The Great Gatsby By F.Scott Fitzgerald
A staple of American literature. The Great Gatsby fully encapsulates the roaring twenties atmosphere in this iconic classic.
Early into the novel, the reader is introduced to Nick Carraway, a young bond seller living in an area called West Egg located in New York's Long Island region. Nick serves as the narrator and the main protagonist of the novel. The Great Gatsby takes place in the 1920s, otherwise known as the "roaring twenties" due to the economic boom that took place after the Great War. The area across from the West Egg is known as the East Egg, where people are very pretentious. East Egg residents view people from West Egg as partyers with new money. The novel starts with Nick going to see his cousin Daisy who is married to a wealthy man named Tom Buchanan from East Egg. Tom is very arrogant and overall not a very good person. While seeing his cousin, Nick overhears gossip about a man named Gatsby, who happens to be Nick's neighbor who lives in a massive mansion.
On Nick's way home, he sees Gatsby out on his dock with his hands stretched out in a mysterious fashion. The Next day, Nick receives an invitation to a party at Gatsby's that night but no one ever gets an invitation to Gatsby's, most just show up unannounced. Nick decides to go to the party where he meets Gatsby who has a charming personality that leaves Nick stunned. The following morning, Gatsby takes Nick out to lunch and it is obvious that he wants something from him. Nick's friend tells him that Gatsby wants Nick to invite his cousin Daisy to tea with him the next day. When Nick tells Gatsby that he will invite Daisy, without Gatbsy even asking him, Gatsby becomes nervous and for a moment, you can see through his charming personality. Read the rest to find out about this mysterious man named Gatsby and his passion for Nick's cousin Daisy.
The Great Gatsby is a great read-through and through. The amount of symbolism and themes present in The Great Gatsby is immense, and I will not bore you by going into detail about them. The way Fitzgerald styles his writing is very unique as the wording of passages changes, based on the mood of the scene. For instance, there is a scene when an argument takes place, and the page becomes riddled with words such as gruesome, hot, fiery, tense, extreme, and conflict. The 2013 movie adaptation is also fantastic, so give that a watch too. There's not much more to be said, you have to get the full experience by reading the book yourself. Go check it out.
Plot/Story-9/10
Characters-8/10
Book Length-10/10
Writing Style-10/10
Cumulative Score-37/40
