The Great Gatsby | F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Great Gatsby | F. Scott Fitzgerald | A must

books:

The Great Gatsby

	The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald Scribner, 1995 - 240 pages average customer review:based on 1124 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Best American Novel?

This book is my favorite work of fiction and was such a fascinating read that it drew me in from the first sentence. ("In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since.")

Fitzgerald did a masterful job producing the setting, defining the characters, and connecting the reader viscerally to the conflict.

I appreciate the context in which Fitzgerald wrote his defining piece, i.e., he was dealing with personal difficulties. It is evident Fitzgerald channeled his emotion into the book.

Fitzgerald also had an absolutely terrible first title (i.e., On the Road to West Egg), which would have doomed the book to obscurity. Fortunately, he had an exceptional editor that worked with him to get it right.

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A must

This is another one of those American classics that you just have to read at some point. I would definitely place it in my top 100. Great story, interesting and complicated characters, and beautiful writing. At this price, you really don't have an excuse for not reading it.

A true classic!

I picked up this book after about 12 years and I have to say I loved it just as much the second time around. Fitzgerald's descriptive ability is effortless and filled with beautiful imagery that stays with you forever. Everything just jumps off the pages and makes you feel as if you are in the book itself, partying at Gatsby's mansion or lounging with Daisy Buchanan. It is a beautiful book, a MUST read, and definitely a true classic!

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Note on Kindle editions

There are two Kindle editions of The Great Gatsby, both at the same price.

Unfortunately the edition I bought, from Old Landmark Publishing, has a number of minor transcription errors. The most notable is the occasional

insertion of multiple paragraph

breaks within a sentence. There are also occasional misplaced paragraph breaks in dialog paragraphs, which sometimes leads to confusion about which character is speaking.

I downloaded the free sample of the Scribner Edition and although that is only a short sample, it appears to be a much better quality transcription.

So since there are two Kindle editions available, you might want to avoid the Old Landmark Publishing Edition (the one with the car on the cover) and try the Scribner Edition (the one with the stark black and white cover).

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At least it was nice and short

The writing is pretty good but unfortunately that doesn't make up for a weak storyline. The plot is so far-fetched in places that it spoiled my enjoyment of the book. The ending was particularly trite and melodramatic. The fact that this book comes in at less than 200 pages long is good because if you don't like it, well at least you didn't waste a lot of time. This is the sort of book that other "celebrated authors" apparently think highly of but many "casual readers" don't really enjoy it and I am one of the latter. Sorry, but only 3 stars.

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