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I got round to reading The Great Gatsby

Literature // Jim // 29th July 2006

I finished reading this sitting under a tree in the park this morning. Despite the pleasant setting, the book exacerbated my slightly dodgy mood to the point where I had to go and mercilessly hammer someone at tennis without any of my usual inconsistency or comedy moaning.

Not that I think The Great Gatsby is a bad book by any means, I can easily see why it is considered a classic, but it certainly leaves you with a sour taste in the mouth by the end.

This is a book I have meant to get round to reading for years, but I've always put it off, imagining it to a drab period romance or dull, over-literary and hard work. Fortunately a few people have nagged me to read it lately and so my preconceptions have been proved completely wrong.

TGG is a harsh look at human nature, via a bunch of really unsympathetic characters, they all seem fairly detached and selfish. Based around a decadent scene in the 1920's where the eponymous Gatsby is known for the lavish parties he throws in his mansion, it is a great exploration of how money can't really buy you what you want, the way that to some people love is a commodity and how, in the end when tragedy strikes, people will completely let you down.

I strongly recommend that you don't do what I did and have a crack at reading The Great Gatsby in the near future. I got it for a couple of quid from Fopp, although if you are feeling exceptionally tight there is a free version available on line.