Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Classics Carnival-The Great Gatsby




I'm pretty sure I read this book somewhere in my past but it has been awhile and I am *ahem* a little older now.

Basically the book is told through the eyes of Nick, who lives next door to Jay Gatsby, a millionaire who throws lavish parties, it turns out, to impress his long-lost love who lives across the way. Nick becomes one of the many attending the parties and eventually becomes friends, if you will, with Gatsby, finding himself drawn into his lifestyle and his group of friends.

I'd forgotten the intricacies of the relationships between the characters (or maybe I'm looking at them from a different perspective now!). I found that I enjoyed Nick but wondered how he could put up with the shenanigans of the lifestyle that Gatsby lived. I found Daisy, Gatsby's love interest, to be very pretentious and assuming. She seemed to just go along and did whatever she wanted with out regard for the feelings of others, particularly Gatsby. I found myself feeling sorry for Gatsby ultimately because I think he did truly love Daisy but she just didn't have it in herself to love him or perhaps anyone for that matter.

All in all, I did enjoy this re-reading of this book but had forgotten that it ended so tragically (or maybe I didn't finish it before! LOL)

6 comments:

Mari said...

I had to read that book in high school and am thinking I shoud read it again, to see what I think of it at this age!

Kipi said...

This was my first time to read it, and I think I appreciated much more as an adult than I ever would have as a teenager!

Brooke from The Bluestocking Guide said...

I didn't read this one until I was an adult.

Gatsby

Nise' said...

I read it in HS and don't remember if my teacher told us to read it again when we are adults! Its neat how with life experience we react to it differently.

morninglight mama said...

Funny how life experiences bring such new perspective to the same story, huh? I definitely can relate, and I'm glad to have had both reading experiences. Maybe I can reread it in another 20 years and see how I feel then! :)

Unknown said...

Yes, reading it when I was (ahem) older as well DID give me a different response.