What I am reading

Fiction - "The Great Gatsby"

I read this book because my daugther had read it this summer and wanted to discuss it with someone. I have never read this F. Scott Fitzgerald classic, although I remember seeing parts of the movie while ago. The book is a tragic love story between Jay Gatsby and Daisy. Tragic, because the two lovers are forever separated and because in the end Gatsby ends up dead.

However, the story was not as I had expected it to be. For example, I was under the impression that Daisy fell in love with Gatsby when she met him while he was a rich tycoon. But it turned out that Gatsby fell in love with Daisy while he was a poor young man, and when he came back to claim her after he made his fortune it was too late.

Since the book takes place on Long Island and New York City during the 1920s, it gives the reader a peek at what life was like in those times. For example, imagine a hot New York summer without air conditioning. The only thing that could cool you were iced drinks.

My daugther liked this book, because she said it was well written and because of the symbolism she found. I didn't especially noticed the writing, although the book was pleseant to read. The final resolution, the death of Gatsby, seemed logical to me. He was better off dead that alive without Daisy's love.

posted by richieb @ 6:00 AM