A book of shimmering social surfaces and hauntingly evanescent private depths, The Great Gatsby imbues its fleet narrative with a formal elegance that has been readily apparent even to the generations of high school students to whom it has been assigned—generally long before they might understand the novel’s grasp of how the intensity of life slips ineluctably away. But it is in its realization of that theme that the work’s true genius lies: Gatsby’s ultimately futile attempt to recapture his youthful passion for Daisy Buchanan makes almost palpable the present’s inability to live up to either past or future, and thereby catches the mood of our national life—and the contradictions of our national character, for which the American Dream never quite fulfills its promise—with poignant fidelity.
Is this the most perfectly written novel of all time? Possibly. It is not as great as War and Peace or as revolutionary as Moby Dick, but it is a perfectly polished gem, without a word out of place.
I enjoyed it more when I read it later in life vs. when I was required to read it in school. Interesting portrayal of unlikeable people who you still end up caring about
I first read this when I was at secondary school, and I have read it again several times since.
I enjoy the story, the characters, the decadence of the roaring 1920's, and the knowledge that the good times will not be long-lasting.
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