Narrated by Nick Carraway - a young Yale graduate who moves to West Egg -The Great Gatsby tells the tragic story of Jay Gatsby, a self-made millionaire and his pursuit of love. Set in Jazz Age New York, every weekend, Gatsby held the biggest party of West Egg. He allowed all visitors into his humongous mansion to party to their hearts’ content. One day, Nick receives an invitation from Gatsby to go to his party - along with a mysterious request. 

I would rate The Great Gatsby an 8/10. As an all-time American classic, this book was a perfect representation of the American dream, power, and class struggles during the 1920s. As a teen reader, some aspects of high society during the Roaring Twenties were quite eye-opening. This was a tale filled with champagne, love affairs, and blood. 

At a certain point in the story, I wasn’t sure who to root for. Every character had his or her own flaws; no one was perfect. For example, our narrator Nick was a hypocritical cheater, abandoning his fiancée for a professional tennis player. It isn’t often that I read a book where the narrator is biased and unreliable. Gatsby wasn’t perfect either. In order to earn his money, he engaged in shady business deals. In addition, he lied and lusted for a married woman. However, the characters’ negative qualities were what made The Great Gatsby so much more realistic. 

The character who most interests me is Daisy Buchanan, Gatsby’s love interest. She is beautiful and charming, but also fickle, shallow, and bored. Like Zelda Fitzgerald, Daisy is in love with money and material luxury. In Gatsby’s eyes, she is the embodiment of perfection and wealth - qualities he most desire. 

When this book was first published, few copies sold. As the Jazz Age gave way to the Great Depression, the glitzy party scenes and glamorous lifestyles didn’t resonate with the hungry nation. It was only after Fitzgerald’s death and America entered the war that The Great Gatsby made its comeback. I’m not surprised. Without critically analyzing each chapter, it’s easy to dismiss this great American novel as just a love story gone wrong. It’s easy to underrate Fitzgerald’s symbols and metaphors and his allusion to social stratification. 

I recently heard that the Alaskan school board voted5-2 to remove The Great Gatsby from their high school curriculum for containing “language and sexual references” on two pages. After reading the book, I disagree. There were no mature scenes or profanity that would be unsuitable for a younger audience. However, I would still recommend this novel to readers ages 16 and above. I believe older readers would be better able to critically analyze and appreciate Fitzgerald’s magic.

Check out The Great Gatsby from the Newport Beach Public Library.