This book is regarded as one of the great American literature classics of twentieth-century. I read it before in high school, but since they were releasing the new movie with Leonardo Di Caprio I decided to read it again. This time around I think I enjoyed reading it more than back then and it seems like I got a lot more from it. You get to relive the glitz and glamour of the the 1920's with a whole buffet of scandals, romance any even mystery too. The main story within The Great Gatsby is how Jay Gatsby is extremely infatuated with Daisy Fay. However F. Scott Fitsgerald did I good job setting this story within the confines of the big American dream that everyone had in 1920's and most people still have even to this present day.
We are taken back to Long Island, New York it is the year 1922 and it is summer there. The book itself has clever narration done by Jay's neighbor who goes by the name Nick Carraway. Besides the three characters already mentioned above there is also one other character who is featured prominently in the book, this is Tom Buchanan who happens to be married to Gatby's infatuation. Their marriage is in trouble and we find out that he too has a mistress, Myrtle. Jay came from the farms of North Dakota. He was in the army for the first World War after which he became a businessman and a millionaire. He buys a luxury home in the town of West Egg and has extravagant parties to lure Daisy to his house. The origins of his wealth are another topic of discussion within the book, as we later find out that he may have acquired it illegally. Who is F. Scott Fitzgerald? He is one of the famous twentieth century American writers. The Great Gatsby was the third book he wrote. The other two were Tender Is The Night and a collection of stories. He has a brilliant style of writing that has a lot of insight within it. This book is probably the best one he ever published and it rightfully deserves being recognized as such.
Scott is not one to waste words when he is writing. I really enjoyed how he infuses lyrical prose to really give life to the story line. He did a great job at maintaining a rounded feel throughout the book, making every characters contribution important. As you read each chapter, you are left eagerly waiting to devour the next one. I think its sad really that modern day authors do not write the same way he does anymore. There were many times I went back and read some of the sections over again. Another thing I loved was how the narrator seemed impartial to all the characters. He liked some and the others not so much. Not once does he harshly judge any of them. The mood of the period was excellently captured. The way the characters were portrayed is a close representation to how people of that period behaved according to other history books. There is a small part of me that feels like there were several opportunities when the plot could have been expanded more within the book. This is just my personal opinion.
The Great Gatsby is an awesome story. It has brilliant writing utilizing good sentence structure and is short enough for a quick read. F. Scott Fitzgerald also uses very rich language. This classic novel deserves its reputation as one of the Great American Novels. Not only is it a classic, it has drama as well as romance too. I am glad that I read it again as it awarded me another chance to explore impeccable literature from a forgotten era. This is indeed, a timeless classic.
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