Den store Gatsby (original 1925; edition 2012)

The prose, the prose!!! ( )

Plot:
Nick Carraway decided to get into the bond business. He moves into a little house just outside of New York and reconnects with his cousin Daisy who lives nearby after getting married to Tom who comes from a whole lot of old money. Nick’s next door neighbor is a man called Gatsby, who is filthy rich as well, but from new money. Gatsby celebrates grand parties every weekend. When Nick is invited to one, he finds out that Gatsby and Daisy are somehow connected.

I pretty much loved Gatsby. It’s beautifully written and tells an interesting, many-layered story. And you can read it pretty quickly.

Read more on my blog: http://kalafudra.wordpress.com/2013/05/22/the-great-gatsby-f-scott-fitzgerald/ ( )

Interesting novel that is great for character development. Gatsby is a unique person who has set his life around proving to the woman he loves, Daisy, that he is worthy of her. Love, betrayal, friendship are all themes in this novel set during the bootlegging time of America's history. ( )

Good, but not great.
I didn't really know what to expect from this book. As with most classics, there was a lot of hype and then after I finished it I felt a bit short-changed.
Overall I enjoyed the story, but I just didn't 'get' it. That might be because I'm ignorant of the American jazz era and didn't understand the undertones of the story. But whatever. I enjoyed it and would like to see the new movie. ( )

The Great Gatsby has joined a group of elite books in Nicole land - ones that I have read three times. Actually, only one other book fits under that category (Wuthering Heights), and I didn't consciously set out to read this novel multiple times (nor the other). However, each reading has yielded a deeper appreciation of the classic, esteemed as one of the finest examples of American literature. That fact is evidence of the dense richness of this work of art.

The story is narrated by Nick Carraway, a young upper class American that has moved to the east coast to engage in the bond business, since apparently that is what everyone else is doing. He moves to the West Egg, which is a nice part of town, but seems shabby due to its proximity to the East Egg, land of the wealthy and elite. His distant relative, Daisy Buchanan, lives on the fashionable side, and through her, Nick receives invitations to live the high life, every once in a while. Daisy is married to Tom Buchanan, a rich bully full of ignorant ideas and arrogance. Nick knew Tom vaguely from college, and didn't much like him then, and likes him even less now. Daisy is so intoxicating, though, that Nick is willing to tolerate her husband. At the unsettling Buchanan mansion Nick meets Jordan, a famous golf player whose brazen dishonesty and bronze attraction draws Nick's attention.

The story becomes interesting, though, with the introduction of Nick's mysterious neighbor, Gatsby. He lives in the less affluent West Egg, true, but his house is large and notorious. He hosts gala parties every weekend, and many denizens of East Egg deign to attend them, and bask in the opulence. Jordan first draws Nick's attention to Gatsby, asking if he knows him, and shortly thereafter Nick receives an invitation in the mail to attend the next big event. He eventually meets the man of the house at the party, but is uncertain what to make of him after hearing such outlandish rumors that don't fit the down home chap at all. Nick presumes nothing more will come of his relationship with this odd neighbor, but unbeknownst to him, Gatsby has an old connection with Daisy, and their proximity is not an accident. Once Gatsby discover's Nick is related to Daisy, Nick is inexorably drawn into a tawdry affair that involves the old love between Jay Gatsby and Daisy, the relationship between Tom and his mistress, and the truth behind Gatsby's past. After the dust from the inevitable confrontation between Gatsby and Buchanan settles, Nick has witnessed betrayal, a fatal car accident, and murder. He leaves the east coast and returns home, wishing he could shake off what he experienced as easily as he could relocate.

Nick is our narrator, our filter for the emotions that pulse in this story, and the corruption hidden beneath all the glitter. How much we can trust Nick's judgments is another question, and provides more levels of interpretation in the story. For a man who begins his narration by declaring that he is an honest man who tries not to pass judgment on others, Nick spends a lot of time evaluating everyone else. His complicity in the actions described also casts doubts on his much avowed honest. All of which makes him a complex character who has his own role to play, rather than just being a mouthpiece for the story. In particular, Nick's attitude about Daisy, Tom, and Gatsby evolves throughout the story, and he ends the book with strong feelings about them that he is not afraid to express. Nick's feelings towards Gatsby flip through wild reversals, from curiosity to amicability, disappointment to pity, but once he learns the truth of the man, he settles solidly on admiration, in spite of Jay Gatsby's flaws. As for Daisy, Nick slowly reverses his friendly admiration for her, and ends up detesting her. His dislike for Tom Buchanan grows into out right hatred, and in a move that is contrary to his life goal of not judging, he clearly breaks all relationship with Tom. These four characters are the heart of the story, and Fitzgerald

The writing is beautifully tragic. ( )