Reviews

“I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life.”

The Great Gatsby is the quintessential American novel of glamor, irony, and social class. A profound exploration of the American Dream, the novel presents the timeless themes of wealth, class, and love in the most delicate of narratives:

“No amount of fire or freshness can challenge what a man will store up in his ghostly heart.”

“I hope she'll be a fool -- that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.”

“The rich get richer and the poor get - children.”

Set in the Roaring 20s, Nick Carraway moves to West Egg hoping to advance his career. There, he becomes involved with the wealthy Gatsby--and the undying love and corruption that lie under his mysterious facade.

It wouldn't be far off to say that this book is one of, if not the most, exhilarating books I've ever read. The pacing is restless, tight-knit, never slumping, and continuously picking up pace. Within this tight pace, Fitzgerald still manages to add a delicateness to the tone, an observant quality that allows us to see past the brightly lit, glamorous scenes of the "life of the party" 1920s.

What makes this book so memorable is the contrast he provides between these scenes. F. Scott Fitzgerald paints brightly lit places populated by shady, careless people. Even within the party setting, the novel's reach toward corrupt criminality, dishonesty, and carelessness is paralyzing and compelling to the core.

“They were careless people, Tom and Daisy- they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.”