Slow start. I wasn't interested in how the rich party (the extravagant but distant host, the lethargic women and the debauchery of men), but later on I thought that this was perhaps necessary to set the mood. The novel builds up to an explosive climax and I finished the book well satisfied and reflective upon the characters and the chain of events. The prose has a contemporary feel that stands the test of time. Perhaps one needs to have experienced a whole wash of emotions in social networking, dating and marriage to really appreciate the plot. But it goes much deeper than that and the significance of "The Great Gatsby is a highly symbolic meditation on 1920s America as a whole, in particular the disintegration of the American dream in an era of unprecedented prosperity and material excess. Fitzgerald portrays the 1920s as an era of decayed social and moral values, evidenced in its overarching cynicism, greed, and empty pursuit of pleasure." [sparknotes] Woow, an eye-opener for me. I think people have good intentions but somewhere down the road, the unexpected happens, temptations are rife, and some people get derailed. ( )

This book leads many lists of classic American literature so I thought I would revisit some 20+ years after last reading. I remembered little other than West Egg and East Egg. The characters have few redeeming values, except for Nick, who we really don't get to know all that well. All are involved in cheating and scheming on some level personal or professional. Sad, really. This is also an example of a movie ruining a book - I can only picture Mia Farrow and Robert Redford in a 1970s version of the 1920s. ( )

Nick Carraway, originally from Minnesota has spent quite a bit of time on the east coast. After fighting in World War Two and going to Yale he decides to spend a year in New York. He winds up living in a bungalow near his second cousin once removed, Daisy and her husband Tom, a man he went to Yale with. He also lives next to door the mysterious Jay Gatsby, who is throwing elaborate parties ever weekend. Tom is the witness to a summer's worth of drama in Long Island with secrets, old loves and huge tempers.

When I picked up The Great Gatsby for the first time four days ago I didn't really know what to excpet. Recentlly many people had told me I would enjoy it, but never gave me a reason why. When I got the book as an early Christmas gift a few days ago I was more interested in what was the big deal with this 'classic' then with the story or the characters but that quickly changed. There is something very simple and beautiful in the way Fitzgerald made these characters. They're all so tragically flawed, but you feel for most of them at one time or another. Gatsby is intriguing, it's hard to tell when he is being honest, but that doesn't really matter, it's just who he is. it's a short book, but it moves quick. It's refershing to see the 1920's in a way that doesn't focus on the family, World War One (well, more than it does) and music. A great read. ( )

Incandescently beautiful portrait of the lovely but fatally flawed nouveau riche of the 1920s in the US (and their hangers on). ( )

Hey, it's me again...'The Great Gatsby'....Remember? From 10th grade? The jeremiad about Jazz Age decadence? The litmus-test for all 20th-century American novels? West Egg? Nick Carraway? Rampant classism and clandestine romance? Remember...?Oh...all you remember is 'West Egg'? For shame...I was a novel before Cliffs Notes were even invented, dude. I suggest you call up Mrs. Mulcahy and ask her to remind you why she assigned me in the first place. ( )