Name: Matthew Jackson's review of The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Item: The Great Gatsby
Rating: 4
Author: Matthew Jackson

F. Scott Fitzgerald

'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' 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. The Penguin English Library - collectable general readers' editions of the best fiction in English, from the eighteenth century to the end of the Second World War.

The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby, by the American author F. Scott Fitzgerald, is one of the great novels of twentieth-century literature. Set in the Long Island of 1922, it provides a critical social history of America during the “Roaring Twenties”, an era that Fitzgerald himself dubbed the “Jazz Age”, known for unprecedented economic prosperity, the evolution of jazz music, flapper culture, and bootlegging and other criminal activity. A historic period when “gin was the national drink and sex the national obsession”, as classified by The New York Times.

Avarni B

So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past...

tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms further 

Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. 

His dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it. He did not know that it was already behind him, somewhere back in that vast obscurity beyond the city, where the dark fields of the republic rolled on under the night.

So we drove on toward death through the cooling twilight.

"What'll we do with ourselves this afternoon?" cried Daisy, "and the day after that, and the next thirty years?" 

"Don't be morbid," Jordan said. "Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall." 

"But it's so hot," insisted Daisy, on the verge of tears, "and everything's so confused."

It had seemed as close as a star to the moon. Now it was again a green light on a dock. His count of enchanted objects had diminished by one.

I like large parties. They're so intimate. At small parties there isn't any privacy.

Akshita

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 

 with an irresistible prejudice in your favour. It understood you just as 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.

For a moment the last sunshine fell with romantic affection upon her glowing face; her voice compelled me forward breathlessly as I listened - then the glow faded, each light deserting her with lingering regret, like children leaving a pleasant street at dusk. 

Bart Veldhuijsen 

'One thing's sure and nothing's surer. The rich get richer and the poor get - children'

"Leaves the reader in a mood of chastened wonder . . . A revelation of life . . . A work of art." —Los Angeles Times Set in during the Roaring Twenties, this masterful story by F. Scott Fitzgerald is told through the eyes of Nick Carraway, a young man who moves to Long Island and attempts to learn the bond business in New York City after the war. There, he co-mingles on Long Island with his affluent and wealthy socialite cousin Daisy Buchanan, her brute of a husband Tom, and friend Jordan Baker. Nick's new residence sits across the bay from Daisy and Tom's house, and right next to a mysterious mansion. He begins to hear rumors of an infamous man named Gatsby who resides there. Eventually, when Gatsby learns of Nick's ties to Daisy, he extends Nick an invitation to one of his lavish parties. Gatsby's plan to court Daisy, in an attempt to revive a previous love affair, eventually bubbles to the surface and tragedy ensues. Dubbed the Great American Novel more than any other piece of literature to date, The Great Gatsby is sure to captivate readers with it's exquisitely crafted prose and poignant message about trying to relive the past. Packaged in handsome and affordable trade editions, Clydesdale Classics is series of essential literary works. From the musings of literary geniuses such as Mark Twain in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, to the striking personal narratives from Harriet Jacobs in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, this new series is a comprehensive collection of our literary history through the words of the exceptional few.

morgan

There are only the pursued, the pursuing, the busy and the tired.

Jordan Baker instinctively avoided clever shrewd men and now I saw that this was because she felt safer on a plane where any divergence from a code would be thought impossible. She was incurably dishonest. She wasn't able to endure being at a disadvantage, and given this unwillingness I suppose she had begun dealing in subterfuges when she was very young in order to keep that cool, insolent smile turned to the world and yet satisfy the demands of her hard jaunty body.

I'm glad it's a girl. And I hope she'll be a fool--that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool. You see I think everything's terrible anyhow. Everybody thinks so--the most advanced people. And I 

. I've been everywhere and I've seen everything and done everything. Sophisticated--God, I'm sophisticated!

They knew that presently dinner would be over and a little later the evening too would be over and casually put away. It was sharply different from the West where an evening was hurried from phase to phase toward its close in a continually disappointed anticipation or else in sheer nervous dread of the moment itself.

[..] one of those men who reach such an acute limited excellence at twenty-one that everything afterward savors of anti-climax.

[...] the most limited of all specialists, the "well-rounded man." This isn't just an epigram--life is much more successfully looked at from a single window, after all.

And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees--just as things grow in fast movies--I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer.

Conduct may be founded on the hard rock or the wet marshes but after a certain point I don't care what it's founded on. When I came back from the East last autumn I felt that I wanted the world to be in uniform and at a sort of moral attention forever; I wanted no more riotous excursions with privileged glimpses into the human heart.

Reserving judgements is a matter of infinite hope. I am still a little afraid of missing something if I forget that, as my father snobbishly suggested, and I snobbishly repeat a sense of the fundamental decencies is parcelled out unequally at birth.

Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter--tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther....And one fine morning--

So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.

I was responsible, because no one else was interested--interested, I mean, with that intense personal interest to which every one has some vague right at the end.

I have an idea that Gatsby himself didn't believe it would come and perhaps he no longer cared. If that was true he must have felt that he had lost the old warm world, paid a high price for living too long with a single dream.

"I'm thirty," I said. "I'm five years too old to lie to myself and call it honor."

Matthew Jackson

A favourite since high school. To me, this story and the song 'How Beautiful You Are' by The Cure are forever interlinked; the beauty and glamour of Gatsby's ephemeral world and the social and moral decay of the Valley of the Ashes, underlying the facade are, for me, captured in Smith's lyrics.

Kay Oddone

El gran Gatsby

Silvia Sants

Muy superficial. No he empatizado con los personajes en ningún momento, sobre todo con el megalómano Gatsby.

It was more interesting than I expected. But the big picture meaning of it is a bit lost on me. Need a YouTube video essay to track me some things. 

Dylan Williams

at the enchanted metropolitan twilight i felt a haunting loneliness sometimes, and felt it in others.

fellas is it gay to say that you disapprove of someone but then call him gorgeous three times and proceed to stay by his side days after he dies? i think yes

rose <3

at the enchanted metropolitan twilight i felt a haunting loneliness sometimes, and felt it in others.

fellas is it gay to say that you disapprove of someone but then call him gorgeous three times and proceed to stay by his side days after he dies? i think yes

I probably read it too quickly; I can imagine giving it a higher rating after a re-read.

Doug Belshaw

This new edition of The Great Gatsby includes a foreword by critically acclaimed novelist Michael Farris Smith, as well as an exclusive extract of his forthcoming novel, NICK, which imagines narrator Nick Carraway's life before he meets Gatsby Enigmatic, intriguing and fabulously wealthy, Jay Gatsby throws lavish parties at his West Egg mansion to impress Daisy Buchanan, the object of his obsession, now married to bullish Tom Buchanan. Over a Long Island summer, his neighbour Nick Carraway, a writer and a cousin to Daisy, looks on as Gatsby and Daisy's affair deepens. Tragedy looms in F. Scott Fitzgerald's masterpiece, frequently named among the best novels of the twentieth century. 'A classic, perhaps the supreme American novel' - Sunday Times 'More than an American classic; it's become a defining document of the national psyche, a creation myth, the Rosetta Stone of the Amercian dream' - Guardian

Rebeca Keren Nuñez

Me sorprendió que esta vez, leyendo la historia, le encontré otro nivel de análisis. Estoy tratando de leer clásicos, porque la verdad es que les muy pocos hasta ahora y este no podía faltar. Ya conocía la historia por la película protagonizada por Di Caprio, pero ahí me había quedado en un nivel mas superficial.

A sumptuously illustrated adaptation casts the powerful imagery of F. Scott Fitzgerald's great American novel in a vivid new format. From the green light across the bay to the billboard with spectacled eyes, F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 American masterpiece roars to life in Katharine Woodman-Maynard's exquisite graphic novel--among the first adaptations of the book in this genre. Painted in lush watercolors, the inventive interpretation emphasizes both the extravagance and mystery of the characters, as well as the fluidity of Nick Carraway's unreliable narration. Excerpts from the original text wend through the illustrations, and imagery and metaphors are taken to literal, and often whimsical, extremes, such as when a beautiful partygoer blooms into an orchid and Daisy Buchanan pushes Gatsby across the sky on a cloud. This faithful yet modern adaptation will appeal to fans with deep knowledge of the classic, while the graphic novel format makes it an ideal teaching tool to engage students. With its timeless critique of class, power, and obsession, The Great Gatsby Graphic Novel captures the energy of an era and the enduring resonance of one of the world's most beloved books.

The Great Gatsby: a Graphic Novel Adaptation

Lara Engle

This graphic novel adaptation of The Great Gatsby is visually stunning. The use of color and and the visual depiction of Fitzgerald's metaphors successfully translate the magic of the original language. The only place this falls short is in the actual language. While the snippets of the original text that are used are important and iconic, at times the transitions were somewhat choppy. Key passages are written into the artwork itself, montage style, which was a fun touch. I can hardly imagine the challenge it was to adapt Fitzgerald's lyrical prose into the comic medium, so I won't be too harsh. One little bonus is that the book smells faintly like fruit. I don't know if that was intentional or just how the ink smells, but it was nice. This adaptation is a lovely supplement to the original book, which I recommend you pair with it, but could never replace it.

One more note: this version inexplicably splits chapter seven (the one where it's so hot that everything boils over) into two chapters. So now it has 10 chapters instead of nine. What an odd choice.

