The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

In The Great Gatsby, the eccentric and mysterious millionaire, Jay Gatsby wants to be reunited with his lover, Daisy whom he met before the war. Daisy has since married Tom Buchanan, but that doesn’t mean she can’t cavort with her former lover especially since Tom isn’t exactly faithful. Even though Jay’s dream of being with Daisy has materialized, a deadly car accident changes that and their lives are turned upside down.

Although this book is relatively short, it is not an easy book to read. It took me awhile to get into it. Once I did, I quite enjoyed it. I’m pretty sure I was supposed to read this back in high school. If I did read it, I remember very little. I wasn’t much of a reader back then and I’m sure I found this book incredibly dull. However, now that I read a lot more, I can appreciate this book and it’s characters.

My favourite character was Gatsby. I actually liked him and the whole mystery surrounding his background. He was arrogant and tried to manipulate those around him to get what he wants. While those are not admirable qualities, they made for an interesting character. There are plenty of lessons to be learned from Gatsby’s desires and lifestyle.

The story, too, was quite interesting and I loved the setting of the roaring twenties.

Overall, I’d definitely recommend it.

[If you have read this book, you might want to check out The Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian. He uses characters from The Great Gatsby in addition to some new characters to create a new fantastic mystery. I’d definitely recommend it.]