The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, one of the greatest 20th century American writers, is somewhat of an adult novel. It tells the story of the rich and handsome Jay Gatsby, who fell deeply in love with a woman named Daisy, but came back from the war to discover that she had been married. They meet again through the narrator, Daisy's cousin and Gatsby's next door neighbor, Nick Carraway, and have an affair. Meanwhile, Daisy's husband Tom is seeing another married woman as well. In the end (SPOILER ALERT), Daisy and Gatsby run over Tom's mistress, whose husband figures out that is was them and shoots Gatsby. 

Fitzgerald's novel, though it seems to be only a romance, delves much deeper into serious themes, and focuses particularly on the American dream, or the idea that because we live in a free country, anyone can have the opportunity to lead happy, prosperous and profitable lives if they work hard. It took a good amount of thought (and help from Mrs. Jensen...) for me to figure it out, but Gatsby is obsessed with the American dream, because he believes that Daisy will love him if he is wealthy and financially successful, so, to fulfill this, he resorts to bootlegging. Fitzgerald also presents other issues through his characters- Daisy is depressingly materialistic, Nick and Gatsby, as a result of fighting in the war, are pessimists, and Gatsby's countless party guests are greedy moochers, as my father would put it. These and other moral issues come up throughout the book, and make for a fascinating and thought-provoking (thought-requiring?) yet rather difficult reading experience.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Great Gatsby. While somewhat confusing, the writing was lovely, and it helped that the book is a mere 180 pages. I hadn't ever read anything set in the 1920s before, so it was interesting to learn a little bit about what New York, and much of America in general, was like during that time period. Fitzgerald's characters are nothing short of intriguing, and it was refreshing to read something a little on the challenging side and to have to really look deeply into what I was reading. Overall, I give Gatsby a well deserved A+.