Customer Reviews
Unforgettable 
2008-08-19
Surely everything has been said before. BUT, I shall point out that if you like Gatsby, you will probably love Fitzgerald's short stories as well. Also, there are several interesting books written about F.Scott Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda--two truly compelling people who lived somewhat reckless rock star lives long before we watched rock stars burn out on MTV reality shows.
So, let me get this straight... 
2008-08-16
The Modern Library declares that this is the 2nd greatest novel of the 20th century?
Are you serious? Above Lolita.
and let's not forget the novels the list completely disregarded, that trample all over Fitzgerald's poorly dated morality tale:
Gravity's Rainbow
V.
The Crying of Lot 49
White Noise
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Journey to the end of the Night
Naked Lunch
Blood Meridian
The Stranger
The Old man and the Sea
Seriously, Fitzgerald just was no good, and pales horribly in comparison to the true giant of 20th century American literature; Hemingway
Breathtaking 2008-08-11
It has been a while since I read a book in one sitting. It has also been a while since I first read "The Great Gatsby". Since then, I read articles and saw movies about F. Scott Fotzgerald and his wife Zelda. It is hard not to draw some similarities between Fitzgerald's best work and the way his own life ended. Without going thru the plot, this is all american story about difference between old money and new money. Not all rich are created equal. It is also a story of obsessive love that will not let go. Can a man love so much that getting rich in order to be close to the woman of his dreams can consume his entire life? How much does it take for a person to understand that one cannot live in the past? Love story is set in it's moment, time and place. Once any one of the components is not there, love is not the same or there is none at all left. And then of course, there is pure love and there is recklessness - way of using people and there emotions as means of reassuring ourselves - with always disasterous outcomes. This book talks about all of that in a way that feels like being said in one breath. Storytelling is so compelling and language so beautiful, you cannot put this book down until you are finished reading it.
Boring 2008-08-11
This is one of those novels you hear about your entire life and finally get around to reading.
What a bore.
The stilted language is like trying muddle your way through Beowulf in Middle English.
Save your money if you're just dying to read this book and get a used paperback version.
"So We Drove On toward Death in the Cooling Twilight" 
2008-08-10
The main story -- a romantic man's doomed attempt to recapture the love of an immature woman -- was less enthralling than expected. Daisy seemed hardly worth all the trouble Gatsby took, and for that matter, neither did entry into her world. She was a cipher. The use of a narrator to connect the various characters was interesting; how could the book have been written otherwise? But at times the plot felt contrived, as with the switching of cars and an accident, and the symbolism around the valley of ashes seemed heavy-handed. Other than the passive narrator, the people lacked even a small degree of self-awareness. The one who seemed the least conflicted and most sure of himself was the brutal, self-centered Tom.
It was the lesser details in this novel that were enjoyed most. A montage at the end of the second chapter in which the drunken narrator moved from an elevator, to a bedroom, to Penn Station. How Gatsby's smile affected those who saw it. A mansion housing a library of books with their pages uncut. The vapidity of a man who tried to act out his limited idea of the good life but had little of interest to say and thought San Francisco was in the Middle West. Dogged efforts at self-improvement linked to shallow goals. A shady character eating with "ferocious delicacy." The way Daisy conveyed her love for a character in just a few words said lightly in front of her husband. The class disdain someone like Tom felt for the main character -- he couldn't be an Oxford man because he wore a pink suit. The gust of hot shrubbery from Central Park wafting through the upper windows of the Plaza Hotel. The author's description of how it felt to reach 30. And the concluding paragraphs, which can still move despite the superficiality of the people portrayed.
Simply the Greatest Novel Ever Written 2008-08-08
In his introduction, Harold Bloom states that The Great Gatsby "has become part of what must be called the American mythology." This volume offers a complete critical survey of the novel, including examinations of its structure and narrative stance, redefining of the hero, and more. This series is edited by Harold Bloom, Sterling Professor of the Humanities, Yale University; Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Professor of English, New York University Graduate School. These texts presents critical essays that reflect a variety of schools of criticism on the most important 20th-century criticism on major works from The Odyssey through modern literature. Each volume also contains an introductory essay by Harold Bloom, critical biographies, notes on the contributing critics, a chronology of the author's life, and an index.
Two good pages 2008-08-04
What has perhaps seduced some into thinking that The Great Gatsby is a "great novel" is that it does go after great themes, and was written by a talented writer. If you want to get a sense of Fitzgerald's talent, read his short stories: they crackle with life, excitement, and unlike this novel, have stories that pull you in and move you along hypnotically. Gatsby does not. It is like a great suspension bridge for which the pillars have been laid (the "great themes") but at no time was attention given to putting down the road itself--any plot or characters we can get our teeth into. It is a punishing bore. And I suppose those who like it are those who are so entranced by well-weighted sentences that they can get caught up in it easily. There are two well written pages, especially his description of the people traveling from Minnesota to the East. Those of us who demand more--and I don't think there's anything wrong with demanding an interesting plot!--are quite numerous, and for us, the rest of the book is unbearable. Yes, the theme is potentially great. But the book, like a failed suspension bridge, is a disaster.
Brilliant 2008-07-27
It had been years since I first read this classic. What a treat to visit it again. I also loved Michele Cozzens'A Line Between Friends. Two great reads this summer.
Wanted to know 300 words fun purchase detail 2008-07-26
The following is a cut-up of other one-star reviews of this product.
Exciting needs to stretch the mind. Mass-produced tickertape parade of sleeping pills. It needs to use sci-fi interest. Imagination murder is what makes the mind. A man spliced together out of old newsreels. 1920s self pity is a wonderful thing. View love in a distant manner.
A Consciously Artistic Achievement 2008-07-08
At only 182 pages in the paperback edition, The Great Gatsby looms far larger in the life of American fiction than its slim dimensions. Unlike many novels with a great deal of hype latched to them, Gatsby lives up to its reputation in every blessed way. Perhaps part of the staying power and widespread appeal of this work is that it and its author were nearly forgotten. This powerful work was hardly read for more than 25 years, and now it is widely assumed to be one of the greatest works of American fiction in the 20th century. It earned its kingdom through dark years. From amnesia to aggrandizement shows that behind the swirl of its reputation is a powerfully complete artistic vision. Like all great work, Gatsby can be read on many levels: as a critique of the shifting American psyche, as a critique of the pitfalls of capitalism, as a time capsule of the roaring 20's... each reading brings new surprises. Perhaps the most refreshing reading is the uniqueness of the language. Fitzgerald here created prose masterpiece. Every sentence is finely wrought and cleverly designed, like jewels in an exquisite setting. He created, as he stated, a consciously artistic achievement.
