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, F. Scott Fitzgerald's third book, stands as the supreme achievement of his career. This exemplary novel of the Jazz Age has been acclaimed by generations of readers. The story of the fabulously wealthy Jay Gatsby and his new love for the bearutiful Daisy Buchanan, of lavish parties on Long Island at a time when The New York Times noted "gin was the national drinnk and sex the national obsession," it is an exquisitely crafted tale of America in the 1920s.

The Great Gatsby is one of the great classics of twentieth-century literature.
(back cover)

Joe Ricupero

She didn't answer. Angry, and half in love with her, and tremendously sorry, I turned away.

He knew he had a big future in front of him

"Let us learn to show our friendship for a man when he is alive and not after he is dead."

If he’d lived, he’d of been a great man

She wanted her life shaped now, immediately and the decision must be made by some force of love, of money, of unquestionable practicality-that was close at hand. 

Well, there I was, way off my ambitions, getting deeper in love every minute, and all of a sudden didn't care. What was the use of doing great things if could have a better time telling her what I was going to do? 

I can't describe to you how surprised I was to find out I loved her, old sport. 

He was clutching at some last hope and I couldn't bear to shake him free. 

I disliked him so much by this time that I didn't find it necessary to tell him he was wrong

He had been full of the idea so long, dreamed it right through to the end, waited with his teeth set, so to speak, at an inconceivable pitch of intensity.

and for a moment I thought I loved her. But I am slow-thinking and full of interior rules that act as breaks on my desires

 I felt a haunting loneliness sometimes, and felt it in others

All I kept thinking about, over and over, was You can't live forever, you can't live forever. 

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.

Tillie Baker

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

But all this part of it seemed remote and unessential. I found myself on Gatsby's side, and alone.

"They're a rotten crowd," I shouted across the lawn. "You're worth the whole damn bunch put together."

I've always been glad I said that. It was the only compliment I ever gave him, because I disapproved of him from beginning to end. First he nodded politely, and then his face broke into that radiant and understanding smile, as if we'd been in ecstatic cahoots on that fact all the time.

The hopelessness that comes as a result of indecision and uncertainty about your own future. For once you had so much ambition - so many plans left as drafts. You felt so utterly away from yourself you almost wish another could make the decision for you, direct you back on track - yet only yourself has that power.

And all the time something within her was crying for a decision. She wanted her life shaped now, immediately..

To meet someone who seems to see your person, skimming just below the surface enough to understand how you operate, even for the briefest of moments. The person you portray yourself as, the person you wish to become - they just see you.

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.

But I didn't call to him, for he gave a sudden intimation that he was content to be alone - he stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and, far as I was from him, I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily I glanced seaward - and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock. When I looked once more for Gatsby he had vanished, and i was alone again in the unquiet darkness.

Angelica Garcia

I keep it always full of interesting people, night and day. People who do interesting things. Celebrated people.

Erica England 

The loneliest moment in someone’s life is when they are watching their whole world fall apart, and all they can do is stare blankly.

akshita

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

Illustrated Edition

cal ⭐️

Matthew Jackson

A true classic. I never read this book before and I’m glad I wasn’t forced to do so when I was in school. I think this book is far more profound when you’re in your mid twenties.

If ever there was a book that can be called beautiful for the way it's written then this has to be it. Every chapter of this book gradually reveals us the man behind the myth that is Mr. Gatsby. The story isn't that dense but it's not about what it contains, it's about how it's described. 

I haven't watched the movie yet, but couldn't stop visualizing DiCaprio as Gatsby.

Adwait Kulkarni

If ever there was a book that can be called beautiful for the way it's written then this has to be it. Every chapter of this book gradually reveals us the man behind the myth that is Mr. Gatsby. The story isn't that dense but it's not about what it contains, it's about how it's described. 

I haven't watched the movie yet, but couldn't stop visualizing DiCaprio as Gatsby.

So different from tender is the night, the other hit of his. But such a page turner! The first chapter is to be remembered forever and the last chapter is tragic. I, not knowing it is foreshadowed in the first chapter, was so intrigued in this.

korfai 

Beautiful language, vivid descriptions, little emotion. 

llikaditoo 

Why did I leave this book feeling very emotional? Like stereotypical girl on her period emotional 

Abbi Brown 

Romance of the century. Deep, sorrowful, and full of words that flow like poetry.

there is a line which explains daisy’s voice to be “full of money” and this line sticks with me for a very long time…i think that a marriage, between buchanan and daisy is something only they can understand, it is not always about money. and i assume that, gatsby only thought of daisy to be with someone who can “afford her most” which is in fact, untrue. it is lineage. it is heritage. it is education and family. i always relate myself to gatsby for a very long time by watching the movie, making beauty to be something to achieve…fast cars, skyscrapers or a network of people. but when i read the book, clearly, gatsby does not have any lineage. he was not born into wealth but he had to work his way up. his backstory a little murky and his family a little unclear. this creates gatsby to be a “shady person” to me where else tom came from person a and goes to school b. i think what daisy really wants from gatsby is clarity. where is the truth in all of this mess. whereas, with tom it is CLEAR that this is a marriage, everything with him is factual and real. not an illusion and a party trick to please someone like the east egg-sters. i think…i would like to delve into this complex more,,,, perhaps in my own time.

