The Great Gatsby

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Review

4/5 stars - personal bias, probably

The Great Gatsby is overrated - sue me. Do I enjoy the book? Heavily. But critics right to compare it to a lemon meringue pie. Its romantically lyrical, there's obvious autobiographical tidbits (as with all of Fitzgerald's works), and its drowningly Roaring Twenties. The hedonism and class criticism is touched lightly, as is with anything in the book. I think thats the point; the book is meant to be easily consumable, never dwelling too much on any one theme, because its the Roaring Twenties, because people want to feign noveau riche intellectualism, not actually apply oneself. I could talk all day about the literary devices like the juxtaposition of Tom, a xenophobe old money boy with anything he could ask for and reckless with it all, versus Gatsby, son of an immigrant father and despite being extremely risky with his new riches he's also clever. I could also talk about the book in its context during the 1920s, written by a rather melodramatic member of the Generacion Perdu, or I could criticize its hypocrisy of critiquing discrimination yet holding antisemitic caracatures. I could do a lot with this "short and delicately tangy sweet" book.
What takes it down a star is the actual plotline itself- Fitzgerald is gifted, but he falls short when he doesn't write with at least a small piece of himself in it. The ending with Myrtle and Daisy could have been so much better; having Tom be the one to swerve a car in front of her- showcasing how much he objectifies woman, would've worked great. Or having Gatsby simply disappear as one last "favour" to Daisy, leaving Nick resentful of him and wondering everytime something corrupt goes on the news if its him. So much could've been done.