The Great Gatsby (Dover Thrift Editions: Classic Novels)

Perfect for keepsakes!

*DNF* (Read chapters 1-4)PROS: Playful descriptions of people and things. No gore or explicit sex.CONS: Contains mild profanity, heavy drinking, and alcohol-fueled brawls. While some primary characters are habitual liars and many are actively cheating on their spouses, it is as if these behaviors are perfectly acceptable both to the narrator and to the other characters.OVERALL: This story lacks morality and is hard to love, beyond the poetically worded descriptions of settings and people. The tale begins with an uninteresting opening and reveals lackluster characters through episodes given as if the narrator is looking into the past. Even into the fourth chapter, this reader finds captivating descriptions surrounded by irrelevant events among briefly mentioned characters at the summer parties of the narrator’s wealthy neighbor, Mr. Gatsby, and in his company.SUMMARY: A book filled with immoral people propped up by witty descriptions, but one that lacks compelling characters or any plot—a yawn fest. The Great Gatsby is a multitude of cleaver words to depict places and things, thrown together into a meaningless heap, and printed as a novel—one that this reader finds unworthy of reading the remaining five chapters.