One for The Ages ~ Gatsby

The Great American Dream, The Golden Age, The Jazz Age. greed, social class, love, time, transportation, The Green Light...

In taking time to reflect on F. Scott Fitzgerald The Great Gatsby, I realized that I have talked enough about this book or read enough about this book my entire life to not experience a great change of appreciation or understanding that I did after reading To Kill A Mockingbird.  I could write paragraphs about the topics above. Critics have already analyzed every chapter in every way. I will leave the serious critics to the scholars and AP class, but here are a few thoughts.

I am not sure I remembered how much Nick Carroway impacts Jay and Daisy's story as well as the narrative. I truly liked his story telling, but I encourage all readers to watch time as the story progresses. Think about the phrasing Fitzgerald chose to portray. Gatsby portrays confidence but does he ever really have this confidence? Daisy and Tom love in a loveless marriage with affairs and heartbreak. They end in deaths  Neither understands the implication of their actions. This book is one of the Great American novels because the problems, actions, results and stories are still relevant 80 years later.


“My whole theory of writing I can sum up in one sentence. An author ought to write for the youth of his own generation, the critics of the next, and the schoolmasters of ever afterward.” 
― F. Scott Fitzgerald

I leave you with this quote as a sum of this book. The Great Gatsby coined the phrase the Jazz Age and epitomized the youth of the 20s, the critics of the next generation (well late 1940s) rediscovered the brilliance of the book and the idealization of the American Dream. Today, many high school and college pupils read this classic and contender for the Great American Novel.

If you missed this book growing up, make sure this book is next on your list before it becomes forever changed by the Silver Screen!

Happy Reading! ~ Now time to Catch up with my dear friend Harry Potter!

(10 books Done! 10% YAY!)