The Great Gatsby Scott Fitzgerald Paperback
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The Great Gatsby (Paperback)
by F. Scott Fitzgerald (Author)
Textbook Details
* Paperback: 180 pages
* Publisher: Scribner (September 30, 1999)
* Language: English
* ISBN-10: 0743273567
* ISBN-13: 978-0743273565
* Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.5 inches
* Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
* Rating: 
Textbook Description
Noted Fitzgerald biographer Matthew J. Bruccoli draws upon years of research to present the Fitzgerald’s Jazz Age romance exactly as he intended according to the original manuscript, revisions, and corrections–with explanatory notes. Reprint.
This critical edition of The Great Gatsby draws on the manuscript and surviving proofs of the novel, together with Fitzgerald’s subsequent revisions to key passages to provide the first authoritative text of one of the classic works of the twentieth century.
The Great Gatsby Review
Having reread this book for the first time in 20 years, I can confirm that there’s a reason that it’s considered one of the very best American novels. However, my reaction to the story was different than when I first read it in high school. I recall that back then I was hoping that Daisy and Gatsby’s love story would ultimately yield a happy ending. Now, I found them both to be such shallow creatures that they inspired no pity. While I considered the characters to be emotionally stunted, that dooesn’t mean I was not impressed with Fitzergerald’s skillful rendering. As in most forms of art, in literature it is more difficult to accurately and interestingly portray nothingness than to describe a richly endowed subject. At this more cynical age, I found Daisy to be a remarkable emotional void, and Gatsby’s quest to pour all of his hopes and dreams into such a shallow cauldron only confirmed his own vapidity. One thing that hasn’t changed in all these years is my amazement at Fitzgerald’s ability to set a scene. His descriptive passages are truly poetic, and his command of word choice in unparalleled. All this made for a stimulating and delightful read.
I’m troubled that many young people in these reviews don’t seem to appreciate this novel. Even when “forced” to read it in high school, I loved it. I’ve read it for probably the tenth time recently and I can say that every single time it’s better than I remembered it. I was prompted by the character is Haruki Murakami’s book Norwegian Wood who carries it with him and reads it to cheer him up. This narrator calls it the most perfect book ever written and says that you cannot find a page that’s not perfect. I have to agree — it’s not just the plot, it’s the beautiful writing and incredible characters and scenes that stay with you years later. Even after years, who can forget the scene when Gatsby shows Nick all his custom made shirts, or Nick describes his first vision of Daisy by comparing her posture to someone balancing something on his/her chin, or any of Gatsby’s parties, or the broken nose — you get the idea. For some reason, rereading this book reminds me of picking up a relationshp with an old friend. It’s so very comforting to read the best prose you can find in English and find that certain passages are almost committed to memory. Don’t miss out on this one. If you didn’t like it in high school, try it again when your reading tastes mature.
The wonder of F. Scott FitzGerald’s magnum opus is that he has created a great mirror for any individual looking into it. Therefore, a god can see a god and a fool can see a fool. Reading the various reviews from a wide variety of supposed learned individuals, I must say that this masterpiece is not just a well written story or even art, but a great mirror that can reflect whatever an individual may have to offer to oneself. Within each of us, live all the characters that appear in this novel (if we’re lucky) from Jay Gatsby to George Wilson. Obviously, some readers (amazon reviewers included) have lost key characters far too early in their life. The style and language of the story is both engaging and active. It stimulates the mind of the reader to create and not just follow, as most common writers will have us do. In a world of sheep that think themselves as wolves, this work may seem less than satisfying. Being given the opportunity to look into a mirror and truly look at ourselves verses shown an idealistic picture and told that that image is we, many will chose the latter. History has shown that most people prefer the illusions of life. As J.D Salinger simply put it “They’re all a bunch of phonies…”
Although F. Scott Fitzgerald’s book “The Great Gatsby” may seem a tad superficial upon the first reading, it really is quite a gem when examined closer. There are many important and significant symbols that are so intricately and subtly woven into the story, that only a careful reader would be able to catch them all. Fitzgerald makes excellent use of colour symbolism in things such as Gatsby’s clothing and car, and the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock, place symbolism, in regards to East Egg, West Egg, and the Valley of Ashes, and time symbolism, which can be caught when one looks at the timeline that the book follows. Fitzgerald’s seemingly shallow depiction of five characters in the roaring twenties is really a symbolic masterpiece and a classic novel of the twentieth century. A must-read for any deep reader, or anyone who wants to become one.
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