The Great Gatsby: Opinions?

[Captain Jeeves]

What are your opinions of The Great Gatsby? It seems like everyone either loves it or hates it. A friend and I were recently discussing Nick and whether or not he could be considered an empty shell of a character, and I'd like to know what people on here think of that and the book in general.

Also, if you saw the recent movie version starring Leonardo di Caprio, what did you think of that?

[Clause]

It's been quite some time since I last read The Great Gatsby, so I don't want to say much about it.

I do remember thinking positively of it, though, and I thought I'd say just that.

Once I find the time and reread the book, I'll check out the film.

[ilovegoamovie]

Personally, I think the reason why you may be getting the notion that Nick is an "empty shell of a character" is because most of his dialogue/narration was used to further progress the book's action and focus more on the character development of the other characters such as daisy, gatsby, tom, etc. but i think towards the end, mainly, we see more of nick's character and i feel like he was the most compassionate character, i.e. setting up gatsby's funeral, trying to get people to come, reconnecting daisy and gatsby...so i wouldn't consider him an empty shell of a character

[Blackcurrant]

Nick comes across as ambivalent.

As you rightly point out narration is important and I think plays a big part in how we appreciate the novel; the choice of narration and mode prevents us from coming too quickly to any conclusions about either Nick or Gatsby - we are perpetually "unbalanced". Everything we think we know comes exclusively from Nick's eyes. He is totally in charge of our perceptions. But we are also aware that Nick is fallible, is not totally honest about himself or others, complicit in corruption (for a bit) -- yet he seems a reflective, thoughtful type and we readers tend to like this and those who root for the underdog. So it makes it all the harder to come easily to a final judgement about Gatsby. I like the book for just that. An open ending.

We can be sure of one thing: an unease at what has become of the American Dream.

Edited January 20, 2014 by Blackcurrant

[bluedino]

It's been quite a while since I read the book, so I won't comment about Nick's character. However, I will say that The Great Gatsby is one of the very rare 'classics' that I have actually managed to finish reading and even kinda enjoy!

I also saw the movie version not too long ago - I actually enjoyed it quite a lot! It refreshed a lot of the novel's plot for me, and I thought the actors/set and everything was pretty good! So despite all the negative critic reviews.. I personally liked it and thought it was a good representation of the book.

[YellowSpider]

I really enjoyed reading it but I honestly don't know why the hell i liked it i don't know if this happens to other people but i really don't know why i liked it

[eros]

I loved The Great Gatsby. The way Fitzgerald wrote it made me feel as if I was actually there back in the Roaring 20s. He romanticised that period so much to the point where the whole story just seems like a long dream sequence.

Ah the films from 1974 and 2013 were also just spot on. Leo was the perfect Gatsby but Redford was the best.

[Lenochka]

I think I disliked almost every character in that book, haha. The cheating and the scandal and the Daisy NOT FLIPPING STANDING UP FOR HERSELF were too much for me even though it's just a book I still felt rage....

As for the movie, it was alright. I didn't love it but I didn't hate it either.

Edited March 3, 2014 by Lenochka

[flinquinnster]

We read The Great Gatsby for English, and whilst I disliked it whilst we were studying in class, on subsequent reading I've warmed up to it. I disliked the characters to begin with, and thought that the depiction of America in the 1920s was a bit boring (it's just a period of history that I never warmed up to, and to be frank, I still haven't gotten extremely passionate about American history at all!). However, I've grown to appreciate more and more the beauty of the prose that Fitzgerald writes in - and yes, I've actually started to warm up to Nick, whose ambivalence is interesting.

I actually didn't like the recent Baz Luhrmann adaptation. Whilst it was one of the most beautiful, sumptuous movies I have ever watched, I felt as though the whole movie was a bit emotionally limited. I just couldn't empathise with any of the characters, despite the acting being quite good, in my opinion. And to be honest, I didn't much like the 1974 Redford adaptation either - particularly, Mia Farrow as Daisy just annoyed me! They were both enjoyable movies to watch, but just unsatisfying overall.

[Sandwich]

I found the Great Gatsby just a bit boring to read, to be honest. I neither loved it nor hated it and if you asked me now what the plot was about I would have to stare at you blankly. The characters were dull and a bit histrionic except for Gatsby who was mysterious apparently for the purpose of being mysterious? It was a weird case where I realised he was meant to be mysterious but that actually I didn't much care what the mystery was because it didn't seem that interesting! Not much happened, is my main recollection which may explain why I hardly feel like I recall it!

One of those classics where the reason for it becoming a classic completely eluded me. I've had to conclude that I'm not a very sophisticated reader and other people see interest where I see boredom 'cause this is not the only classic where I've read it and struggled to keep going. Although it was a very short book so that wasn't too much of a problem! Maybe I'll read it again one day and light will dawn. Until then...

[Maks123456]

I read it on my own before I learnt we had to read it in my English class as it could come up for our IOCs. I remember reading the first two pages and loving them, the language and the feelings conveyed. Then I read the rest and I hated it. It wasn't boring nor simple either, I think I just developed this hatred for all characters - Tom for his brutality, Daisy for her feminine, soft and almost retard-like character, Nick for his emptiness and untruthfulness and Gatsby for being as blind as a bat when it came down to everything. I told my English class that too. However, three weeks after they started reading it, I came to sort of almost loving it.

I love the idea portrayed together with the emotions it is built out of. Neither character can be said to be a hundred per cent honest, but then there is nobody 100% honest in this world either. We are all haunted by what we have done and what we have or continue to want. Most of us are as distressed, confused and saddened as Nick is. And these sensations makes out perspective unconsciously subjective.

Anyways, I like it now. Hated it before.

[Cris_101]

I have just finished reading The Great Gatsby for my English B course and I have to say i didn't like it. A lot of people in my class say they loved it but I can't agree with them. I found it all a bit dull, even Gatsby's mystery didn't attract me.

About Nick, he appears to me as an empty person. It's true that maybe he's just there to tell the story, but he get's implied with Gatsby so much (having only known him for such a short time) that I ended up thinking that being Gatsby's friend was the only opportunity he had to do something with his life.

[lucettafetta]

I absolutely loved it. The way that Fitzgerald weaves together the story with such beautiful language and eloquence was simply breathtaking. 

 

I actually watched the movie before reading the book, but I love the movie also. I know many people that hate the movie with a passion but I personally found that it correctly portrayed many aspects of the novel. Also, the actors were amazing. 

[Gb123]

I loved The Great Gatsby. I watched the movie after reading the book which made the story more enjoyable. The themes and symbols which Fitzgerald created in the story were all, for the most part, interwoven. For example, Fitzgerald uses the theme of the corruption of the American Dream to show the Hollowness of the Upper class. Fitzgerald shows how these themes build upon eachother and give each other significance. Also I think Nick was indeed vey valuable to the book; Fitzgerald used him, in my opinion, to give the book another perspective. When Nick is with Tom Buchannon (sorry if I mispelled, it's been awhile since reading this book) and Tom's mistress, he shows the hollowness of the upperclass by the way Fitzgerald shows he perceives the party. For instance, this party is one of the few other times, I think it's second, Nick has ever gotten drunk in his life. This simple "drunkeness" shows the atmosphere of the party in which Nick is forced into by those of the upper class. Additionally, Fitzgerald showed Tom's racism at the dinner party in the begining of the novel - to me this in itself shows the hollowness of the upper class. Tom trys to appear intellectual by spouting absurd and naive remarks. So in general, yes I enjoyed reading this book. our class is currently on The Master and Margarita which I may enjoy more; I haven't completely developed my feelings for it yet though.

Edited January 22, 2015 by Gb123