The Great Gatsby

I was assigned many of the classics in high school, but never this one, and had never read it until now. I've been reading 600 to 900 page books lately, and at 150 pages or so, this went shockingly fast.

Mixed feelings on it. I liked it more in the last few pages than I did the rest of the time I spent reading it. The prose actively impeded my understanding at more than one point, either through the age of the language or Fitzgerald's personal style.

I decided to read it after all this time because of the praise for the writing in Defector's “Defector Reads A Book” feature. Mostly I felt the opposite in terms of the moment-to-moment prose, which I didn't think was anything to write home about.

But what Fitzgerald describes, he really captures. The sad hollowness underlying Gatsby's celebrated parties and, really, everything he does. The idealized past, always just out of reach.

The last page is by far the best in the entire book. No wonder it's the only one routinely quoted.