Product Description

In his introduction, Harold Bloom states that The Great Gatsby "has become part of what must be called the American mythology." This volume offers a complete critical survey of the novel, including examinations of its structure and narrative stance, redefining of the hero, and more. This series is edited by Harold Bloom, Sterling Professor of the Humanities, Yale University; Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Professor of English, New York University Graduate School. These texts presents critical essays that reflect a variety of schools of criticism on the most important 20th-century criticism on major works from The Odyssey through modern literature. Each volume also contains an introductory essay by Harold Bloom, critical biographies, notes on the contributing critics, a chronology of the author's life, and an index.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #35 in Books
• Published on: 1999-09-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 180 pages

Amazon.com
In 1922, F. Scott Fitzgerald announced his decision to write "something new--something extraordinary and beautiful and simple + intricately patterned." That extraordinary, beautiful, intricately patterned, and above all, simple novel became The Great Gatsby, arguably Fitzgerald's finest work and certainly the book for which he is best known. A portrait of the Jazz Age in all of its decadence and excess, Gatsby captured the spirit of the author's generation and earned itself a permanent place in American mythology. Self-made, self-invented millionaire Jay Gatsby embodies some of Fitzgerald's--and his country's--most abiding obsessions: money, ambition, greed, and the promise of new beginnings. "Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgiastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter--tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther.... And one fine morning--" Gatsby's rise to glory and eventual fall from grace becomes a kind of cautionary tale about the American Dream.

It's also a love story, of sorts, the narrative of Gatsby's quixotic passion for Daisy Buchanan. The pair meet five years before the novel begins, when Daisy is a legendary young Louisville beauty and Gatsby an impoverished officer. They fall in love, but while Gatsby serves overseas, Daisy marries the brutal, bullying, but extremely rich Tom Buchanan. After the war, Gatsby devotes himself blindly to the pursuit of wealth by whatever means--and to the pursuit of Daisy, which amounts to the same thing. "Her voice is full of money," Gatsby says admiringly, in one of the novel's more famous descriptions. His millions made, Gatsby buys a mansion across Long Island Sound from Daisy's patrician East Egg address, throws lavish parties, and waits for her to appear. When she does, events unfold with all the tragic inevitability of a Greek drama, with detached, cynical neighbor Nick Carraway acting as chorus throughout. Spare, elegantly plotted, and written in crystalline prose, The Great Gatsby is as perfectly satisfying as the best kind of poem.

From AudioFile
Christopher Reeve's smooth rhythm and soft-spoken tone accentuate Fitzgerald's flowing, elegant style. Since his character is an onlooker to events which take place in Gatsby's glittering but superficial world, Reeve also projects an appropriate distant quality. However, his vocal attempts to make each character well-defined seem to be an overwhelming task for one reader. Occasionally, it is hard to tell which character is speaking. Nonetheless, Reeve's ability to accurately evoke the emotions of the characters transcends this flaw. As a result, he delivers a noteworthy performance. M.P.T. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Reviewer’s Bookwatch, unknown date
"A fine performance by Alexander Scourby. Under his voice the written word comes alive."

Customer Reviews

Unforgettable
Surely everything has been said before. BUT, I shall point out that if you like Gatsby, you will probably love Fitzgerald's short stories as well. Also, there are several interesting books written about F.Scott Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda--two truly compelling people who lived somewhat reckless rock star lives long before we watched rock stars burn out on MTV reality shows.

So, let me get this straight...
The Modern Library declares that this is the 2nd greatest novel of the 20th century?

Are you serious? Above Lolita.

and let's not forget the novels the list completely disregarded, that trample all over Fitzgerald's poorly dated morality tale:

Gravity's Rainbow
V.
The Crying of Lot 49
White Noise
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Journey to the end of the Night
Naked Lunch
Blood Meridian
The Stranger
The Old man and the Sea

Seriously, Fitzgerald just was no good, and pales horribly in comparison to the true giant of 20th century American literature; Hemingway

Breathtaking
It has been a while since I read a book in one sitting. It has also been a while since I first read "The Great Gatsby". Since then, I read articles and saw movies about F. Scott Fotzgerald and his wife Zelda. It is hard not to draw some similarities between Fitzgerald's best work and the way his own life ended. Without going thru the plot, this is all american story about difference between old money and new money. Not all rich are created equal. It is also a story of obsessive love that will not let go. Can a man love so much that getting rich in order to be close to the woman of his dreams can consume his entire life? How much does it take for a person to understand that one cannot live in the past? Love story is set in it's moment, time and place. Once any one of the components is not there, love is not the same or there is none at all left. And then of course, there is pure love and there is recklessness - way of using people and there emotions as means of reassuring ourselves - with always disasterous outcomes. This book talks about all of that in a way that feels like being said in one breath. Storytelling is so compelling and language so beautiful, you cannot put this book down until you are finished reading it.