Review of 'The "Great Gatsby" and "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz"' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Surprisingly good read considering how many people have claimed this book is overrated. 3.5-4/5 stars if I were to be more accurate with my rating.
I think the ending is my favourite part of this book, there is something so relieving and refreshing about Gatsby's death that can only really be explained as him finally resting. Gatsby's death means he is freed from his obsession with Daisy, he is no longer conscious about everything he has to design and portrayed his life to be, and in a way can be looked at as closure.
Review of 'The "Great Gatsby" and "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz"' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
"There is no confusion like the confusion of a simple mind."
I really enjoyed reading the book and as I progressed more into the story. The plot was more interesting as it came to the end, but having said that I think the ending wasn't perfect & it's quite obvious that most endings aren't supposed to be. The most engaging part of the story was the character development of Jay Gatsby, hence "The Great Gatsby".
Review of 'The "Great Gatsby" and "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz"' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
"They were careless people, they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness and let other people clean up the mess they had made"
Thus Fitzgerald summarises his own great novel while also summarising the failure of all forms of aristocracy, of the past, present and - sadly also probably - the future.
Review of 'The "Great Gatsby" and "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz"' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
Those of us who had been forced to read it in high school didn't like it then, and didn't like it any better now, having no empathy for the thoroughly unlikable (despicable, really) characters. With those of us who were a touch older and were meeting it for the first time (or who never managed to get far into it very far into it) it fared much better. Here it came across as a snapshot into a world that was long gone but ever present, a world of greed and materialism and riding the bubble as if there were no tomorrow.
I appreciated the writing style - descriptive and virtually poetic - and liked the way he sketched in each main character on their first appearance - arrogant and proprietary, lazy and drifting, or haunted and romantic. Everyone else was indistinguishable, a shallow, grasping mass in an unending party, using …
Those of us who had been forced to read it in high school didn't like it then, and didn't like it any better now, having no empathy for the thoroughly unlikable (despicable, really) characters. With those of us who were a touch older and were meeting it for the first time (or who never managed to get far into it very far into it) it fared much better. Here it came across as a snapshot into a world that was long gone but ever present, a world of greed and materialism and riding the bubble as if there were no tomorrow.
I appreciated the writing style - descriptive and virtually poetic - and liked the way he sketched in each main character on their first appearance - arrogant and proprietary, lazy and drifting, or haunted and romantic. Everyone else was indistinguishable, a shallow, grasping mass in an unending party, using Gatsby for whatever they could take him for. There was a slim hope that Daisy and Gatsby's love for each other could transcend this grubby morass, but in the end she showed herself to be the biggest user of them all.
Even Nick, who supposes himself to be the only decent character in the lot and thus fit to judge those hedonistic east coasters, hasn't enough of a backbone to be his own man, but just drifts along with the crowd, drinking himself stupid on other people's booze.
Review of 'The "Great Gatsby" and "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz"' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
I've been meaning to read this since the movie came out, but what finally got me to do so was Crash Course's Literature series of videos on You Tube. This is the first book they cover so I decided to read it before watching the video (which I still have yet to watch as I write this).
Like many people whose introduction to "great" literature came from high school and college lit courses, I'm always a bit leery of the "classics." Some I end up really liking, but others I've never come to fully appreciate. Fortunately, this ended up being one of the former ones.
There are plenty of analyses of the deeper meanings and symbolism of the book out there, and while I definitely saw some of them as I read, I think that first a book's story has to be interesting on its surface, and this book's story …
I've been meaning to read this since the movie came out, but what finally got me to do so was Crash Course's Literature series of videos on You Tube. This is the first book they cover so I decided to read it before watching the video (which I still have yet to watch as I write this).
Like many people whose introduction to "great" literature came from high school and college lit courses, I'm always a bit leery of the "classics." Some I end up really liking, but others I've never come to fully appreciate. Fortunately, this ended up being one of the former ones.
There are plenty of analyses of the deeper meanings and symbolism of the book out there, and while I definitely saw some of them as I read, I think that first a book's story has to be interesting on its surface, and this book's story is interesting. The characters are interesting, the plot is interesting, and the relationships are interesting. I'm glad I took the time to read it.
Review of 'The "Great Gatsby" and "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz"' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
I don’t remember the first time I read The Great Gatsby, but I know that my awe of F. Scott Fitzgerald goes back to my own adolescence. Tidbits of biography, the ubiquity of The Great Gatsby in bookstores, references to the Jazz Age invariably tied, in some fashion, to Fitzgerald—these things combined in my mind to form a misty halo around this hallowed writer, a halo that implied divine standing but was dissociated (for me, anyway) from the author’s bibliography, since the The Great Gatsby was not required reading at my high school. (Hard to believe, but true.)
