The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

I’ve been trying to read some classics lately but to be honest, I find them quite drab. The style of writing is very different than what I’m used to reading in the YA genre. However, they’re classics for a reason so I have made it my personal goal to finish these famous stories by Grade 12.

The Great Gatsby isn’t actually narrated by Gatsby himself which struck me as very peculiar when I first started reading it. It’s narrated by Gatsby’s neighbour, Nick, who has just moved to the fictional island of West Egg, next to Gatsby’s enormous mansion.

Every Saturday night, Gatsby holds an extravagant party that anyone can attend. Nick later finds out that this is in hopes to attract Daisy (Nick’s cousin!) to his house. Daisy, who Gatsby fell in love with as a younger man and who he has never forgotten. Gatsby is convinced that Daisy has not forgotten him either and that there’s still hope for their love. There’s just one slight problem… Daisy’s now married to Tom Bouchanon.

Thoughts: I didn’t find The Great Gatsby a very fast-paced read so it bored me quite a bit in the beginning. However, once you’re on a roll, it does get a lot better and the plot speeds up towards the end as well. It was a little hard to understand due to the style of writing and the different society back then but the language was beautiful. Even if I didn’t fully comprehend many moments, the language and descriptions were stunning, gorgeously stunning. The ending was a little emotional as well and took a few re-reads for me to fully grasp the true sadness. Overall, I would rate this book a 7/10 for now as I don’t think I’m quite mature enough to fully appreciate this classic but even now, I’m able to see why so many people praise it. (definitely not for the easily bored though ://)