The Great Gatsby - by F. Scott Fitzgerald
I read this book right after I read Huckleberry Finn, albeit with a few months in between. Whereas Huckleberry Finn pulled me in immediately, the nature of the Mississippi journey surfacing a similar boyhood desire that I was able to experience vicariously, I was initially not as engaged with The Great Gatsby. Despite not connecting with the story at first, I was immediately able to appreciate the beauty of the prose. Each sentence and descriptor seemed to be carefully selected and refined. Multiple times throughout the book, I found myself smiling at the unique and clever ways that Fitzgerald described the characters.
I enjoyed this book over the course of a month, picking it up a few times in the first few weeks and later reading a few pages a night to fulfill my reading goal (I ended up finishing the last 100 pages or so in one sitting). When I finally finished it I was moved by it so much that I did not even know what to think. Even a week later, I still have so many thoughts about the book that I do not even know where to begin. But maybe that is ok.
More than almost any fiction that I have read, this book made me think. Each character was beautifully crafted and unique—not fitting into any clichés I have encountered before. The description of Daisy Buchanan's musical voice is unforgettable. She remains an alluring character throughout, projecting a carefree image while internally grappling with a choice between a stable and boring or free and adventurous life. The character of Gatsby never seems to crystalize quite as much as the others. I could never decide whether I liked him. Was he a representation of the American Dream taken to excess—wealth pursued at the cost of genuine relationships. Or did his tragedy represent repercussions of an attempt to advance one's class, a retaliation of the old society against new money encroaching on their territory.
Maybe in time, I will be able to point to specific messages that I took away from the text and can analyze specific motifs and themes. I still am not entirely sure what Dr. Eckleburg's eyes meant in the novel. I still don't know exactly how I feel about Daisy Buchanan. Jay Gatsby is still an enigma to me. But maybe the absence of a clear-cut message is what makes this such an enduring work of fiction.