Susanne Lenz

"The Great Gatsby" is a classic from F. Scott Fitzgerald, published in 1925.
It is one of the best known works from Fitzgerald and was my second novel/story by him.

Story:
1922: Nick Carraway is young, ambitious and he has just moved to West Egg on Long Island. His neighbour is the mysterious Jay Gatsby. A young, rich man who throws big parties and is known for living an expensive life. But Gatsby is not a superficial as he might seem on the first look.
The story of the two men is linked in with the of married couple Tom and Daisy Buchanan, their friends and affairs and lifes.
Soon, all their worlds seem to break apart, the lies and lives of the times seem to come together and everything seems to change.

Characters:
Nick is the narrator and he is pleasant, because he could be the nice guy living next door. I wouldn't say he's the nice guy, but people seem to believe it.
Jay Gatsby surprised me as he turned out to be different than I suspected. His love for Daisy and his desire for her make him more human and  vulnerable. I thought he was all about money, drugs and alcohol, but he has gone this way just to be able to take care of his big love.
Daisy is like a typical girl from the 20s living a life like everyone else who does not have to worry about money. She does know about the affair her husband has, but what should a woman in her position do? I'm not sure if I like her, because she does not seem passionate about anything very much.

Writing:
Fitzgerald is a great author and he has written a remarkable story, even if it will not be my favourite of all time. The 20s in New York were a special time and he has captured them in the book in a great way.
The decadence of the people is what readers are really interested in. They want to read about other people struggling with their lives and failing. It's just human. Furthermore, the writing about excess, social structure and behavior creates a picture of the American Dream that is different and interesting and poisonous.

I give 4 of 5 party invitations for this classic novel and I think it's one of the books everyone should read sometime.

Da lag es nun mehrere Monate auf meinem SUB und nun endlich wurde es von mir aufgeschlagen. Doch nun weiß ich, warum es so lange da lag. Es konnte mich nicht fesseln, nicht begeistern, die Kurzgeschichten über die vergangene Zeit mit den Sklaven, dem Rassismus und den Kolonien. Wer Reclam kennt, weiß, dass die englischen Texte kleine Hilfestellungen am Ende einer jeden Seite haben und somit auch für weniger geübte Englischleser gut geeignet sind. Jetzt muss nur noch der Inhalt begeisternd sein ;-).

'The Great Gatsby' ist eines der Werke, die man gelesen haben sollte, wenn man sich für amerikanische Literatur interessiert. So heißt es zumindest. Ich kann den ganzen Hype um das Buch nicht ganz verstehen. DIe Geschichte allein ist wirklich gut. Jedoch ist die Umsetzung meiner Meinung nach überwiegend nicht gut gelungen. Vor allem die erste Hälfte des Buches war für mich sehr schleppend zu lesen. Erst als Gatsby zum ersten Mal seit fünf Jahren wieder auf Daisy trifft, fing das Buch an Spannung aufzubauen und interessant zu werden. Eigentlich wollte ich dem Buch nur einen Stern verleihen, jedoch hat mich die zweite Hälfte des Buches ein wenig gepackt und ich hab mich (erst) in den letzten drei Kapiteln in das Buch einfinden können. Deswegen drei Sterne von mir.