Although I’ve read it at least three times since then, I still marvel at the elegant simplicity of its story, the perfect pacing and the careful timing of its plot, the pairings and the constructed contrasts between its characters, and, most of all, the melt in your mouth prose of the …
I don’t remember the first time I read The Great Gatsby, but I know that my awe of F. Scott Fitzgerald goes back to my own adolescence. Tidbits of biography, the ubiquity of The Great Gatsby in bookstores, references to the Jazz Age invariably tied, in some fashion, to Fitzgerald—these things combined in my mind to form a misty halo around this hallowed writer, a halo that implied divine standing but was dissociated (for me, anyway) from the author’s bibliography, since the The Great Gatsby was not required reading at my high school. (Hard to believe, but true.)
Although I’ve read it at least three times since then, I still marvel at the elegant simplicity of its story, the perfect pacing and the careful timing of its plot, the pairings and the constructed contrasts between its characters, and, most of all, the melt in your mouth prose of the book. Yes, it’s tied to a particular time in American history (as well as to the conventions and the pop culture of that period), but its themes, while they’re flavored with Americana, are hopelessly universal.
The Great Gatsby belongs to a very select group of books, in my mind, that not only sum up what a novel can achieve in a small space but which push the traditional form of the novel to its limit, squeezing precise and tangible meaning from every word, every sentence, every paragraph. It is such a joy to read that I can say, without any doubt, that I know I will read it again.
Review of 'The "Great Gatsby" and "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz"' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
"I found myself on Gatsby's side, and alone."
A high school novel returns from my past and my enjoyment of it this time around grew considerably. I almost wish I had a writing assignment on this book so I could defend Gatsby or articulate how we're "boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past".
With that said, I have difficulty reviewing "Great Novels" because everything that can be said on them has. The Great Gatsby is like a quiet summer daydream with days that flow together and they are filed with carefree and irresponsible memories. Then in one night the dream is ruined because of pride, ambitions and revenge.
If you read this in school or not it commands to be read again. Even though I was motivated to reread this because of the 2013 adaptation I still enjoyed the story a lot and the lavish parties that …
"I found myself on Gatsby's side, and alone."
A high school novel returns from my past and my enjoyment of it this time around grew considerably. I almost wish I had a writing assignment on this book so I could defend Gatsby or articulate how we're "boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past".
With that said, I have difficulty reviewing "Great Novels" because everything that can be said on them has. The Great Gatsby is like a quiet summer daydream with days that flow together and they are filed with carefree and irresponsible memories. Then in one night the dream is ruined because of pride, ambitions and revenge.
If you read this in school or not it commands to be read again. Even though I was motivated to reread this because of the 2013 adaptation I still enjoyed the story a lot and the lavish parties that Gatsby throws will look incredible through Buz Lahrman's vision.
Review of 'The "Great Gatsby" and "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz"' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
So, The Great Gatsby. It's set in a superficial Long Island community and is narrated by Nick who is somewhat an outsider in a smaller, less glamourous house next door to Mr Gatsby. He seems to do lunches and goes on excursions with his cousin and her friends and not a lot else. When Gatsby invites him to a party, he begins to understand why he's there but never really gets to know his mysterious neighbour.
If you were familiar with the sorts of people inhabiting the northern coast of Long Island in the twenties, you might find this an accurate social commentary but they just came across as vacuous, boring people who didn't seem all that affected by tragedy. Whilst the second half of the book was an improvement, it was lacking emotion. In the end, it's a boy meets girl, loses girl, finds girl again, barrier now in …
So, The Great Gatsby. It's set in a superficial Long Island community and is narrated by Nick who is somewhat an outsider in a smaller, less glamourous house next door to Mr Gatsby. He seems to do lunches and goes on excursions with his cousin and her friends and not a lot else. When Gatsby invites him to a party, he begins to understand why he's there but never really gets to know his mysterious neighbour.
If you were familiar with the sorts of people inhabiting the northern coast of Long Island in the twenties, you might find this an accurate social commentary but they just came across as vacuous, boring people who didn't seem all that affected by tragedy. Whilst the second half of the book was an improvement, it was lacking emotion. In the end, it's a boy meets girl, loses girl, finds girl again, barrier now in the way of happiness, do they, don't they story but without the fun emotional roller-coaster ride you'd get from some good chick-lit.
I found the language a little odd and in places forced. Maybe that's just what the trend was at the time but it didn't endear me to the prose:
"She was a slender, small-breasted girl, with an erect carriage which she accentuated by throwing her body backward at the shoulders like a young cadet."
There are however some undeniably good quotes, most of which have annoyingly been pre-highlighted in my Kindle edition, but you have to wade through a lot of pomposity to get to them. I can imagine at the time of publication it was an entertaining read but I'm not sure I'd add it to a list of time enduring classics.
Review of 'The "Great Gatsby" and "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz"' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
Nope: I still can't get into Fitzgerald. Tried [b:Tender is the Night|46164|Tender Is the Night|F. Scott Fitzgerald|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1287591475s/46164.jpg|8272]. Tried this one. The prose is often beautiful, evocative, but life is too short to spend time with these shallow meaningless characters. There's just nothing to learn here. Their emotions are caricatures. I tried to read with a compassionate heart, but ended up just feeling sorry for them... and for Fitzgerald.
