Product Description

Jay Gatsby is the man who has everything. But one thing will always be out of his reach ... Everybody who is anybody is seen at his glittering parties. Day and night his Long Island mansion buzzes with bright young things drinking, dancing and debating his mysterious character. For Gatsby - young, handsome, fabulously rich - always seems alone in the crowd, watching and waiting, though no one knows what for. Beneath the shimmering surface of his life he is hiding a secret: a silent longing that can never be fulfilled. And soon this destructive obsession will force his world to unravel.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1809 in Books
• Published on: 2000-02-24
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

About the Author
Francis Scott Fitzgerald was born in 1896 in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and educated at Princeton. Stationed in Alabama, he met and later married Zelda Sayre. His first novel, This Side of Paradise published in 1920, was a tremendous critical and commercial success. Fitzgerald followed with The Beautiful and the Damned in 1922, The Great Gatsby in 1925 and Tender is the Night in 1934. He was working on The Last Tycoon (1941) when he died, in Hollywood, in 1940.

Customer Reviews

Dazzling!!!! You Don't Want To Miss This One!!!
This is a quality Classic, full of enchantment, and taking us back to the twenties just after the war.

I took my time and savoured every word as it flowed along with a mysterious edge, causing me to be somewhat unsure of where you I was actually heading next.

Narrated by Nick Carraway who had been anxious to come out to the East (New York) after spending a rather dull childhood in the Midwest, I found Carraway a very interesting person. A bit of a schemer sometimes; one is never sure how he really feels about Jay.

Jay Gatsby is the enigma in this story; a rather poor officer who before he goes to war falls hopelessly in love with the beautiful Daisy Fay from Louisville. But what happens after the war???

The Great Gatsby having heard that his lovely Daisy has tied the knot with the uncouth, ill-mannered and filthy rich Tom Buchanan, goes to great measures to become wealthy too.... by all means. When he accomplishes this, he buys an elaborate house not far from the Buchanans where he hosts glittering and five star parties most weekends; with the hope that Daisy will eventually turn up.

You will be entertained and shocked by the things Jay Gatsby does all in the name of love. His parties filled with lots of celebrities and Hollywood people do nothing to assuage his troubled and lonely soul. I felt his pain in this book and his isolation which you will experience too when you read this book.

This is one of the best Classics on the market, even more so now that it has been updated. I highly recommend this book and can't wait to get my hands on F. Scott Fitzgerald's other updated ones; The Beautiful and The Dammed and Tender Is The Night. Fitzgerald is a boss and oh; the cover is soooo beautiful.

A true classic
How does he do it? Fitzgerald says more in one sentence than most authors manage in a lifetime. Not only is Fitzgerald able to capture the essence of complex ideas, or detailed descriptions in a few words, but he is a master storyteller. The Great Gatsby is a novel about the trappings of fame and glamour, about the seedy underbelly of `swinging' American 1920's high life, about incompatible love and wanting. This is a society magazine, 1920's style. There are few `Great' novels which appeal universally to everyone in one way or another. This is one of them. Read it now, you will not be disappointed.

A Dangerous Look Backward . . . Away from the Future
"So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past." These are the last words in the novel, and sum up its theme. Our minds (like moths to the light) are drawn irresistibly to the most wonderful moments we have experienced. Our mistake is then to build our future around them, not realizing that they can never be recaptured. In pursuing the past into the future, we deny ourselves the real potential of the future.

The Great Gatsby is developed in novel form around the story line of a Greek tragedy. Nick Carraway, Gatsby's neighbor, is the narrator, serving the role of the chorus. This choice of structure creates a marvelous reinforcement for the book's theme. The novel is constricted by the tragic form, even as Gatsby's future is by his immobilization by the past. If you like that sort of irony, you'll love The Great Gatsby.

Nick knows both Gatsby (his neighbor in West Egg, Long Island) and Daisy Buchanan (his cousin who lives in East Egg, Long Island). Daisy knew Gatsby before he was Gatsby and before meeting Tom, her husband. Gatsby has made himself into a rival for Daisy over the five years since they have last seen each other, and makes his play for her again through Nick about mid-way through the book. Daisy and Tom's responses shape the tragedy that is this story. I won't say more because it will harm your enjoyment of the novel.

The story itself is somewhat dated by the romantic perspective of the Roaring Twenties, and few will read it for the instant connection they will feel with the characters. Why would someone want to read this book? I see three reasons. The first is to explore the theme of moving illusions about the future built from the happiness of the past. The second is to see a fine example of plot development. There are no wasted words, actions, and thoughts. The third is to enjoy the language, which is beautifully expressive.

These are not characters you will find uplifting.

Why did Fitzgerald create such characters? Precisely because he did not approve and did not want you to approve. Everything that glitters is not gold is a way of summing up the lessons of this novel.

Why should someone not read this book? A reader who wants to be inspired by positive examples will find little to uplift oneself here. Someone who wants a story they can personally identify with will likely be disappointed. A student of how to create love and happiness will mainly find out how to create heartache and unhappiness. So the book is not for everyone.

After you have read the book, I would encourage the self-examining reader to consider where in one's own life the current focus is dominated by past encounters rather than future potential. Then consider how changing that perspective could serve you and those you love better.