The Book Report #51

Episode #50

I went back to Google’s best books of all time.

This time I went with…

The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Book

The original book was first published by Scribner’s, on the 10th of April 1925. Scribner’s was bought by Simon & Schuster in 1994.

My copy is an ebook, I read from the Kindle app on my phone. My phone is a Microsoft Surface Duo 2. I chose it because I could use it like a book. The book has 162 pages and nothing else.

What Did I Think

Nick is the book’s main character, who narrates through the world he lives in from his point of view. The story starts with him telling us what he has been up to the past few years and we end with him visiting his cousin. Daisy has a theory and is right to have that notion when we find out and the husband is quite open with the fact, but not to Daisy. Tom takes Nick to visit his mistress and they all party at the flat he has for them.

From here we read about Gatsby and his wild parties. And anyone who is anyone should be there.

The host is unknown to the attendees. But the rumours are rampant. And still everyone wants to go to the Gatsby party.

But, what everybody doesn’t know is that Nick lives next door to Gatsby and sees all the lights and sounds, that can be seen from his window.

Eventually, Gatsby invites Nick to his house and after a while, even though, Nick doesn’t like everything he does, they become friends.

Here the mystery of Gatsby is slowly revealed who he is, where he came from and where he accumulated his fortune. But the main reason for the book was to return to the love he had to leave behind.

The only problem is that that woman is married to Tom.

Human Beings

With all the little drama in the book and the slow revealing, of who Gatsby really is. We also learn in the end that human nature never changes because as soon as everything goes wrong nobody wants to be involved with him any more.

Although there may be a small sign of hope.

The other problem: people will do anything to fit in and some will fake it to get what they want but not what they need. Also, denial is a river in Egypt.

This is a story; that also shows that if you are determined and hardworking, you can get anywhere in life. But watch where you tread because one little fault could be the last thing you ever do.

But the main problem, I still don’t understand. Why is this one of the greatest books of all time? Was this controversial for the time when it was published? Was this the first time it was pointed out how shitty people can treat each other? Or describing how people can be? Good or Bad?

Aside from all of that. This is a great showing of the history of how the 1920s were. How people with some money lived well off from others. And how easy it seems to get away with things. And also how some things haven’t changed that much in over a hundred years.

The Audiobook

For those who would rather listen and read:

Would I Recommend

As it stands. It is a good and simple story, reflecting the time it was written, and it was written pretty well. Is it a classic? Maybe. Greatest book of all time? Maybe not. Do I still recommend it? Of course. This is still a good story. It is well written and deserves a chance from everyone, as with all stories to be read.

Please give it a go.

Would you like to purchase your very own copy?

You could try these online stores: Amazon UK/USA. Waterstones. AbeBooks UK/ USA, Barnes and Noble and eBay UK/ USA.

Alternatively, you could try your local bookshop or even your local library.