Summer Reading 2015 (2): The Great Gatsby (F. Scott Fitzgerald, 1925)

More summer reading!  Checkbox #2 down... let’s call this one ‘A book that became a movie,’ several times over (though if I’d just sat down and gone at it, its 180 pages (in my copy) would’ve filled my ‘A book you can finish in a day’ spot)...  The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

At 31 years old, I actually feel kind of awkward about not having been familiar with the details of this book before now.  I’d heard the final line quoted a few times, and I fear I was spoiled as to the ending before reading it, due to an interview on Fresh Air that I caught on the drive home from work in September of last year.

That said...  I’m not sure what to make of this story, exactly.  It’s clear from an early point that the narrator is unreliable; he opens the book by saying he doesn’t judge other people, then judges everyone around him incessantly.  He seems purposefully drawn in as vague a manner as possible, showing little interest, at least so far as the plot is concerned, with actually interacting with what is happening around him in anything resembling an active manner.  

Honestly, there didn’t seem to be any particularly likable characters in here at all.  Every one of them is flawed in ways that are focused upon in the narration, bringing out the negative traits and submerging the positive.

Don’t think that I’m putting down the book as a whole here, though.  The prose is excellent, and while the characters may not be likable, they’re well-described and have clear motivations behind what they do.  The feel of the setting (admittedly simply ‘present day Long Island’ at the time of its writing) comes through in every passage, and the recurring motifs (especially the ever-watching eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg, Oculist) stand out in a way that only helps to add to the setting.

As a final aside, I find it absolutely wonderful that the current printing of the book shares the same cover artwork that graced the first edition.  Kudos on the publisher for that.

Next on the list... has already been read.  So on to the next post.