Book report of The Great Gatsby
In fact,I have seen the film version of The Great Gatsby,and also have a distinct impression of the movie.Because of the homework assign by teacher,I take this opportunity to read the Great Gatsby completely and carefully.
Before reading this book, I search for the information about this book’s writer. His name is F. Scott Fitzgerald,American short-story writer and novelist,is known for his turbulent personal life and his famous novel The Great Gatsby.He was born on September 24, 1896, in St. Paul, Minnesota. He is the most important representative person of the “Jazz Age”.He published over 160 short novels, for instance, Benjamin’s Fantasy Trip, Ice Palace, Winter Dream and so on.Fitzgeralddied of a heart attack in 1940, at his age of only 44,while his novel wasn’t completed.
Fitzgerald was a bright and handsome man.He attended the St. Paul Academy,when he was 13. In 1911, when Fitzgerald was 15 years old, his parents sent him to the Newman School, a prestigious Catholic preparatory school in New Jersey. During his study, he met Father Sigourney Fay, who noticed his talent in writing and encouraged him to pursue his literary ambition. In 1913, he graduated fromthe Newman School. Fitzgerald stayed in New Jersey to continue his study at Princeton University. At Princeton, he made his mind being a good writer.However, Fitzgerald's writing came at the expense of his coursework. In 1917, he dropped out of school to join the U.S. Army. In 1924, Fitzgerald moved to France, and it was there, in Valescure, Fitzgerald wrote his the greatest novel, The Great Gatsby, which was published in 1925. The Great Gatsby is narrated by Nick, a man who moves into the town of West Egg on Long Island, next door to a mansion owned by the wealthy man who is named as Jay Gatsby. The novel follows Nick and Gatsby's strange friendship and Gatsby's pursuit of a married woman named Daisy. With its beautiful lyricism, pitch-perfect portrayal of the “Jazz Age ”, and searching critiques of materialism, love and the American Dream, The Great Gatsby is considered as Fitzgerald's best works. Although the book was well-received when it was published, it was not until the
1950s and 1960s, long time after Fitzgerald's death. The Great Gatsby achieved its stature as the definitive portrait of the "Roaring Twenties," as well as one of the greatest American novels ever written.Since his death, Fitzgerald has gained a reputation as one of the great authors in the history of American literature. And The Great Gatsby become one of therequired reading books for every American high school student, and this book has a great effect on generations of readers in America.
As we know, Fitzgerald’s style is unlike the other modern writers in America, he uses more language to convey the meaningful meaning he wants to say. His themes are often very modern. All of his books and short stories display the loneliness and the misery of modern life.In some articles he written, he conveys the idea that, money can’t buy happiness.
The Great Gatsby was based on the Jazz Time, which describes the period of the 1920s and 1930s.The 1920s began when the World War One over. The 20th ended with a huge drop in stock marketand the Great Depression. Fitzgerald was a representative person in that times. The nation's value had changed in that period. Many Americans were concerned mainly with having a good time and doing what they will. American society enjoyed unprecedented levels of prosperity. People broke the traditions by drinking alcohol, as spendthrifts and lived in a corrupt society. For his own times, Fitzgerald said: "There seemed no question about what was going to happen. America was going on the greatest party in its history and there was going to be plenty to tell about. "It was a world of gold and luxurious living.
This novel mainly tells us the story of Gatsby by Nick’s tone. Nick came to New York from his hometown the America Middle West, and he rent a small house nearby Gatsby’s luxurious mansion where hold a grand banquet every night.
The story began with the meet between Nick and Gatsby. And Nick had an exploratory interest to Gatsby and understood that there was a lost love in Gatsby’s deep heart. Gatsby and Daisy loved each other when Gatsby was young, because of Gatsby’s poor family they finally broken up. Then Gatsby joined the First World War. While Daisy was married to Tom who was a rich man, but her marriage was not happy because Tom had a mistress.
Gatsby was very painful and he believed that Daisy betrayed the pure heart because of money, so he resolved to be a man of wealth and a few years later he made it. What’s more, Gatsby built a mansionin the front of Daisy’s house. In order to attract Daisy and aroused the lost love, Gatsby spent money like water. Nick was moved by Gatsby’s passion of love, so he visited to his young female cousin Daisy and told her Gatsby’s mind. Then Gatsby often made date with Daisy. Finally, Gatsby found Daisy’s vanity, vulgar and selfish. Gatsby’s beautiful dream broke up, but he still insisted it, has illusion about Daisy, which made his tragedy.
One day Daisy was in a drunken driving Gatsby’s car and caused an accident, she killed Tom’s mistress, she planned a plot with Tom to put the crime to Gatsby. It led to the mistress’ husband shot Gatsby. Gatsby died , only his father and Nick attended the funeral.Nick witnessed everything sadly. By the end, Nick backed to his hometown, the story is over.
