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A review by kfreund28
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
3.0
I feel like it's almost blasphemous to not instantly love this book upon completion and want to sing its praises from a mountain top. I think maybe the hype of this book tainted me towards it a bit. Because I enjoyed it, I did, but not enough to warrant it five stars. Maybe not three, more like 3.5, but still not five.
The biggest determinate in wanting to rate this book higher was Gatsby's character. I loved this character, mostly because I think he's easy to relate to. Everybody has some dream they want to chase, no matter how far-fetched it seems. I mean, isn't that what we're told from a young age? "You can be anything you want to be!" Gatsby's dream (to his ultimate demise) was wanting to turn back time and make himself seem worthy of Daisy's love.
It becomes starkly obvious how important the theme of money is in this book. He couldn't love Daisy like he wanted because he had no money. Daisy couldn't wait for Gatsby forever because she favored money above all. Once he had money, voila, he was worthy! Which, really, is just an example of how many of us think in regards to worth. "If only I had a better job, then she/he would love me"; "If only I could lose these last few pounds, then I'd be pretty"; "If only I had a bigger house, then I'd be happy."
I think Fizgerald was pointing out that most of us place too much value in the things that ultimately don't matter.
I also love the underlying theme of nostalgia and living beyond the present. How often have you heard someone say, "If you could go back and do it over again, would you?" I think many of us have moments in our life where we wish we had the option to relive something or go back in time and do something differently. And maybe not even do something differently, but just go back to a certain point in our lives and relive it over and over again.
"The Great Gatsby" was a quick read (and short too), but filled with action, love and drama. Had the hype not killed part of this book for me, I would have rated it higher. Nonetheless, worth the read and I'd recommend it to anyone.
The biggest determinate in wanting to rate this book higher was Gatsby's character. I loved this character, mostly because I think he's easy to relate to. Everybody has some dream they want to chase, no matter how far-fetched it seems. I mean, isn't that what we're told from a young age? "You can be anything you want to be!" Gatsby's dream (to his ultimate demise) was wanting to turn back time and make himself seem worthy of Daisy's love.
It becomes starkly obvious how important the theme of money is in this book. He couldn't love Daisy like he wanted because he had no money. Daisy couldn't wait for Gatsby forever because she favored money above all. Once he had money, voila, he was worthy! Which, really, is just an example of how many of us think in regards to worth. "If only I had a better job, then she/he would love me"; "If only I could lose these last few pounds, then I'd be pretty"; "If only I had a bigger house, then I'd be happy."
I think Fizgerald was pointing out that most of us place too much value in the things that ultimately don't matter.
I also love the underlying theme of nostalgia and living beyond the present. How often have you heard someone say, "If you could go back and do it over again, would you?" I think many of us have moments in our life where we wish we had the option to relive something or go back in time and do something differently. And maybe not even do something differently, but just go back to a certain point in our lives and relive it over and over again.
"The Great Gatsby" was a quick read (and short too), but filled with action, love and drama. Had the hype not killed part of this book for me, I would have rated it higher. Nonetheless, worth the read and I'd recommend it to anyone.