Friday, July 22, 2022

The Great Gatsby: F. Scott Fitzgerald

In this book Nick Carraway describes his experiences over a summer that he spends on Long Island, getting reacquainted with his friends Tom and Daisy Buchanan and going to parties at Jay Gatsby's mansion. Daisy is Nick's cousin (once removed) and her husband Tom is obscenely rich.


Nick lives in a small house that he rents, squeezed in between mansions on either side of him. Gatsby lives in the mansion to one side of his house. Gatsby seems to throw a huge party every weekend at his mansion, and eventually he invites Nick to come to a party. Most people just show up at the party, but Nick gets a special invitation. It turns out that Gatsby invited Nick because of his connection to Daisy. Gatsby and Daisy were once in love and planning to get married, and he wants to renew his acquaintance.

That is all I want to say about the plot. However, it is hard to say much about what I liked and did not like without revealing too much of the story.


Here Nick describes his first visit to Tom and Daisy Buchanan's mansion:

And so it happened that on a warm windy evening I drove over to East Egg to see two old friends whom I scarcely knew at all.

Their house was even more elaborate than I expected, a cheerful red and white Georgian Colonial mansion overlooking the bay. The lawn started at the beach and ran toward the front door for a quarter of a mile, jumping over sun-dials and brick walks and burning gardens—finally when it reached the house drifting up the side in bright vines as though from the momentum of its run. The front was broken by a line of French windows, glowing now with reflected gold, and wide open to the warm windy afternoon, and Tom Buchanan in riding clothes was standing with his legs apart on the front porch. 

He had changed since his New Haven years. Now he was a sturdy, straw-haired man of thirty with a rather hard mouth and a supercilious manner. Two shining, arrogant eyes had established dominance over his face and gave him the appearance of always leaning aggressively forward. Not even the effeminate swank of his riding clothes could hide the enormous power of that body—he seemed to fill those glistening boots until he strained the top lacing and you could see a great pack of muscle shifting when his shoulder moved under his thin coat. It was a body capable of enormous leverage—a cruel body. 

His speaking voice, a gruff husky tenor, added to the impression of fractiousness he conveyed. There was a touch of paternal contempt in it, even toward people he liked—and there were men at New Haven who had hated his guts.


I was surprised that the story actually spends more time with Tom and Daisy Buchanan than with Gatsby. Tom is an obnoxious man, and I was especially bothered by the fact that the Buchanan's seem to treat their very young daughter more as an object to be paraded around than a real live person with needs. On the surface, Daisy seems to be caught in a life she did not really want.

The story is told beautifully, and the buildup to the conclusion is done well, but I was left feeling empty and uninterested. There were too many people I did not care about, people who cared only for things and money and appearances. So I was disappointed in the book. It may be due to my prevailing mood at the moment, in which I want to read more upbeat stories with happier endings. 


I think if I read this again, knowing the full story, I would enjoy it more. I could enjoy the beautiful writing. This time through I was focused on the characters (who were mostly superficial, with decadent lives) and where they were going, and I did not like where the story took me.


Other reviews: At Reading Matters (Kathy's Corner) and Fiction Fan's Book Reviews.


-----------------------------

Publisher:  Oldcastle Books, 2020 (orig. publ. 1925).
Length:      180 pages
Format:      Trade paperback
Setting:      New York
Genre:       Fiction, Classic
Source:      I purchased my copy.


20 comments:

Judith said...

Hi Tracy,
I read this decades ago, but how well I recall being bothered by the overwhelming superficiality, to the extent that the reader cannot possibly get to know the true, inner lives of the characters. I read it because it is a great American novel, but there it is--quite empty, and was that the point, perhaps? Wondering...

TracyK said...

Judith, when I wrote that the story left me feeling empty, I did wonder if that was the point. But still, it wasn't like it kept me thinking about the story very long. I just wanted to leave it behind. I do think if I knew more about the inner lives of the characters, as you say, I might have had some added insight. Writing the review was like pulling teeth, and I did not feel satisfied with it. But I will come back to it again someday, I hope.

Kathy's Corner said...

Hi Tracy, I read the Great Gatsby about a year and a half ago and I also didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I was going to. The most sympathetic character I suppose is Jay Gatsby but even there I could not understand his obsession with Daisy Buchanan, a very spoiled selfish woman. But what Daisy represents to Gatsby is a chance to reinvent himself from his humble beginnings and move into a higher class. Daisy is beautiful too and one can't help seeing parallels in this story to Fitzgerald's marriage to Zelda and if so Daisy is not a flattering portrayal of Zelda Fitzgerald. And that annoys me because Zelda for a long time was treated unfairly by history. She had real talent both as a writer and a painter and I am glad to see that in recent years starting with Nancy Mitford's book Zelda, her own story is being told.

Cath said...

Hmmm, I've long wondered whether I should've read this years ago or perhaps Tender is the Night. I really ought to get to it but your review is not filling me with enthusiasm to read it. Not right now anyway. I did however enjoy your insight into it, Tracy. I now at least feel like I know something about it.

pattinase (abbott) said...

And I think the Fitzgeralds treated their daughter, Scottie, much like this girl. FSF was both attracted to and repelled by these people. His ambivalence is part of the story. I loved this book but I can see how troubling it would be today. There are several good biographies of him (and her). His life was almost as interesting as his work. His short stories are terrific. A Diamond as Big as the Ritz and When Berenice Bobbed her Hair. All his female characters are Zelda basically. His first novel THIS SIDE OF PARADISE gives much insight in what it was like for a poor boy from Minnesota to go to Princeton, where his classmates were all rich. Profound affect on him. The more interested you become in him, the more interested you become in his writing, I think.

