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What is it about Gatsby?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Just about everybody acknowledges that “The Great Gatsby” is pretty great. Any time anybody ranks the greatest novels of the 20th century, or the best American novels, it’s near the top of the list. Even teenagers who hate to read anything that doesn’t have “Harry Potter” in the title and are forced to read it in high school will grudgingly admit that it doesn’t suck nearly as bad as the other books in the high school curriculum.
An article in the New York Times recently pointed out that even some immigrant students dig Gatsby. They see him as someone who is ambitious to make himself better, and Tom Buchanan as the jock who’s never as cool as he was in high school, and Daisy as a 1925 version of Paris Hilton.
Hey, at least they’re reading and thinking about what they’re reading.
I think one of the reasons “Gatsby” is so highly regarded is that it works on so many different levels. It’s a straightforward story, short and easy to read. It’s both very romantic, and Romantic. Dig a little deeper, and it’s a pretty harsh assessment of the American dream of Horatio Alger and self-improvement. And of course F. Scott Fitzgerald’s prose is just as clean and pure as it gets.
A novel could be all those things, of course, and still not be read or appreciated like “Gatsby” is. So what is it about “Gatsby” that makes it darn near universal in its appeal?
Permalink | Comments (4) | Categories: News and Reviews
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By Jeff
February 20, 2008 8:40 AM | Link to this
I am one of those that HATED it in HS… until I got past the third chapter.
Up to that point, it is one of the single MOST difficult fiction texts out there to read.
After that point, it becomes a classic.
I think the main reason for its appeal is that EVERYBODY can relate on a very deep level to at least one of the characters. You’ve got the whole ‘American Dream’ story, you’ve got the ‘Vanity of vanity, all is vanity’ issue (Bible reference there folks, King Solomon from Ecclesiastes…. richest man of all time finds out that money can’t buy happiness), you’ve got the pretty-girl-realizes-that-money-doesn’t-equal-love story, you’ve got the betrayal of a trusted friend, the betrayal of a spouse, poor-man-envious-of-rich-man, rich-man-envious-of-poor-man, etc. All CLASSIC human struggles.
And Fitzgerald finds a way to work them into a story that will suck you in and leave you breathless… IF you can make it through the first three chapters.
By Maria
February 20, 2008 1:00 PM | Link to this
I love Gatsby. I discovered it on my own when I was 14 or 15, then studied it once in high school and twice in college, and have read it a couple more times in the years since I graduated college. I’m always astounded by how contemporary it still feels. The language is gorgeous, yet very recognizable and accessible. Also, Fitzgerald was a genius with his pacing — the events happen quickly enough to please readers of contemporary mysteries and thrillers, and yet there’s also no shortage of human observation and poetic philosophizing.
The last lines never fail to give me chills:
“Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgiastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter—tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther…. And one fine morning —
So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”
SWOOOOOON.
By Kate
February 20, 2008 9:11 PM | Link to this
I never had to read Gatsby in high school or college, so I read it on my own a decade ago or so. And I can’t remember a thing about it!! Isn’t that terrible?? Can I blame it on the fact that I had three kids under that age of five at the time? I’ll have to revisit it at some point.
Phil, sorry if the Modern Love comment came across as offensive. I didn’t mean it that way. Air Kisses
By Jason
February 21, 2008 4:57 PM | Link to this
It’s funny, because the reverse of Gatsby is happening today. Ostentatious hedge fund and private equity nouveau riche (the Gatsby’s)are rapidly replacing old-money WASPs (the Tom Buchanan’s) as this country’s aristocracy. Computers have made making money a more meritocratic endeavor, and anyone with the proper skill-set can make millions/billions without gaining entry into some exclusive social network.