The Great Gatsby

I recently finished re-reading The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I read it back when I was 16 or so…but I figured you should read “classics” more than once right.

So the book takes place in the summer of 1922 in New York City. Nick is the one telling the story. He moves out to New York after spending time in World War I. To escape the west coast he travels to New York and reconnects with his distant cousin Daisy and her husband Tom. At Tom’s house, Nick meets a young professional golfer named Jordan, who he strikes up a relationship with. Nick takes a house next to a young, mysterious millionaire named Jay Gatsby who is always throwing parties. Nick and Gatsby soon become friends.

Nick soon learns that Tom is cheating on his wife when Tom and Nick decided to take the train into the city. Nick meets Myrtle and quickly realizes that Tom is living a serpeart life with his mistress and has a apartment with her in Manhattan. While in Manhattan, Tom and Myrtle act like a married couple, inviting friends over and having a party.

Nick learns through Jordan that Gatsby is in fact obsessed with his cousin Daisy and he had meet her and fallen deeply in love with her when he was a young officer in the military before he had made his millions.

Nick reluctantly re-introduces Daisy and Gatsby after some coxing from Jordan. But with the knowledge that Tom is already having an affair, he doesn’t feel so bad about it.

Daisy and Gatsby feel the old feelings they had for each other reawaken and are soon spending all of their time together in a flurry love affair. Daisy and Gatsby begin to make plans for their life together, including Daisy divorcing Tom. When Daisy invites Nick and Gatsby to her house on hot summer day Tom realizes what is going on between Daisy and Gatsby and reveals that Gatsby is in fact a bootlegger.

Daisy, now trapped and unsure of everything breaks down. Things from there just seem to roll down hill for everyone involved. And the plot…oh the plot is so simple, yet so good.

I really enjoyed this book and it is one that I will have to read again. I love how everything was nicely presented at the end.

From all the books I read, there is usually one quote that sticks out. In this book it was “The rich get richer and the poor get children”. That was true in 1922 and it is still true (for the most part) today.

If you have not read this book…you should read it. It is worth it!!!