i fully imagined jordan to look like an overtanned, jersey shore with a straight balayage but ik thats not very 1920s

i didnt know this book was so good like reading gossip girl, i always just chucked it tgt with boring classics

william wukkuan

i fully imagined jordan to look like an overtanned, jersey shore with a straight balayage but ik thats not very 1920s

i didnt know this book was so good like reading gossip girl, i always just chucked it tgt with boring classics

This book is a love story told in a third person point of view. I loved every detail of the narrator’s friendship with the characters to the point where I feel his personal connection to Gatsby. So reading the last few chapters were sad and quite solemn. I just wish I saw how Daisy would’ve reacted with the unfortunate events of Gatsby’s fate. This book touched me to the point where I wonder what their life could have been if the accident never happened. And if Daisy would’ve stood her ground and left Tom for good. But the ending felt like we, the readers, were not meant to find out. Perhaps Daisy thought it was a good enough reason to erase Gatsby from her life and to fully commit to her daughter and Tom. 

Maxine Erica

I recall reading this when I was young and really enjoying it. Sometimes I wish I may be taken under the wing of a rich, wise, old man too.

Throckmorton

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

Kirsten Kim

This was such a sad and wonderous book. I loved it so much. There was always a solemn feel to it as if you knew what would happen in the end and hated it. I loved the way Fitzgerald introduced the harsh reality of the romance between Daisy and Gatsby towards the end. You could hear the desperation and longing but alas, it could not happen.

"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.

very american. i dont quite like americans.

Malia

Anna 

** spoiler alert **
           i am quite disappointed with this book. i expected THAT amazing gatsby that became one of the most famous book characters of 20th century, but i didn't really find that person in this book. gatsby is full of mysteries, but not in a good and cool way mysterious, but in an annoying please-just-tell-me-already way. does that even make sense? he is just like every other man, not really original in any way. even tom had more unique personality traits than gatsby.
the main character, nick, also didn't really have any personality except for telling us the story about that great gatsby that actually wasn't great at all. 
the parties? expected them to be described way more beautifully, i couldn't really imagine the mood and the overall aesthetic of the 'roaring 20s'. 
and the end just was not it for me. at first i didn't even understand how gatsby died, my classmate had to explain it to me. kinda humiliating, i know. 
what happened to daisy? why did jordan get engaged all of a sudden? what why when who?? i have many questions and no answers.
it's probably just 'me thing', my friends really enjoyed this book, but i sadly didn't find it interesting at all.

when you just want to pursue your career but you ended up getting dragged in everybody else's business. 😂

lala

I read this book like, a couple years back but totally forgot about it and decided to buy a copy at Maruzen Sendai. I was completely amazed by how hauntingly beautiful this book is. I'd say that despite being published in the 20s, the book is easy to read and easy to feel consumed in the story. The premise is simple, the narrative is not complex but you feel the gut-wrenching effect of delving into Gatsby's illusion of love. The Great Gatsby offers us a great narrator that made the 'greatness' of Gatsby put in a place of his admirer, Nick. The dialogue does not give us answers, but the act of the characters do. I would recommend this as an easy read for someone.

Bria

I definitely pretended to read this for my ap lit class like 10 years ago because I couldn’t get into it. I actually read it this time, and I still couldn’t get into it. I don’t get the hype. Gatsby is a creep, and Daisy lives a sad, unhappy life. Nick is a great narrator, though.

kalenga 

Wtf is this 😭😭😭 I just did not enjoy this book no matter how entranced I was to pick it up, I could not care less about any of the characters, the women are whiny, the men are boring and the parties are so over the top. The "romance" in this book isn't even romance so don't even try to advertise it as a chase for love because there's literatly not even an ounce of real love in this like wtf. I don't see how this book can be considerded a must read 💀💀 Don't waste your time guys. 

surtified™

Nica

Tony Tanner

F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby brilliantly captures the disillusion of a society obsessed with wealth and status. Young, handsome and fabulously rich, Jay Gatsby appears to have it all, yet he yearns for the one thing that will always be out of his reach, the absence of which renders his life of glittering parties and bright young things ultimately hollow. Gatsby's tragic pursuit of his dream is often cited as the Great American Novel.

Hanna Rybchynska

I decided to read this book this month and it didn't disappoint me. This one is a really interesting perspective of the 30's in New York. It also does a good representation of obsession and money can be an excuse for bad behavior. I really recommend it to people who like historical fiction.

Chloé

Another read at school read. Honestly one of the better ones read but like also not a fave.

gatsby is sort of a loser actually.. what a lonely man 

Matthew Jackson &
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

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