We can learn that Gatsby lost Daisy because he had no money, but he is still in love with her. Gatsby tries to persuade Daisy to leave Tom, he loved Daisy so deeply. Gatsby, a romantic dreamer, who believed that time can be fixed, the past can be repeated, youth beauty and love can be recaptured.
Gatsby’s life follows a clear pattern, There is, at first, a dream, then disenchantment, and finally a sense of failure and despair. In this extent , Gatsby’s personal experience approximates the whole of the American experience up to the first few decades of this century. In that time, America had been “a fresh, green breast of the new world,” as the greatest of all human dreams and promised something like the orgiastic feast for humanity.
The story deals symbolically with the failure of the American Dream. It is the story of a young man's search for his ideal of love. But why it is entitled by “ great” to the hero Gatby? I think it would like to convey a tragic hero in lavish, cruel and indifferent life to reader, a dream-pursuit-man in hollow vanity fair, Gatsby is loyal , true and innocent.
After reading the novel, I was deeply shocked by Gatsby’s persistence dream, his miserable ending, and impressed more about the “Jazz Age”. In American history,
maybe “it was the best of times, it was the worst of times, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way”.
Gatsby was young and full of passion to realize all his dreams, which could have been a perfect character in any times. However, he was poor, and this, which made him become a tragic character, also was the focus in that age-“Jazz Age”. “There was a faint, barely perceptible movement of the water as the fresh flow from one end urged its way toward the drain at the other. With little ripples that was hardly the shadows of waves, the laden mattress moved irregularly down the pool.” A hopeless ending indicates that the most beautiful dream in that age was eventually destroyed by the reality, the social. We can clearly know that Daisy did not choose Gatsby although he had become much more affluent than Tom, but choose her previous life-living with Tom, it may be a bad choice, but it was really the decision made by Daisy herself, a selfish, disingenuous and vain girl, the girl which Gatsby always loved and was willing to pay everything he has for, even she betrayed more than once, and this can be inferred when Gatsby showed his love and she hesitated.
In a word, The author tries to describe the social, and certainly the shattered “the American dream”. The author not only wants to attack the luxury and hypocrisy of the classes, but also to appeal to people to pursue true love, not the greed of money and hypocrisy, although this book has a desperate ending. As far as I am concerned, to live a meaningful life, we should carefully choose dream to pursue. And in the process of fulfilling our dreams, we should always be serious about what we really desire. Anyhow, only by pursuing the proper dream can we finally gethappiness.
Book report of The Great Gatsby
In fact,I have seen the film version of The Great Gatsby,and also have a distinct impression of the movie.Because of the homework assign by teacher,I take this opportunity to read the Great Gatsby completely and carefully.
Before reading this book, I search for the information about this book’s writer. His name is F. Scott Fitzgerald,American short-story writer and novelist,is known for his turbulent personal life and his famous novel The Great Gatsby.He was born on September 24, 1896, in St. Paul, Minnesota. He is the most important representative person of the “Jazz Age”.He published over 160 short novels, for instance, Benjamin’s Fantasy Trip, Ice Palace, Winter Dream and so on.Fitzgeralddied of a heart attack in 1940, at his age of only 44,while his novel wasn’t completed.
Fitzgerald was a bright and handsome man.He attended the St. Paul Academy,when he was 13. In 1911, when Fitzgerald was 15 years old, his parents sent him to the Newman School, a prestigious Catholic preparatory school in New Jersey. During his study, he met Father Sigourney Fay, who noticed his talent in writing and encouraged him to pursue his literary ambition. In 1913, he graduated fromthe Newman School. Fitzgerald stayed in New Jersey to continue his study at Princeton University. At Princeton, he made his mind being a good writer.However, Fitzgerald's writing came at the expense of his coursework. In 1917, he dropped out of school to join the U.S. Army. In 1924, Fitzgerald moved to France, and it was there, in Valescure, Fitzgerald wrote his the greatest novel, The Great Gatsby, which was published in 1925. The Great Gatsby is narrated by Nick, a man who moves into the town of West Egg on Long Island, next door to a mansion owned by the wealthy man who is named as Jay Gatsby. The novel follows Nick and Gatsby's strange friendship and Gatsby's pursuit of a married woman named Daisy. With its beautiful lyricism, pitch-perfect portrayal of the “Jazz Age ”, and searching critiques of materialism, love and the American Dream, The Great Gatsby is considered as Fitzgerald's best works. Although the book was well-received when it was published, it was not until the
1950s and 1960s, long time after Fitzgerald's death. The Great Gatsby achieved its stature as the definitive portrait of the "Roaring Twenties," as well as one of the greatest American novels ever written.Since his death, Fitzgerald has gained a reputation as one of the great authors in the history of American literature. And The Great Gatsby become one of therequired reading books for every American high school student, and this book has a great effect on generations of readers in America.
