The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Great Gatsby, first published in 1925, is considered to be F. Scott Fitzgerald’s finest novel. It is certainly his most popular, having become a standard school text and an obvious choice for adaptations. At this moment, another Hollywood version is in production, although the less said about that the better. The Great Gatsby is the quintessential tale of the American dream and its unattainability. It is a brief nine chapter affair, yet crammed with complex social observations of the vacuous and brittle post-war ‘roaring’ twenties. The book is at once a lament for the past, a critique of the present and at times almost a wild plea for a more meaningful future. Fitzgerald proves a master novelist in his impeccable attention to form, structure and language, dipping into a mind boggling dichotomy of the lavish and the barren, the real and the unreal. Beneath a glossy exterior of gleaming sports cars, pastel suits and sparkling champagne lurks a grim and treacherous reality; modernity’s malaise.

The story is narrated by Nick Carraway, a bachelor from the Midwest recently moved to Long Island. Seen entirely from his perspective, events unfold at a pace both leisurely and brisk. His neighbour, the enigmatic millionaire of the book’s title, is not introduced until a third of the way through the novel. We learn that after a five year separation during the war, Gatsby is still in love with shallow and spoiled Daisy, now married to swaggering sport hero Tom Buchanan. Gatsby’s ostentatious displays of revelry and wealth in the form of immense cocktail parties every night at his mansion are conducted in an attempt to win back Daisy's affections; a scheme which the reader knows is doomed to a disastrous conclusion. The recurring themes of alcohol and gas, drinking and driving, reflect the affluent economy of the decade and the reckless speed of life enjoyed by the wealthy. Emotions and temperatures rise as the narrative swelters towards an inescapable climax with tense and unsurpassed literary brilliance. In his battle against time itself, how long can Gatsby maintain his fragile facade?

Like Gatsby’s self made image of himself, the novel is flawless, yet I found myself wanting something more at the end. What that ‘something’ is remains unknowable and perhaps that’s the whole point of the book. There is nothing more, the surface glitter is all one can ever attain. The highly polished prose has been stripped of all unnecessary exposition, for Fitzgerald’s aim was to make Gatsby as elusive as possible. We can never fully trust in what he tells Nick and the other characters, or indeed what Nick tells us. The truth is twice blurred, filtered by the dual lenses of perception and ambiguity. This sometimes causes the narrative to slip into moments of speculative effervescence. At these points I found myself wondering if the events related were real or merely imagined. There are many ways in which to interpret Fitzgerald’s masterpiece and its sheer multifariousness rewards repeated readings. Highly recommended to fans of twenties jazz culture and doomed romances, this is American literature at its finest.

Rating: 4/5