So if you do not know what The Great Gatsby is, first of all you have been living under a rock; and second of all you are missing out.
The Great Gatsby is probably F. Scott Fitzgerald's most notable novel. It is considered a classic and an overview of the overly decadent 1920's.
The Great Gatsby is a story that is told from the perspective of Nick Carroway, a stock broker from Illinois and currently living just outside of New York in West Egg. Nick just happens to live next door to the infamous Jay Gatsby, known for crazy parties, and even crazier stories about himself.
One day, Nick is invited over to Gatsby's party, where he learns what all the noise has been about. There is drinking, eating, dancing, singing, and just all over mayhem sprinkled with expensive everything.
Nick just so happens to be cousins with Daisy Buchanan, married to Tom Buchanan (major jerk). Little does Nick know that his mysterious neighbor has a history with Daisy until Gatsby asks him to set up a meeting between the two. Enter chaos.
My Thoughts
Having seen the movie with the handsome Leonardo DiCaprio before reading the novel, I'm actually pretty glad that I did. I really liked having Tobey McGuire's voice in my head for Nick's narration. I thought it was kind of odd that we are following the story of someone and we do not even get his name until around page 86. Nick himself, I actually kind of didn't like. I thought he was way too full of himself and thinking that he was better than everyone else, except Gatsby of course. There's even one part where he says that he is "the most honest person he's ever known." Bring your ego down a little there. I did like how invested in Gatsby he became though, sticking with him until the end through everything that happened.
I thought it was just the movie that I did not like Daisy in, but nope. I do not like her in the book either. She seems like a spoiled brat that just wants attention from anyone that she can get it. It's all about her and she does not care about the consequences of her own actions.
Tom Buchanan is a misogynistic jerk. He has way too much money. He has way too many women. And he gets away with everything he shouldn't. Not a fan.
Gatsby, what is there to say about Gatsby. He's the heart of the novel. I love how everything he does is to bring him to be the person that he believes that he is meant to be. He believes that he should be a rich, well educated man of society, and he becomes that. I feel so bad for him at the same time because his imagination is so strong and the reality of how everything should go never seems to live up to the dream. Gatsby is not perfect in any means, and does some questioning things, but he was a pure person deep down and the end makes me very sad.
I gave the book 3.5 stars. I did really like the book, but it wasn't quite good enough for me to be like, I REALLY liked it! I'm really glad that I finally finished this classic though.
