Book Review: The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Paperback: 216 pages, Publisher: Scribner; Reprint edition (June 1, 1995), ISBN-10: 0684801523

Rating: 3.5 of 5 STARS
Source: May selection for Farming of Books book club

Nope. I never read this in high school or college. And I only watched snippets of the movie here and there. I listened to Chris Bohjalian's The Double Bind a long while ago and remember thinking I really should read The Great Gatsby. (A good bit of Bohjalian's plot has to do with the Buchanans and I think it would have helped me enjoy The Double Bind more if I had already read Gatsby.) So, I was glad our book club picked this for an easy read during a month when so many of us are busy with end-of-the-school-year activities.

I can't say I really enjoyed it, though. It's such a sad story of empty lives. I thought the dialogue was unrealistic, but maybe the ultra-rich really did speak to each other that way in the 1920's.

I watched the movie with a friend last week and I thought it was pretty true to the book. Having a visual of Daisy and Tom and Gatsby helped. And Robert Redford did a great job (of course) as Gatsby. It's hard to like Mia Farrow, but hooray for Sam Waterston as Nick Carraway. (Ellen and I have had a huge crush on "Mr. McCoy" from Law and Order for years so it was good to see him without the salt-and-pepper hair!) There was a whole lot of sweating going on in the movie that I found pretty distracting.

I can see why it's a classic. Lot's of good stuff to talk about... money can't buy you happiness, you can't relive the past, etc. But the characters were hard to like. Gatsby was naive. Daisy was vapid. Tom was just plain old mean. And Nick? I know he was just a tool for narration, but I kept thinking he should have stood up to Tom.

I'm glad I've read it. It's probably one of those books you should have to read if you're going to consider yourself 'well-read.' So, there. It's done. I doubt I'll revisit the book or the movie.