Before getting started with this review, I’d simply like to point out for those who don’t know that The Great Gatsby is one of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s most celebrated works of writing, becoming one of those world-renowned classics that gets translated into virtually every language.
Regardless of what impression my review may give you of it, keep in mind that it is only my take on it, and if it somehow dissuades you from reading it, then all I can say is that you’ll be missing out on something terrific.
In any case, The Great Gatsby takes place in the United States during the 1920s, and contrary to most other works of fiction taking place in that time period, this one doesn't depict it as being classy and reserved.
On the contrary, in this book, we are being thrust into what we understand to be a chaotic world, a time of more or less turbulent changes when "gin was the national drink and sex was the national obsession".
It feels as if the entire country has collectively decided to break out of its social shell. Jay Gatsby is an extremely wealthy man who throws the most noteworthy and eccentric parties around. However, he himself is a mysterious recluse who prefers to stay in the shadows. However, one day a man by the name of Nicholas Carraway, Gatsby’s neighbor, attends his party, where he discovers the reality behind the great Jay Gatsby’s existence.
Before you start to think up all the possible scenarios as to who Gatsby is and what he has done, let me reassure you that this is very well ground in reality; you aren’t going to get some kind of senseless and supernatural twist that will make everything you have read in the last hundreds of pages irrelevant.
The story is very well-constructed, revealing just enough every page to keep things interesting and give you something to think about. In my opinion, the mystery behind Gatsby alone is worth reading the book for.
It feels as if the entire country has collectively decided to break out of its social shell. Jay Gatsby is an extremely wealthy man who throws the most noteworthy and eccentric parties around. However, he himself is a mysterious recluse who prefers to stay in the shadows. However, one day a man by the name of Nicholas Carraway, Gatsby’s neighbor, attends his party, where he discovers the reality behind the great Jay Gatsby’s existence.
Before you start to think up all the possible scenarios as to who Gatsby is and what he has done, let me reassure you that this is very well ground in reality; you aren’t going to get some kind of senseless and supernatural twist that will make everything you have read in the last hundreds of pages irrelevant.
However, apart from the story itself is also another entire layer of meaning which is used to explore the mindset of people, at least at the beginning of the twentieth century. I won’t spoil the story for you, but the themes of hiding, pretending and even duality make very common occurrences, and those who take the time to study and read into them are going to see a very interesting picture depicted at the end of it all.
In the end, it makes for a fantastic and eye-opening read, regardless of what kinds of books you are into (unless, of course, you cannot live without constant action and a predictable ending).
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F. Scott Fitzgerald
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