Book review

When I was in 17, a Japanese writer named Murakami Haruki show me a world of Jazz. From then on I insisted on searching for Jazz literature. The great Gatsby tells me a sorrowful and jazzy story. One of the most talented writer-Fitzgerald wrote this book in a dreamy way. This book shows me a frothy American society and a contradiction between voluptuous life and true love in upper-class society.

This story is told by Nick Carraway-Gatsby’s neighbor and bond salesman. He witnesses Jay Gatsby’s love to Daisy Buchanan. Gatsby and Daisy met around 1917 when Gatsby was an officer in the American Expeditionary Forces. They fell in love, but when Gatsby was deployed overseas, Daisy reluctantly married Tom. Gatsby hopes that his newfound wealth and dazzling parties will make Daisy reconsider. Gatsby uses Nick to stage a reunion with Daisy, and the two embark upon a sexual affair. In September, Tom discovers the affair when Daisy carelessly addresses Gatsby with unabashed intimacy in front of him. Later, at a Plaza Hotel suite, Gatsby and Tom argue about the affair. Gatsby insists that Daisy declare that she never loved Tom. Daisy claims she loves Tom and Gatsby, upsetting both. Tom reveals that Gatsby is a swindler whose money comes from  bootlegging  alcohol. Upon hearing this, Daisy chooses to stay with Tom. Tom scornfully tells Gatsby to drive her home, knowing that Daisy will never leave him. While returning to East Egg, Gatsby and Daisy drive by Wilson's garage and their car accidentally strikes Tom's mistress, Myrtle, killing her instantly. Gatsby reveals to Nick that it was Daisy who was driving the car, but that he intends to take the blame for the accident to protect her. Nick urges Gatsby to flee to avoid prosecution, but he refuses. After Tom tells George that Gatsby owns the car that struck Myrtle, a distraught George assumes the owner of the vehicle must be Myrtle's  paramour . George fatally shoots Gatsby in his mansion's swimming pool, then commits suicide. After Gatsby's death, Nick encounters Tom and initially refuses to shake his hand. Tom admits that he was the one who told George that Gatsby owned the vehicle that killed Myrtle. Before returning to the Midwest, Nick returns to Gatsby's mansion one last time and stares across the bay at the green light emanating from the end of Daisy's dock.

Fitzgerald’s obituary in The New York Times hailed him as a "brilliant novelist" and mentioned Gatsby as Fitzgerald "at his best". What do I feel about this book is that the writer uses the calmest way to describe a story that a normal person died of love and money. His book exposes the ugly side of the upper class and lets me know about the breaking of the American dream. The American dream pursued by Gatsby results only in dissatisfaction and disenchantment to those who chase it, owing to its unattainability.

All in all, this is a book that brings people to endless thinking. We live in a materialistic society, but we can’t lose our hope. 

2021-01-10

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