money 'I hate that The Great Gatsby is a realistic portrayal of humanity'
Finding your next read isn’t always a simple task, but sometimes all it takes to discover your perfect book match is a riveting review from a fellow book lover.
Each month, in the Telegraph's readers' book review series, we ask our readers to choose a theme or book in our Telegraph Book Club Facebook group – from popular book events to bestseller fiction – and then submit their reviews.
This month, our readers voted to celebrate F Scott Fitzgerald's birthday by reviewing his third novel, The Great Gatsby. Set in the Jazz Age on Long Island, New York, the novel tells the story of the mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby and his pursuit of Daisy Buchanan. Although it was unsuccessful upon publication in 1925, the book is now considered a classic of American fiction and has often been called the Great American Novel.
Telegraph readers examined the mystery behind Jay Gatsby and what his character embodies, as well as how F Scott Fitzgerald explores the class system and the American dream in the novel, especially through his use of symbolism. We’ve rounded up this month’s best reader reviews of The Great Gatsby.
Why do you think The Great Gatsby is still relevant today? Read on to see what your fellow readers have to say and join the conversation in the comments section below.
To have your say on next month’s topic, come and join us at the Telegraph Book Club to cast your vote. You can also get involved with our monthly book club virtual event.
'The Great Gatsby is a beautifully written book'
@Lynne Davies:
"The Great Gatsby is a beautifully written book. The story is told by Nick Carraway, he observes the romance between his cousin Daisy Buchannan and Jay Gatsby. I love the way the characters unravel at the end, their flaws exposed.
"The descriptions of the Gatsby mansion and gardens are wonderful and in stark contrast to Nick Carraway's demure bungalow. The feelings of love and yearning by Jay Gatsby are very moving.
"The book is still relevant today for the beauty of the writing, it also shows that people are more important than possessions."
Star rating: 5/5
'Gatsby himself is an enigma'
@Magdalena Zenaida:
"The most seductive aspect of The Great Gatsby is that from beginning to end, Gatsby himself is an enigma, and witnessing him through an objective journalist continues to feed the mystery. We never truly know the source of his wealth, his death, and whether Daisy is his true love or obsession/possession. It’s still so relative because whereas Fitzgerald created a cynical commentary on the American dream, we’ve expanded through social media to a more global cynicism/fascination with extreme wealth, resources, nepotism, and what people do to become or appear both elite and everyman, with all the contradictions in between.
"When Nick meets Daisy he says, “She laughed again, as if she said something very witty, and held my hand for a moment, looking up into my face, promising that there was no one in the world she so much wanted to see. That was a way she had. She hinted in a murmur that the surname of the balancing girl was Baker. (I’ve heard it said that Daisy’s murmur was only to make people lean toward her; an irrelevant criticism that made it no less charming).” It makes me believe that her endearing charms became a marker for Gatsby in his ambitions, innocent and above his status. Perhaps other people could be temporarily transfixed and move on, but in her, Gatsby captured an ideal."
Star rating: 4.8/5
'It puts the class system in bold relief'
@Susan Milam:
"What I like about the book is the perfection of the word choices, the way the sentences are cut like fine crystals and the duality of the ending. The final sentence has always stood out to me: “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”
"The Great Gatsby puts the class system in bold relief; it ponders the role of the outsider; it questions whether one can reclaim dreams and the possibility those dreams may be false. Every generation grapples with these concepts, which is why it is relevant today."
Star rating: 5/5
'The pursuit of greatness is just as relevant today as it was then'
@Arnold Ward:
"What makes Gatsby Great? He came from nowhere with nothing but his dream and then came within an ace of realising his dream. Gatsby embodies aspiration.
"I found the repeated use of the colour yellow, symbolic of money and wealth, interesting. The novel is also powerfully structured, for example Daisy's killing of Myrtle is prefigured by the car crash on Gatsby's driveway.
"The pursuit of greatness is just as relevant today as it was then. Aspiration remains the most powerful motivating force."
Star rating: 5/5
'I believe the author identified with Gatsby'
@Eileen Ridley:
"The mystery of Gatsby, who he is and how he achieved such wealth keeps your interest throughout. Even knowing the outcome still holds interest after multiple readings. I believe the author identified with Gatsby. Well written, different and fascinating.
"I was fascinated by the symbolism of the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg and I love the illustration from the folio book copy. I loved the sections on Daisy too."
'The story captured a time and place in history'
@Richard Merry:
"I liked it as a story that captured a time and place in history. America before the Great Depression. Back then anything seemed possible. The poor could become rich and the rich even richer. A love affair resurrected only via the procurement of wealth, which came from mysterious means.
"The journey through the valley of ashes, a reminder of not all was well in the land of plenty, was what stood out to me. I also enjoyed Gatsby’s sketchy history of the war in the Argonne Forest and how he inferred he was in the famous ‘Lost Battalion’, but didn’t state it, probably for fear of meeting a New Yorker who was really there.
"Its relevance is the timelessness of a love story, with greed, power and the indolence of moneyed people thrown in for good measure. Sadly, I suspect it would be considered irrelevant and too white for many younger readers, despite it commentating on another time and place."
Star rating: 5/5
'It has the most pleasurable prose ever written'
@Zebedee Alby:
"F Scott Fitzgerald distilled the story and pared it down to its essentials while infusing it with the most pleasurable prose ever written. Reading the language gives you pleasure. He learnt from John Keats and Hart Crane to make the words heightened and extraordinary while conveying the narrative without any diversions. The book is also about serious ideas addressing the notion of America as the land of dreams and opportunity with all the backwash detritus those bring. The last few paragraphs still distil the human predicament in the face of certain death.
"The contrast between the healthy and the unhealthy, the wealthy and the impoverished, as well as the corrupt and the pure are ideas that stood out to me.
"It addresses the way humans lived then, and still live, and offers comfort and pleasure in contemplation of the human dilemma."
Star rating: 5/5
'I hate that this is a realistic portrayal of humanity'
@K Sharp:
"I hate that this is a realistic portrayal of humanity. I also need this realistic portrayal of humanity.
"The characters were careless people, they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.
"Ambition is what makes the book still relevant today. We all want to be better than we are, we all want to believe that we can overcome social, cultural and economic constraints."
Star rating: 5/5
