Book 50: The Great Gatsby
This review seems pointless.
I think everything that can be said about The Great Gatsby has already been said. So I’m not reinventing the wheel here, not that I ever do during any of my reviews (I use the term “reviews” loosely).
Having read this novel many times, you’d think I could write pages and pages about The Great Gatsby—and I guess that’s what I’ve done over the last few weeks—but, still, trying to sum up the amazingness, fabulousness, splenderificness of this novel in a short review is difficult.
So I’ll start with this:
The 101 Books rankings has a new number one. That’s right. After more than two years in the top spot, and after having read 49 books that were unable to supplant it, To Kill A Mockingbird drops to #2 in my meaningless and highly subjective rankings.
I’m now halfway through with the list, and The Great Gatsby is in the top spot.
But this isn’t a surprise. The Great Gatsby has been my favorite novel for years. This read-through simply confirmed that it still is.
If you’ve avoided Gatsby because it was forced down your throat in high school, revisit it.
If you’ve avoided Gatsby because people like me go on and on and on about how good it is, stop worrying about what I say and just go read it.
And if you think Gatsby is overrated, well, that’s okay—as long as you’ve actually given it a chance—but I can’t disagree more.
You know the story, even if you haven’t read it, right?
Gatsby’s a rich guy who’s basically obsessed with Daisy Buchanan—an ex-girlfriend from his past. After acquiring his wealth through mysterious means, Gatsby buys a massive mansion with a view of Daisy’s dock on the other side of a lake.
He throws elaborate parties and lives this extravagant lifestyle all in the hopes of winning Daisy back. Eventually, she finds her way to his house and the drama really begins.
Nick Carraway, the narrator and Gatsby’s neighbor, is there to witness it all. He’s an excellent unassuming, laid-back character who is a perfect contrast to the over-the-topness of both Gatsby and Daisy.
The story is good, but it’s honestly not a story you haven’t heard before. To me, the beauty of The Great Gatsby is found in 1) Fitzgerald’s prose and 2) the layers and layers and layers of complexity of the novel.
In the realm of simple stories with all kinds of underlying complexity, The Great Gatsby is as good as they come. Every character is rich, and I don’t mean monetarily rich.
Even minor characters that come and go, like the owl-eyed man in Gatsby’s library, serve a purpose. In that case, the owl-eyed man—the “wise” one, if you will—is the only person who’s really on to Gatsby’s double life.
The list of symbols goes on and on: Dr. T.J. Eckleburg’s eyes. The green light on Daisy’s dock. The constant references to color in the book.
And EVERY SINGLE WORD is written with purpose. The book is so short and readable that it’s easy to just skip right past some of this stuff. And that’s okay, if you do. The Great Gatsby can be easily read as just a great story, but Fitzgerald did so much more with it.
F. Scott Fitzgerald (Image: Wikimedia Commons)
And Fitzgerald’s prose, which I’ve already talked about a lot on this blog, is just so buttery delicious that I want to eat every word. Even though our old friend Mike, a frequent commenter on the blog, told me that “buttery prose is boring,” I just couldn’t disagree more.
The counter to Fitzgerald’s buttery prose is something like Virginia Woolf, which—continuing with the food metaphor—might be like chewing on five Aspirin.
You can see more passages from Gatsby in this post and this post, but here’s one of my favorites:
“There must have been moments even that afternoon when Daisy tumbled short of his dreams — not through her own fault, but because of the colossal vitality of his illusion. It had gone beyond her, beyond everything. He had thrown himself into it with a creative passion, adding to it all the time, decking it out with every bright feather that drifted his way. No amount of fire or freshness can challenge what a man will store up in his ghostly heart.”
If you’ve ever dated someone and went through that honeymoon period, and then had your first argument where you realize this person is human after all, you might be able to relate to that passage a little bit.
But you multiply those feelings times 10—a feeling where the girl seems unattainable—then you’re probably getting close to what Gatsby was feeling.
