Book: The Great Gatsby
Author: F. Scott Fitzgerald
Publication: Penguin Books
Price: This edition was worth Rs. 100 (From Delhi Book Fair)
Pages: 188
Plot: Set in 1922, in New York, this novel starts with the introduction of Nick Carraway who has just moved from Midwest to West Egg. There he meets his cousin, Daisy Buchanan who lives in East Egg with her husband and one daughter. But what appeals him most in this new place is his neighbour Jay Gatsby. A rich man who lives in a gigantic mansion and throws extravagant parties every Saturday. There are many rumours about him of being notoriously dishonest. But people still love to attend his parties.
One day he receives an invitation from Jay Gatsby to his parties, where he met many people. He saw everyone enjoying the drinks and the music, but there was one man who was not enjoying the party and that was Jay Gatsby. The only inhabitant of West Egg who does not enjoy Gatsby’s great parties is none other than but he himself.
As the summer unfolds, Nick and Jay become good friends, they started to meet regularly, and one day he learnt that Jay is in love with a woman, and the great parties are to impress that woman. But the problem is that the woman is already married, and the bigger problem for Nick is that this woman is his cousin Daisy Buchanan.
Gatsby asked Nick for a favour, he wanted Nick to introduce him to Daisy. Nick did that for his friend, and on their meeting, he learnt that there was past, a past of Gatsby and Daisy, and Daisy still loves Gatsby.
Is their love enough to cross the barriers of Daisy’s marriage? Is it true love? Will they ever live happily ever after, just like what Gatsby has imagined?
Well, to know all this you guys have to read the book.
My Views: While reading this book I was surprised to know that this book does not have difficult language like other classics. I took a breath of relief there. 😉
It’s a small story, depicting the time when the society was so modern that women were allowed to choose their love, even after their marriage.
There is love, betrayal and jealousy in the story, but what I found lacking in this story is depth in emotions. Somehow, I just did not feel that passion for love, hatred or jealousy of characters. I never felt the pain and I failed to feel that love too like I usually feel in other classics. So when it comes to showcasing emotions, I was little disappointed with this book.
Other than that, I would still say that story is good. Showing the mean side of love, the story of Jay Gatsby is not like other lovey-dovey love stories.
To all my friends, who do not want to read a book, there is a Leonardo Caprio’s movie based on the novel too, you can watch that movie. 😉
Recommendations: If you want to start with reading classics I would say that this book can be a good starter. With its easy language, short and a great story, this book can make you crave for more classics.
Ratings: 3.5/5
My favourite quotes from ‘The Great Gatsby’
- He smiled understandingly-much more than understandingly. It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life. It faced- or seemed to face- the whole eternal world for an instant, and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favour. It understood you just so far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself, and assured you that it had precisely the impression of you that, at your best, you hoped to convey.
- Then he kissed her. At his lips’ touch she blossomed for him like a flower and the incarnation was complete.
Read my book review of another famous American Classic, ‘To kill a mockingbird’ here.
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[…] And if you are interested in reading classics, you can read one of my book reviews of the classic, The Great Gatsby here. […]