacher from his class. I studied those notes and took the test and got an A without ever reading the book. I'm not proud of that fact as I probably missed out on a good reading experience, but I'll forever remember this happening.

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