I honestly wish this novel was 400 pages, not 200, but maybe that would be too much of a good thing.
As I’ve said, this wasn’t my first time reading The Great Gatsby, and it definitely won’t be my last. I love this book.
Am I off-base here? Am I overrating Gatbsy? Is this review full of ridiculous hyperbole?
Other Stuff
The Opening Line: “In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since.”
The Meaning: Is it a statement on the emptiness of pursuing the “American Dream”? Is it a statement that love, more than money, is the only way to happiness? Is it a statement that people are flawed and, hence, can never live up to our expectations of them? Is it all the above?
Highlights: Every. Single. Word. Is. A. Highlight. And. I. Hate. Writing. Like. This. For. Emphasis. I’ve gone on and on about Fitzgerald’s writing, so I won’t rehash that here. But, in this case, the author makes the story.
Lowlights: There isn’t one. Really. Okay, the story itself isn’t life-changing, but I wouldn’t even call that a negative. It’s a great story, but the writing shines much brighter.
Memorable Line: “No amount of fire or freshness can challenge what a man will store up in his ghostly heart.”
Final Thoughts: The last few weeks, I’ve written a lot about The Great Gatsby. I really have nothing else to say. It’s my favorite book ever, and it’s going to be hard for any book to top it. Read it.
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I’m with you. I love this book. I love it. I also love “This Side of Paradise.” And if you haven’t read the Basil and Josephine stories, I suggest you seek these out too. In truth, these stories equal some of Fitzgerald’s best work, including his novels.
Yes, I read This Side of Paradise in college. Another great book and proof that Fitzgerald wasn’t a one hit wonder.
When I finally read Gatsby, after avoiding it for a while under the mistaken impression that it was a leviathan of a book, I told a friend that I had read it and it was pretty good.
His reaction was “The Great Gatsby?” (pause for a quick reminder to him of what book that was) “Oh yeah, that is quite good. Someone gets run over.”
I vaguely remember reading The Great Gatsby during University and I guess I thought it was okay and happy that it was among the shorter books on our reading list. Much later, I had a friend who was obsessed by Gatsby so to please him,…I tried to read it again but kept forgeting the book somewhere. I bought it about a year ago because it seemed like I should read it and like it. About three months later, one of my students begged to borrow it. I hope he loved it and is doing well with his studies. English as a Foriegn Language. What can I say, between grading papers, creating amazing lesson plans and working my way through Crime and Punishment maybe it just wasn’t Gatsby’s time.???? :-/
Your “low light” is really what keeps me from thinking Gatsby is a great book. For art to be truly great, I believe it should be perception altering (life changing). With this as my litmus test, Gatsby did not reveal anything new or move my thoughts of the world in any significant way. Yes it is well written…big deal. Lot’s of books are well written. Yes, the character depth is excellent which is hard to concisely execute. However, the story is predictable and boring.
You want perception altering story? Try Revolutionary Road…or Invisible Man…or Clockwork Orange. Boring and predictable story? Try The Corrections.
In my estimation, story trumps everything. Neuromancer is an excellent example of story outshining everything else… including quality prose!
Are you being facetious about Neuromancer? Horrible book!
Every book is different. The beauty of this book is that Fitzgerald took a so-so story and made it brilliant through is writing and technique.
Only partially as I know you hated Neuromancer. My point is that a great story, for me, is most important. Similarly, a great photograph does not need to be properly exposed if the capture is amazing.
I like the idea of one person transmitting their thoughts to me. It’s their thought rather than their words that is most valuable to me. Or maybe I just think about books in the wrong way!
I read it. I liked it. But I don’t quite get the effusive level of fawning this book receives from…well…everybody. Better than Mockingbird?? No way.
Reblogged this on On My Stereo.
Congrats on reaching the halfway point!
Thanks Neil! Congrats on all your recent success.
