Great Gatsby starts with Nick Carraway, just moved to New York in the 1920’s. He rents a house and ends up living next to the wealthy, but mysterious, Jay Gatsby and they begin a friendship. The book then follows the exploits and indiscretions of the many fashionable, wealthy people who they associate with and eventually ends with destruction.
The book is supposedly a commentary on the distortion of the American Dream; the protagonists discovery that all that is now sought is money, not achievement. It is hailed as one the greatest pieces of American Literature ever produced and regularly appears in ‘Must Read’ lists, online and in print.I, however, did not finish the novel. I found it the plot dull, the pace and style of writing slow, and the characters one-dimensional. I wish I’d been the only person in our group to feel this way, sometimes holding the opposite viewpoint is fun, but unfortunately for Mr Fitzgerald, I wasn’t.
Not everyone disliked the novel, MB and CB both enjoyed it. It sadly just didn’t reach the desired heights for the rest of us. The general consensus tallied with my opinion, which was that it was boring. We also came to the conclusion that our days of reading American Literature should soon come to an end. The vast majority of books we’ve read during Book Club have been of the American persuasion, and while there’s nothing wrong with that, we’re all just getting a little tired of reading about the same culture. On that note, however, it was my choice next and I did choose an American book…oops.
Overall Score: 4.5/10
Next Month’s Choice from: CC (me)
Next Book: Beloved by Toni Morrison
Date of Next Meeting: 12th June 2011
