While many classics in our time concern the lives and persecution of the lower class, a select few are about the ease of living in the upper class. F. Scott Fitzgerald's celebrated The Great Gatsby is perhaps one of the best examples of this genre of literature.
The narrator of The Great Gatsby is Nick Carraway, a man of the middle class who lives next door to the mysterious Jay Gatsby, a man who everybody seems to know but nobody seems to know anything about. In addition, his cousin Daisy Buchanan and her husband Tom, who live on the other side of the town, are wealthy. The novel is basically about the doings of Daisy, Nick, and Daisy's friend Jordan Baker, and Nick's fascination and envy of the easy life he sees so often in his friends.
Jay Gatsby holds parties every weekend at his mansion, and one day, Nick decides to go to one. There, he finds out that although everybody claims to know Gatsby, nobody knows what he looks like or, in fact, anything about him. While Nick is looking, an odd man presents himself to Nick as Gatsby. They soon become very good friends. Although one has all the money he could ask for and the other has almost nothing to himself, Gatsby enjoys spending time with Nick, and Nick is too fascinated to think otherwise.
The novel is excellently written. The characters represent the wealthy and carefree people of the 1920s. Nick represents the bourgeoisie, constantly looking up to the rich. As Gatsby's character is developed, we learn more and more of his past, and we see the reality of people in his position as well.
The Great Gatsby is a very interesting historical fiction novel of an important time in our nation's past. Its acclaim is well-earned. Gatsby is definitely Great, with a capital 'g.'
http://www.amazon.com/Great-Gatsby-F-Scott-Fitzgerald/dp/0743273567/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1259531797&sr=8-1
Grade: 8.5
The narrator of The Great Gatsby is Nick Carraway, a man of the middle class who lives next door to the mysterious Jay Gatsby, a man who everybody seems to know but nobody seems to know anything about. In addition, his cousin Daisy Buchanan and her husband Tom, who live on the other side of the town, are wealthy. The novel is basically about the doings of Daisy, Nick, and Daisy's friend Jordan Baker, and Nick's fascination and envy of the easy life he sees so often in his friends.
Jay Gatsby holds parties every weekend at his mansion, and one day, Nick decides to go to one. There, he finds out that although everybody claims to know Gatsby, nobody knows what he looks like or, in fact, anything about him. While Nick is looking, an odd man presents himself to Nick as Gatsby. They soon become very good friends. Although one has all the money he could ask for and the other has almost nothing to himself, Gatsby enjoys spending time with Nick, and Nick is too fascinated to think otherwise.
The novel is excellently written. The characters represent the wealthy and carefree people of the 1920s. Nick represents the bourgeoisie, constantly looking up to the rich. As Gatsby's character is developed, we learn more and more of his past, and we see the reality of people in his position as well.
The Great Gatsby is a very interesting historical fiction novel of an important time in our nation's past. Its acclaim is well-earned. Gatsby is definitely Great, with a capital 'g.'
http://www.amazon.com/Great-Gatsby-F-Scott-Fitzgerald/dp/0743273567/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1259531797&sr=8-1
Grade: 8.5
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