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The Great Gatsby

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Classic / British English During one hot summer on Long Island, Jay Gatsby throws an amazing party every weekend. He is an extremely wealthy man, although no one knows where he or his money have come from. But Gatsby has a purpose: he is following a dream of love. Will his dream come true?
--worldcat

87 pages, Paperback

Published May 2, 2008

12 people are currently reading
115 people want to read

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Celia Turvey

10 books

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5 stars
66 (26%)
4 stars
72 (28%)
3 stars
83 (32%)
2 stars
29 (11%)
1 star
3 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
Profile Image for Aneris.
64 reviews10 followers
August 27, 2016
POR QUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE?!
Lo ame y odie mucho al mismo tiempo, ese final me destrozo. Supongo que por ser demasiado realista. Siempre que me hablaban de este libro/peli pensaba que el final iba a ser todo lo contrario a lo que fue. No se si algún día lo voy a poder superar.
Profile Image for Lai.
2 reviews
May 24, 2025
escrito por un yankee para yankees🥱
Profile Image for silvia.
49 reviews
December 15, 2008
Quite interesting. A combination of romance and mystery. Gatsby is a new rich man who live next door with Nick. Nick himself is a narrator in this story. At the beginning, Gatsby's lifestyle is kind of mysterious for Nick until he is invited to attend Gatsby's regular party. After the party, Nick befriended with Gatsby. Later, Gatsby tells Nick his life, how he got his richness, and his love story with Daisy before he joined the First World War. Daisy is one of Nick's relatives. She married Tom Buchanan and has a daughter. In the middle of the story, we would notice that Daisy still keep her love to Gatsby but cannot leave Tom. Meanwhile, Tom has his own secret lover who has been married to another man (Mr. Wilson). This complicated love story creates an irony when Gatsby, Wilson and his wife, become victims of anger, temptation, and enviousness.
Profile Image for Beth.
622 reviews14 followers
September 24, 2008
I've only ever read this book for school, but I've read it I think 3 times, and each time have come away with something new. So apart from it being depressing in showing the real shallowness of that era, it is still pretty great.

Also, were others who've read it aware that in the past, Gatsby raped Daisy??! Cause I only realized that in my last reading of the book, when I read it in a class of English majors. And no one else seemed to pick up on it before either - our prof pointed it out. But that is an example of the subtle greatness of Fitzgerald. Something as incredibly huge as that can be just hinted at, so lightly that you don't even necessarily realize what you just read. Maybe others did pick up on that, and I and my class are just slow. Ha.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for ness_ness.
134 reviews
September 17, 2024
3 ⭐.

Un très bon classique avec une très bonne morale derrière mais sans plus.
Profile Image for Erin.
46 reviews
September 28, 2020
This book is an old friend of mine, so the rating may be a little biased. I first read it at 14 years old, when the 2013 movie came out and Gatsby fever took the world by storm. Naturally there are a lot of subtle emotional and philosophical nuances which went straight over my head as a 14 year old but which I felt much more keenly this time around as someone who is a little older and no longer a cynic about love.

It is narrated by Nick Carraway, a man who has traveled East from the Midwest of the United States to find his fortune selling bonds in New York City. The events of this relatively short story occur over just one summer, most of which he spends with Daisy, a rich relative of his, her husband Tom, and their friend the famous golfer Jordan Baker. He also makes the acquaintance of Jay Gatsby, his mysterious newly rich next door neighbour who has been in love with Daisy, despite having been separated from her during the war, ever since he first met her as a penniless soldier five years before the events of the story take place. This book, which was written during a time of F. Scott Fitzgerald's life when his own circumstances and experiences were not dissimilar to those of his wealthy and frankly downright irresponsible main characters, is an absolute aesthetic feast despite its Art Deco simplicity. I greatly admire Fitzgerald's capability to convey so much meaning with so little. This phrase on page 64 particularly struck me:

'He took what he could get - and in the end he took Daisy, one quiet October night'.
I read it this time as Gatsby's rape of Daisy, something I would likely never have realised as a 14 year old. For me, this added another layer of complexity to Gatsby's character, Daisy's love of Gatsby, and to the love triangle between him, her, and Tom Buchanan. Another sentence which got me good this time was,

'I shook hands with him; it seemed silly not to, for I felt suddenly as though I were talking to a child.'
I love how eloquently Fitzgerald describes here the moment wherein somebody says or does something which absolutely topples them in your estimation. As a writer he proves that economy does not by any means translate to poverty, and illustrates beautifully the well-preached adage for creative writers, 'show, don't tell.'

I think, in the wrong hands, this story about the rich and famous of the Jazz Age in New York might easily have felt entirely overwrought, tacky or clichéd, but Fitzgerald's subtlety is what saves it. For me the mark of a good writer is one who takes something which ought to be extravagantly, almost unbelievably beautiful and manages to expose its human ugliness. There is a reason this book is a classic, and I'm glad that it has been repopularised in more recent years. However, I do think it's a great shame that it has been marred for many by its use in schools.