As we know, Fitzgerald’s style is unlike the other modern writers in America, he uses more language to convey the meaningful meaning he wants to say. His themes are often very modern. All of his books and short stories display the loneliness and the misery of modern life.In some articles he written, he conveys the idea that, money can’t buy happiness.
The Great Gatsby was based on the Jazz Time, which describes the period of the 1920s and 1930s.The 1920s began when the World War One over. The 20th ended with a huge drop in stock marketand the Great Depression. Fitzgerald was a representative person in that times. The nation's value had changed in that period. Many Americans were concerned mainly with having a good time and doing what they will. American society enjoyed unprecedented levels of prosperity. People broke the traditions by drinking alcohol, as spendthrifts and lived in a corrupt society. For his own times, Fitzgerald said: "There seemed no question about what was going to happen. America was going on the greatest party in its history and there was going to be plenty to tell about. "It was a world of gold and luxurious living.
This novel mainly tells us the story of Gatsby by Nick’s tone. Nick came to New York from his hometown the America Middle West, and he rent a small house nearby Gatsby’s luxurious mansion where hold a grand banquet every night.
The story began with the meet between Nick and Gatsby. And Nick had an exploratory interest to Gatsby and understood that there was a lost love in Gatsby’s deep heart. Gatsby and Daisy loved each other when Gatsby was young, because of Gatsby’s poor family they finally broken up. Then Gatsby joined the First World War. While Daisy was married to Tom who was a rich man, but her marriage was not happy because Tom had a mistress.
Gatsby was very painful and he believed that Daisy betrayed the pure heart because of money, so he resolved to be a man of wealth and a few years later he made it. What’s more, Gatsby built a mansionin the front of Daisy’s house. In order to attract Daisy and aroused the lost love, Gatsby spent money like water. Nick was moved by Gatsby’s passion of love, so he visited to his young female cousin Daisy and told her Gatsby’s mind. Then Gatsby often made date with Daisy. Finally, Gatsby found Daisy’s vanity, vulgar and selfish. Gatsby’s beautiful dream broke up, but he still insisted it, has illusion about Daisy, which made his tragedy.
One day Daisy was in a drunken driving Gatsby’s car and caused an accident, she killed Tom’s mistress, she planned a plot with Tom to put the crime to Gatsby. It led to the mistress’ husband shot Gatsby. Gatsby died , only his father and Nick attended the funeral.Nick witnessed everything sadly. By the end, Nick backed to his hometown, the story is over.
We can learn that Gatsby lost Daisy because he had no money, but he is still in love with her. Gatsby tries to persuade Daisy to leave Tom, he loved Daisy so deeply. Gatsby, a romantic dreamer, who believed that time can be fixed, the past can be repeated, youth beauty and love can be recaptured.
Gatsby’s life follows a clear pattern, There is, at first, a dream, then disenchantment, and finally a sense of failure and despair. In this extent , Gatsby’s personal experience approximates the whole of the American experience up to the first few decades of this century. In that time, America had been “a fresh, green breast of the new world,” as the greatest of all human dreams and promised something like the orgiastic feast for humanity.
The story deals symbolically with the failure of the American Dream. It is the story of a young man's search for his ideal of love. But why it is entitled by “ great” to the hero Gatby? I think it would like to convey a tragic hero in lavish, cruel and indifferent life to reader, a dream-pursuit-man in hollow vanity fair, Gatsby is loyal , true and innocent.
After reading the novel, I was deeply shocked by Gatsby’s persistence dream, his miserable ending, and impressed more about the “Jazz Age”. In American history,
maybe “it was the best of times, it was the worst of times, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way”.
Gatsby was young and full of passion to realize all his dreams, which could have been a perfect character in any times. However, he was poor, and this, which made him become a tragic character, also was the focus in that age-“Jazz Age”. “There was a faint, barely perceptible movement of the water as the fresh flow from one end urged its way toward the drain at the other. With little ripples that was hardly the shadows of waves, the laden mattress moved irregularly down the pool.” A hopeless ending indicates that the most beautiful dream in that age was eventually destroyed by the reality, the social. We can clearly know that Daisy did not choose Gatsby although he had become much more affluent than Tom, but choose her previous life-living with Tom, it may be a bad choice, but it was really the decision made by Daisy herself, a selfish, disingenuous and vain girl, the girl which Gatsby always loved and was willing to pay everything he has for, even she betrayed more than once, and this can be inferred when Gatsby showed his love and she hesitated.
In a word, The author tries to describe the social, and certainly the shattered “the American dream”. The author not only wants to attack the luxury and hypocrisy of the classes, but also to appeal to people to pursue true love, not the greed of money and hypocrisy, although this book has a desperate ending. As far as I am concerned, to live a meaningful life, we should carefully choose dream to pursue. And in the process of fulfilling our dreams, we should always be serious about what we really desire. Anyhow, only by pursuing the proper dream can we finally gethappiness.