Book 27: Finished.

I am not sure if I have anything meaningful left to say about The Great Gatsby. I think I got it all out in my last post.

I will say that I still have a very special place in my heart for this book. No matter how many times I read it, the end still hurts deep. If you haven't read it before, please skip the next paragraph so it won't be ruined for you.


Like I said in my earlier post about the green light, you have to feel for Gatsby, as he continually chases his own happiness. I think the ending of the novel is very telling. For a man who seems to have so much, no one around him really cares. It says a lot about the people of the time, as well as the power of money and success over true friendships. As a reader, you really feel for Gatsby. What a poor man-he never got what he strove for. And Nick...he is trying to make sense of the tragedy and he knows that even he didn't know the man behind the name and fortune as well as he thought he did.


So yes, I still love the novel. It is one filled with hope and love and desire. Books like this really are time capsules of the era in which they were written. Gatsby's home and lifestyle really showcase the lives of the rich in the "Roaring 20's." Even so, the message behind the glitz is something extremely valuable in today's world.

My only wish is that when high school teachers choose this book as a part of their curriculum, they really dive deep. I think much is lost when discussing a book of this magnitude. I know my own eleventh grade teacher told us outright she didn't like the book but had to teach it. Find something to love in it because it is so meaningful and beautiful.

Okay, okay, enough preaching.

Happy reading.