The Great Gatsby
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Amazon.co.uk Review
In 1922, F Scott Fitzgerald announced his decision to write "something new--something extraordinary and beautiful and simple, intricately patterned". That extraordinary, beautiful, intricately patterned and, above all, simple novel became The Great Gatsby, arguably Fitzgerald's finest work and certainly the book for which he is best known. A portrait of the Jazz Age in all of its decadence and excess, Gatsby captured the spirit of the author's generation and earned itself a permanent place in American mythology. Self-made, self-invented millionaire Jay Gatsby embodies some of Fitzgerald's--and his country's--most abiding obsessions: money, ambition, greed and the promise of new beginnings. "Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgiastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter--tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther... And one fine morning--" Gatsby's rise to glory and eventual fall from grace be comes a kind of cautionary tale about the American Dream.
It's also a love story, of sorts, the narrative of Gatsby's quixotic passion for Daisy Buchanan. The pair meet five years before the novel begins, when Daisy is a legendary young Louisville beauty and Gatsby an impoverished officer. They fall in love, but while Gatsby serves overseas, Daisy marries the brutal, bullying but extremely rich Tom Buchanan. After the war, Gatsby devotes himself blindly to the pursuit of wealth by whatever means--and to the pursuit of Daisy, which amounts to the same thing. "Her voice is full of money," Gatsby says admiringly, in one of the novel's more famous descriptions. His millions made, Gatsby buys a mansion across Long Island Sound from Daisy's patrician East Egg address, throws lavish parties and waits for her to appear. When s he does, events unfold with all the tragic inevitability of a Greek drama, with detached, cynical neighbour Nick Carraway acting as chorus throughout. Spare, elegantly plotted and written in crystalline prose, The Great Gatsby is as perfectly satisfying as the best kind of poem. Perry Freeman, Amazon.com --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
James Dickey Now we have an American masterpiece in its final form: the original crystal has shaped itself into the true diamond. This is the novel as Fitzgerald wished it to be, and so it is what we have dreamed of, sleeping and waking
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I had to read The Great Gatsby for my A-level English. I was dreading it. I love classic books but this is one book i have never had the desire to read as the pre conceptions i have of the 1920's put me off.
All I can say now is thank you to AQA for making me read this. I have changed views on the book which was superb and of the 1920's.
My only critism would be the ending. I never wanted it to end.
All I can say now is thank you to AQA for making me read this. I have changed views on the book which was superb and of the 1920's.
My only critism would be the ending. I never wanted it to end.
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A wonderful and groundbreaking investigation of modern America. Daisy Buchanan, outwardly beautiful, utterly superficial, parisitic, morally bankrupt, personifies the brutality (so obvious in her husband) that lies at the rotten heart of the American Dream. Many novelists coming after Fitzgerald took up the theme, but, while America was still enjoying the boom years of the 1920s, he got there first. The fact that it's historically significant in no way detracts from the fact that 'Gatsby' is a great read: sex, violence, lesbianism, mistaken identity ... and golf. What more could you ask for?
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I love books which capture a moment in history and The Great Gatsby does just that.It portrays vividly the life of the affluent in 1920s America.
The language is beautiful and descriptive.
About two thirds of the way through the book I thought nothing much was going to happen, but there was a twist in the story which turned the lives of all the characters upside down.
The characters are all flawed and believable and so distinct that you could tell who was speaking even if the sentence didn't end with "said Daisy" or "replied Tom", etc.
A romantic, haunting and hugely enjoyable book. I'm sure I will read it again.
The language is beautiful and descriptive.
About two thirds of the way through the book I thought nothing much was going to happen, but there was a twist in the story which turned the lives of all the characters upside down.
The characters are all flawed and believable and so distinct that you could tell who was speaking even if the sentence didn't end with "said Daisy" or "replied Tom", etc.
A romantic, haunting and hugely enjoyable book. I'm sure I will read it again.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Classic
This book earns its place as a classic and lives up to its reputation in that it captures the spirit of 1920's America. Reading this will make you a better person.
Published 2 days ago by heyjude
The Average Gatsby
I'm reading a lot of classics this summer and so far it's being going very well (I flew through War and peace, Anna Karenina, clockwork Orange, On The Road, Persuasion- all of... Read more
Published 2 days ago by aya
`There are only the pursued, the pursuing, the busy and the tired.'
The story of Jay Gatsby is narrated by Nick Carraway. Carraway had graduated from New Haven in 1915, had participated in the Great War and, returning restless, decided to move East... Read more
Published 4 days ago by J. Cameron-Smith
Superb!
This book was my first experience of F. Scott Fitzgerald, and upon finishing it I didn't waste much time in purchasing his other novels. The book is superb. Read more
Published 6 days ago by Samick31
An American Classic
The Great Gatsby is more than a book, it's a masterpiece. It brilliantly paints the picture of the extravagant lifestyles in America in the 1920's through its list of rich,... Read more
Published 6 days ago by Brandon Fox
readable and fairly interesting though for me not a classic
Thought I would try this great American novel as it is a) short and b) only 49 pence on Kindle. It probably portrays quite well the closed world of a group of well off people in... Read more
Published 7 days ago by John Hopper
The Great Gatsby
I gather this is generally considered to be F Scott Fitzgerald's finest work and an American classic, so I couldn't wait to read it. What a disappointment! Read more
Published 9 days ago by Quailer
Being remade into a film ?
It's short, stands up as surprisingly modern and relevant to the world today and is possibly the most beautifully written and carefully observed description of the flaws of... Read more
Published 11 days ago by Q
The Great Gatsby
This is a literary classic that sparkles on every page. The language is rich and, although overwritten by today's standards, mellows after the first page into a smooth glittering... Read more
Published 12 days ago by David Brookes
A good look at mankind
In beautiful, gripping prose and in under 200 pages Mr. Fitzgerald tells us what despicable and/or sorry creatures a lot of human beings really are. Read more
Published 17 days ago by Veronica Franco
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