The Great Gatsby

This book is beautiful. The words themselves are stunning.

Like everyone else, I read this book for the first time in high school, under duress. The only thing I remember was that I was glad it was short. I picked it back up again because my best friend suggested I read F. Scott Fitzgerald's short stories. I found those to be almost personal affronts, because every single story seemed to be about people bursting with youth and vitality. In fact, their defining characteristics were naivete, beauty and wealth. Since I was at the time feeling particularly old, homely and broke, I didn't feel like reading about those rich young bastards.

Almost everyone in the Great Gatsby is around 30, so I immediately felt better.

The writing is so elegant and effortless. Every descriptive phrase Fitzgerald uses feels fresh. There is no trite "inky black night" or "laughter like bells" here. There is a kind of magic to his words.

Since I don't get a lot of sleep, I'm having trouble articulating exactly what it is about this book that I found so enchanting. I will tell you one thing, the next book I read will most definitely not be about ill fated love. I'm going to read some non fiction about whales or physics principles, because this is emotionally draining.

Gist: Gatsby has loved Daisy since his youth and plots to reconnect/impress her/win her love. Spoiler: It does not go as planned.

These desperate, selfish people made me sad. Things are going in a horrible, awkward direction but clearly there will be no changing course. You are embarrassed FOR the characters... this has never happened to me as a reader before. It made me literally uncomfortable. Like I was seeing something I shouldn't be seeing.

Read it if you like lovely sentence structure and aren't looking for a happy ending.