Review: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Like so many others, I was forced to read this book in high school, and hated it for that reason alone. Having re-read it now as an adult, I found the book to be a mixed bag.

The writing is beautiful and efficient. The characters are memorable. The overall themes of the decay of society, the excesses of wealth, and the death of the American dream are important and reasonably well delivered.

However, the story itself struck me as a bit underwhelming. The love story feels forced and fake. The way people act feels forced and fake. The endless parties feel forced and fake. I recognize that, to an extent, this is precisely the point: the book is trying to show that the life of these wealthy elite is hollow. But that hardly seems like a revelation, and it didn’t make for a particularly interesting story.

I found myself tuning in and out throughout the entire book, and had to force myself to keep going. The one exception is the very end of the book, which is tragic, haunting, and powerful. I suspect that, more than anything else, made it a classic.

Rating: 3 stars