I am a high school student and I have just finished reading it. Honestly, I don’t find it easy to read and I have to spend at least 2 times reading a paragraph with complicated words. I finished it, studied it and found the novel pretty interesting. Nevertheless, I have no intention of reading it again until I read this post. Maybe I will try again.
Same deal here though I think I have to disagree with you and say that The Great Gatsby has got to be one of the best books I’ve ever read in class. Normally after reading and over-analyzing a book for class I start to hate it, but with Gatsby the opposite occurred. I found it incredibly awesomeness and moving. I won’t be surprised if in the future I find myself picking up that thin book and falling back into the world of Nick Carraway.
For me, the more I analyze a book, the more I love it. I would love to dig deep into a good novel, find meaningful quotations and ponder over it. That’s the reason why I find The great gatsby interesting and deep. Nevertheless, I think I haven’t grasped even half of this novel, though I have read a lot of analysis.
I will try reading it again.
Read it in high school and liked it, but didn’t really get the fuss. Re-read it this year (about 15 years later) and loved it. I don’t think I’d call it my favourite book of all time, but it’s a joy to read. Looking forward to reading it again in years to come.
“Neuromancer is an excellent example of story outshining everything else… including quality prose!” – Neuromancer is an example of the ‘idea’ as king in a book, rather than a well-told story or quality prose, both of which were lacking.
People connect with books in different ways. That connection may be based on prose that speaks to you, stories that enthral you, or ideas that inspire you. I think greatness should be measured by the strength of that connection, not the method.
Gatsby was ‘forced on me’ last year at school, hated it right up until two weeks before the exam. So glad I was made to read it now
That’s the problem with books. We don’t like them in high school because they are forced on us. But once you get older, you understand why their’s such a fuss about alot of these books.
I’m not much of a reader but I have read both War and Peace and The Great Gatsby and I found War and Peace a much better one. I think great gatsby is overrated Does any body agree?
I agree with your review. I had to read it in high school 20 years ago and back then I couldn’t understand nor appreciate the work. I re-read it a couple of weeks ago, and for the first time I was able to understand why this book is revered by so many people.
o god how I agree with your review. It’s the best, simply amazing, and Fitzgerald’s style is siply amazing, peculiar !
I’m going to have to reread Gatsby. I read it earlier in my high school career and found it a bit…mundane.
I shall certainly have to delve deeper on my second go.
I need to get my hands on Gatsby soon. I don’t have the habit of buying books, but after reading many reviews on it, I think it might be a book to buy!
May I ask though, how do you exactly interpret the line: “No amount of fire or freshness can challenge what a man will store up in his ghostly heart.”? Now I wish I studied this book in Literature in secondary school! I did To Kill A Mockingbird which was a great lit book.
Well, I have to admit, I’ve only read The Great Gatspy a total of ONCE. And I wasn’t super impressed with it. However, I’ve been wondering the last year or so if I should give it a second chance. I wasn’t impressed because…. One: it was required reading in one of my college classes and therefore a HAVE TO read. And Two: I think I read it at a time in my life that I was a bit down and frankly, the book depressed me! With that said, your “review” of the book has me rethinking all this. Especially since I really can’t remember the story. And it would be like a new read. And….actually….you’ve done it! I’ve decided. I’m going to read it again. Thanks for the review!
As far as F. Scott Fitzgerald’s short stories, I highly recommend “Bernice Bobs Her Hair.” His inspiration for this story were letters Fitzgerald sent to his younger sister, Annabel. She was concerned about how to be more “fetching” to men. It is an excellent read!
After reading high praise of it from both yourself and Hemingway (in his book ‘A Moveable Feast’), I decided to read Gatsby. I finished it in a single sitting. Fitzgerald’s prose is, as you say, delicious. And it’s smooth and accessible – like a fine scotch whisky. I’m glad I didn’t put off reading it any longer; it’s now one of my favourite novels. Thanks