This edition is intended for use by early high school students, and contains an extremely patronising albeit mildly useful introduction giving a short autobiography of F. Scott Fitzgerald. I would recommend reading a different edition if you haven't read Gatsby before, and will probably replace this one in my own shelves with one that's a little prettier. All the same, I thoroughly enjoyed this little re-read and look forward to reading more F. Scott Fitzgerald.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Amna.
118 reviews42 followers
Want to read
May 20, 2013
I still only read the beginning of this book, but I just came back from watching the movie adaptation of it.
I honestly don't think I'm gonna read it now. Maybe later.

Oh and one more thing.

Dear Fitzgerald,

I am currently searching for your grave. When I find it, I will use whatever I can to dig your soul out of it-maybe even use black magic if I need to.
And then, I'll make you change the ending you wrote. The ending you used to ruin a story with SO much potential.
Until you change it, I will make sure you stay stuck in the border between life and death.

PS: thank you for showing me why I don't usually like Classics.

Sincerely,
not a fan of such sad endings.

I understand that the majority loved this classic, but I honestly hated the ending. Assuming the book was the same as the movie, I don't think I want to read it. Most people are okay with it, but I'm the kind of person who gets really affected by the kind of ending a movie/book/story has. Maybe if I had watched it at a different time, I would have reacted better.

But for now, it's just another sucky ending to me.
Profile Image for Loes.
4 reviews
June 3, 2017
ik had niet zo hoge verwachtingen van dit boek, en die verwachtingen zijn grotendeels ook uigekomen. Ik wil hier ABSOLUUT niet mee zeggen dat het een slecht boek is want dat is het niet. Het is gewoon zo dat dit soort klassiekers mij niet zo aanspreken. Vooral in het begin had las ik het boek echt "omdat het moest" maar naarmate ik dichter bij het einde kwam greep het me steeds meer. Ik kan helaas niet met jullie delen waarom het me zo intrigeerde want dan zou ik het hele boek spoileren (Maar ik kan wel zeggen dat ik wel een paar traantjes heb moeten laten).

vandaar dus ook drie sterren omdat het niet mijn genre is maar me uiteindelijk wel heeft weten te grijpen.
Profile Image for Amber.
2 reviews1 follower
October 15, 2007
I recently moved to Rhode Island and hear alot about the movie being filmed in Newport. I figured I should read it isince it keeps coming up and I was supposed to read it in high school. I read it together with my fella by reading aloud mostly in the car or in the tub. We plan to watch the movie next. Good recommendation for pair or group reads with plenty to discuss and a short, dramatic, well-illustrated story.
Profile Image for Mymuseisme.
31 reviews
September 5, 2007
I re-read this book once again (high school, college) with my son and it was interesting to hear and discuss his ideas. He was surprised to learn that even among the wealthy there are class distinctions. We discussed Fitzgerald's view of how wealth corrupts the social conscience, erodes personal responsibility, and warps values.
Profile Image for Zachm21.
7 reviews
April 30, 2008
Great book, American classic. Fitzgerald is a great writer and the voice and tone of his reliable narrator Nick never wavers. In all honesty, I was not expecting much. At first glance the novel seems archaeic and unninteresting from the standpoint of today's society. And although that still holds some truth, I greatly enjoyed the book, and found it to be a pleasant surprise.
43 reviews2 followers
May 1, 2008
All I remember about this classic piece of literature is that the main character's name was just one character off of my own name. It amused my high school and college classmates who'd read (or were reading) the book. The actual book I have faint memories of.
Profile Image for Arvid.
29 reviews3 followers
September 24, 2008
I had to read this book in english class and can't remember anything of it today anymore. But I remember that I really did not like the book at all. A friend of mine loved the book though I never understood why.
16 reviews1 follower
August 10, 2009
“Whenever you feel like criticizing any one,” he told me, “just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.”

Life doesn't ever work like we imagine it will. Or should.
Profile Image for Cheer Papworth.
337 reviews55 followers
October 10, 2007
This book is one of my favorites....I understand why some people do not like it...especially if you are reading for entertainment only. I recommend trying it again!
Profile Image for Jon.
41 reviews5 followers
May 1, 2008
Pretty lame. It gave me the sort of feel that Jane Austin novels give me.
Profile Image for Katie.
25 reviews
May 1, 2008
Of course I didn't think the movie was as good. :)
Profile Image for Jodi Bash.
110 reviews3 followers
May 1, 2008
Too depressing for my tastes, not enough redeeming qualities to enjoy.
Profile Image for William.
119 reviews7 followers
June 22, 2013
Re-read this classic before seeing the new film adaptation. Nick and Tom much stronger/dynamic characters in the book than in movie. Leo does a good Gatsby. Book gets a 5 still, movie a 3.5...
Profile Image for tine.
57 reviews
September 22, 2023
Bohhh kan ik eindelijk zeggen dat ik een klassieker heb gelezen 👍
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews

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