Margot Kinberg said...

I agree with you, Tracy, about Fitzgerald's writing style. That's what held me into this story even though, like you, I don't like the characters. Perhaps it was Fitzgerald's way of expressing his views of people in that social class, etc., but I found myself disliking the characters. Still, the setting and some of the points Fitzgerald makes, as well as the writing style, kept me reading.

TracyK said...

Kathy, that is very interesting information about Zelda. When I was in college (fifty years ago) I was very interested in Zelda and I think I read a lot about her. I also thought I would have read all of F. Scott Fitzgerald's books, but I remembered none of this one. I will follow up on Zelda and her story more.

Even as I wrote this review I could see that Gatsby was looking for something (money, respect, love?) and he had focused on Daisy as a way to get this. I think Fitzgerald accomplished what he was trying to accomplish in this book. And sometimes that is enough for me. But somehow I still did not like or admire this book.

TracyK said...

Cath, I only wrote this review because the book is for my classics list, but I did not want to put anyone off reading the book. I am sure I would have enjoyed it more at another time in my life and I do plan to reread the book.

I was surprised by the story. I thought that there was more romance (not that I always like romances) and I did not expect it to be such a downer. But I think knowing that now, I will see new things in a second reading. And it is a short read.

TracyK said...

Patti, I had entirely forgotten about their daughter, Scottie. It is sad that she was treated that way.

I will have to look for biographies of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda. I would probably enjoy those more than his fiction. But I will also look for some of his short stories.

TracyK said...

Margot, Sounds like we pretty much agree on this book. I would not have given up on it because I had to know how it ended, and in some ways the ending was very shocking.

The book was probably the perfect length for what it was, but I would have liked to have known more about Nick Carraway.

Lark said...

I haven't read this one since I was in high school, but I remember liking it better than the other classics I had to read that year. And I do love the way Fitzgerald writes. Great review!

TracyK said...

Thank you, Lark. As I had mentioned in another comment, when I was in college I was much interested in Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald, but I had forgotten that she was from Alabama (where I grew up), which might explain why I was so interested. And I would like to read more about both of them, although it sounds like their life together was very depressing. I think I should read some of his earlier novels also.

FictionFan said...

Thanks for the link! As you'll have gathered I adore this book, but I do wonder how much that is because I first read it while young and impressionable - probably one of my first American classics, in fact. I've certainly never had the same success with any other of his books I read later. But all that brittleness and love for money and position above all else that made you not enjoy it was exactly what I loved about it! It has definitely formed my opinion of the decadence of the Jazz Age, and I judge all books about that era against this one. I'm sorry you didn't enjoy it more, but our reactions to books are always so subjective, aren't they, and often depend so much on when we read them and our mood at the time.

TracyK said...

FictionFan, my reaction was very personal to me and that is why I want to read the book again. I don't think I will ever love it, but I will be able to see the good qualities of the book and appreciate them. And right now I am not in the mood for depressing. Not sure exactly why I feel that way now as opposed to say a year ago. But I have been going for books that are more light and fun.

Todd Mason said...

As Patti notes, Fitzgerald found himself obsessed, or compelled to be obsessed, by a lot of the trivial signifiers of the Wealthy and Cultured, and I'm not at all sure he was happy with himself for either caring about them or wondering if he shouldn't care about them. Hence perhaps part of his obsession with Zelda, particularly, beyond the obvious, and the tragedy of his clumsiness, to say the least, as a parent.

Fitzgerald's curse, in part, was knowing how empty much of the life he was trying to conform to and make more comfortable to live for himself was at heart...and still wanting it. And that, and the prose he delivers this in, are a large part of why TGG makes such an impression. "Bernice Bobs Her Hair" and "A Diamond as Big as the Ritz" (the latter a fantasy, the former a comedy of manners) are indeed more straightforward and impressive works...and fun.

TracyK said...

Todd, thanks for these comments. Based on the small amount of information I have looked at on the Fitzgerald's lives in the last couple of days, it seems like both of them were miserable most of the time. I would like to read more about their daughter also.

Todd Mason said...

And I might put that last phrase "more-straightforward, and impressive, works...and fun." As I definitely think TGG is impressive as well...

It really is tough to want to conform and to know how stultifying it is to conform at the same time...and to know that that level of privilege can get in the way of sympathy for one's plight.

CLM said...

I think it is a book full of unlikable characters but important for the portrayal of the lifestyle and the way Nick and Jay, in their different ways, interact with others. Although I had not read it since high school, when I picked up The Rules of Civility, it gave me that Gatsby feel. I seem to recall writing a lot about Jordan when I read the book but maybe that was to try to find something fresh to discuss . . .

I also enjoyed a book about Zelda a few years ago. I am guessing it was Z by Therese Fowler which I thought was fascinating. Worth adding to your TBR, as is The Rules of Civility.

TracyK said...

Todd, I agree that The Great Gatsby is very impressive, and that is why I want to come back to it, hopefully sooner rather than later.

TracyK said...

Constance, after I had finished The Great Gatsby and was thinking about my reactions to it, I did recall similarities between The Rules of Civility and Gatsby. I think I enjoyed The Rules of Civility because there was a lot more development of the characters in that book, and since it was a much longer book, there was more time to digest all the ideas. I also had more sympathy for the characters in that book, for some reason they did not seem as obnoxious.

I will be looking into books about Zelda, and will specifically check out Z by Therese Fowler, which I had not heard of.