The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a satirical mockery of the American society in the 1920s and although a good piece of literature was not one of my favorite books I have read in high school. This book is the narration of Nick Carraway, who is astounded by his new lifestyle in the detraining east and amazed by the wealth of his neighbors like “the Great Gatsby” but is also astonished by the immorality of this society. This novel is good because it was easy to understand and had a nice flow to it that kept the attention of the reader. The novel also had a surprising twist at the end that I will not disclose in this blog post in case the reader of this has not finished the book yet, but this twist made the reader put more though into the book and allowed the author to further show the corruption of the east and the dilemma in the love triangle (more like a rhombus) that is “The Great Gatsby.” Unfortunately, this book lacks a sense of value that the reader can take with him upon finishing the book. Because the reader is most likely not from the 1920s and does not have to deal with the corruption and sleaziness, all the reader can really take away is a historical lesson of the boom in the economy and the overabundance of wealth of that time period. The contradiction of the narrator can also leave the reader a bit irritated, even though it is the writing style of the author, because the reader is constantly trying to figure out what is truly the narrator’s true belief and feeling about a particular aspect of society or event that was going on during the book. If I had to give this book a rating on a scale of one to ten, I would give it a six, (where, “The Scarlet Letter” was a four and, “To Kill a Mockingbird” was a nine) because it was an easy and clear read that did a good job of keeping the author interested in the story but I lacked a sense of meaning to the modern day society. Altogether, I did enjoy this book over the majority of book I have read and I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a pure story to read for the fun of reading alone and not looking for a book that is going to leave them with a moral that they can take with them to the outside world and use in everyday life.
I thought your review would be very insightful to someone who has not read the book, and is interested in reading a well-established novel. By comparing the book to pieces like “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “The Scarlett Letter”, you establish ethos to the reading, making yourself a credible reviewer and giving the reading a base of comparison. I also agree with your statement about text-to-world connections: many of the ideas present throughout The Great Gatsby are also present in our society. However, I found part of your review contradictory when you stated that ”this book lacks a sense of value that reader can take with him upon finishing the book”, because you often referred to the books use of moral and social issues to connect with the reader.
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