The Great Gatsby (Wordsworth Classics)

I'm working my way through studying some classics i wished we'd studied at school and needed a paperback for notes, having already read the book on my tablet, and this suited my needs. Plenty of room to write in the sides without the text too scrunched in the middle :) I'd had wordsworth classics as a little girl and had always skipped any introductions and headed straight for the 'story' but with the 'look inside' feature i was able to have a gander and that's what swung it for me. The introduction and footnotes are really quite useful and insightful rather than too academic. They add a colour and context that anyone might find interesting. There are enough reviews of the story itself that i needn't wax lyrical about its virtues, suffice to say, i found it a wonderfully erudite little book that let's us peek into the strange world of the roaring twenties in both a personal and broader context. Funny, surprising, sad and shocking, there's a reason this is seen as one of the great modern novels. Physically the book is beautiful, a little larger than some paperbacks, though slim, it feels like a students book. It reminded me of the script copys we used in theatre, easily bent and stuffed in a back pocket! I love and respect books but they've often been tools and very much used in my life so i appreciate one that is 'life resistant'. The beautifully feely, matte black cover and intensely seductive imagery mean it will look elegant on any bookshelf if you're more inclined to keeping your books pristine. I take mine everywhere now. The story and the book are that kinda thing, easy to pick up and lose yourself for an afternoon. For the price, a little gem i think I'll always keep to hand now.

The Great Gatsby is your neighbor you're best friends with until you find out he's a drug dealer. It charms you with some of the most elegant English prose ever published, making it difficult to discuss the novel without the urge to stammer awestruck about its beauty. It would be evidence enough to argue that F. Scott Fitzgerald was superhuman, if it wasn't for the fact that we know he also wrote This Side of Paradise.But despite its magic, the rhetoric is just that, and it is a cruel facade. Behind the stunning glitter lies a story with all the discontent and intensity of the early Metallica albums. At its heart, The Great Gatsby throws the very nature of our desires into a harsh, shocking light. There may never be a character who so epitomizes tragically misplaced devotion as Jay Gatsby, and Daisy, his devotee, plays her part with perfect, innocent malevolence. Gatsby's competition, Tom Buchanan, stands aside watching, taunting and provoking with piercing vocal jabs and the constant boast of his enviable physique. The three jostle for position in an epic love triangle that lays waste to countless innocent victims, as well as both Eggs of Long Island. Every jab, hook, and uppercut is relayed by the instantly likable narrator Nick Carraway, seemingly the only voice of reason amongst all the chaos. But when those boats are finally borne back ceaselessly by the current, no one is left afloat. It is an ethical massacre, and Fitzgerald spares no lives; there is perhaps not a single character of any significance worthy even of a Sportsmanship Award from the Boys and Girls Club.In a word, The Great Gatsby is about deception; Fitzgerald tints our glasses rosy with gorgeous prose and a narrator you want so much to trust, but leaves the lenses just translucent enough for us to see that Gatsby is getting the same treatment. And if Gatsby represents the truth of the American Dream, it means trouble for us all. Consider it the most pleasant insult you'll ever receive.

Book for my daughter. I heard no complaints from her ;)

I read `Tender is the Night' decades ago and, although I'd always intended to read `The Great Gatsby', it somehow never appealed so I have to admit that I've only just read it for the first time.Narrated by Nick Carraway, a young man in his first job who happens to be Gatsby's neighbour, it is set on an island within a short drive of New York. The story evokes the shallow extravagance of the wealthy in 1920s America. It's not always politically correct when viewed against current attitudes to what is and is not acceptable, but F. Scott Fitzgerald was from a different era and was writing about a different era. The novel reflects attitudes and mores as they were at the time.In contrast to Nick's modest home, Gatsby's neighbouring mansion is staffed by servants, and full of light and partygoers, many of whom have never even met `the great man'. But Gatsby's background is something of a mystery and, from early in the story, there are hints that he may not be all he seems.Gatsby befriends his young neighbour, who happens to be the cousin of Daisy, the girl Gatsby fell in love with five years earlier and has not seen since. In the context of the story this is utterly convincing and compelling, although it sounds contrived and coincidental. One of the book's themes is the futility of trying to recapture the past and relive it in the future. At times the pace meanders almost tediously, as languid as heat of a New York summer, but the book is so short that this detracts little from the quality of the writing. Indeed, so descriptive is the prose that you can feel the heat and sense the languor of the characters.The ending and the build up to it were unexpected and lifted the book from the ordinary to the special. I think it was only after finishing the story that I began to appreciate how meticulously plotted and beautifully written it is. An American classic - undoubtedly. Among the greatest American fiction - I couldn't say, as I haven't read enough American fiction to be able to compare. But at this price it's remarkably good value. If you haven't already read it, buy it and read it. It won't take you long and it's well worth the time and money.