A gorgeously illustrated, first-ever graphic novel adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s beloved American classic. First published in 1925, The Great Gatsby has been acclaimed by generations of readers and is now reimagined in stunning graphic novel form. Jay Gatsby, Nick Carraway, Daisy Buchanan, and the rest of the cast are captured in vivid and evocative illustrations by artist Aya Morton. The iconic text has been artfully distilled by Fred Fordham, who also adapted the graphic novel edition of To Kill a Mockingbird. Blake Hazard, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s great-granddaughter, contributes a personal introduction. This quintessential Jazz Age tale stands as the supreme achievement of Fitzgerald’s career and is a true classic of 20th-century literature. The story of the mysteriously wealthy Gatsby and his love for the beautiful Daisy is exquisitely captured in this enchanting and unique edition.

The Graphic Novel

I love The Great Gatsby. So, I was unsure if I would really like a graphic novel adaptation because I believe the beauty of the original flows from its lyrical prose. I am impressed with how well-done this adaptation is. The captions come directly from the original text, with the very best morsels selected. The color story of the illustrations draws from the symbolic use of color in the original. My only nitpick is that the faces all look pretty similar and the character drawings lack nuance. The artwork overall is beautiful, though and does a good job of filling in the story between the captions. The speech balloons are sometimes paraphrased and sometimes direct from the original text, but they're all accurate and clear. Overall, I recommend this as an adaptation of the original that could be enjoyed by adults and teens and even used in high school classes that would like an easier-to-understand version without losing the subtlety of the original.

Melissa M.

As cliché as it may be, this is one of my favorite books ever. Due to the dialect of the earlier 1900's, you have to be committed to your reading to truly understand what is happening, I found if I was distracted while reading, I retained nothing. However, when you're tuned in, its a fantastic story about the true nature of people. Things are often not what they seem and in the end, we are all only human. Love the message this book conveys.

Barbara Williford

Great book! Great narration for the audible!

Another amazing book by Fitzgerald. A great writer who sucks you in to the narrative and leaves you with so many profound thoughts.

Gatsby raised himself from a small town, mid western boy to the riches of New York. He had a dream for himself and strove to fill his dreams (even grandiose, questionable dreams). Through it all, he strove to reunite himself to his one, love.

This book is about love, heartbreak, deception, and the reality of those around you. This book is full with beautiful, wealthy people who appear to have it all. Underneath, they are shallow, lonely and miserable proving that things don’t always appear what they seem.

I bet this book would work well as a movie.

Mark Florczyk

Briar's Reviews

I was forced to read this during school and I was very hesitant considering the fact that my teacher always picked horribly boring books on purpose, but this book was like no other. The green light on the dock being only one of many metaphors made me addicted and wanting to read more into the book. Nick as the main character gives you a wonderful insight into Gatsby's hard partying world and the wonderful Miss Daisy's confusing life. Everytime I read this book I find something new and interesting about it! Five stars!

Nox Schoonmaker

I really like books that make me feel for the characters

Callie Stull

This book is simply incredible. I find it hard to read classics because they are not my style, but this book was so captivating and I enjoyed it so much. I read it over a month in my AP Language and Composition class in high school, and it's perfect for high schools that enjoy romance and action.

shellybn

One of my favorite books of all time, both to read and to teach.

A tragic love story, a mystery, and a social commentary on American life.

The Great Gastby

beautifully written characters, compelling plot, important morals, quite a melancholy book 

Joseph Haller

THE GREAT GATSBY

This was a interesting tale! I did enjoy it, but it certainly was not my favorite!

Laura Webster

re-read a different edition. Loved it just as much as the first time.

Jonathan Tysick

An eloquent indictment on wealth and the American dream. Like most literary fiction, this book is appreciated the more it's thought about and analyzed. Fitzgerald knew how to turn a phrase!

I thought that this book was good when I read it 

Lexy 

Krystyna 

This is one of my favorite books. It is definitely a book that I will re-read many times.

I am not usually a fan of the required reading you get assigned in school (unless it was shakespeare), but this book hooked me. Like I bought my own copy so I could finish reading it after class and at home. I think it took maybe 2-3 days to finish and I loved every single minute of it. 

Still a book I reread now and again and I love it every single time.

Molly Sheerer

I am not usually a fan of the required reading you get assigned in school (unless it was shakespeare), but this book hooked me. Like I bought my own copy so I could finish reading it after class and at home. I think it took maybe 2-3 days to finish and I loved every single minute of it. 

Still a book I reread now and again and I love it every single time.

11 timeless classics which have stood the test of time, and their enduring themes have proved popular through the ages. Each with its own concise introduction to guide the reader's thoughts and launch them into the text, these are accessible editions for the academic and general reader alike.

makenna!!! 

nick is gay!!!! gatsby is gay!!! they’re all gay!!!

Geraldine Alatriste López

The start was a little bit slow but after chapter 3 it's just soo good

Matthew Jackson &
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

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