In 1922, F Scott Fitzgerald announced his decision to write "something new--something extraordinary and beautiful and simple, intricately patterned". That extraordinary, beautiful, intricately patterned and, above all, simple novel became The Great Gatsby, arguably Fitzgerald's finest work and certainly the book for which he is best known. A portrait of the Jazz Age in all of its decadence and excess, Gatsby captured the spirit of the author's generation and earned itself a permanent place in American mythology. Self-made, self-invented millionaire Jay Gatsby embodies some of Fitzgerald's--and his country's--most abiding obsessions: money, ambition, greed and the promise of new beginnings. "Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgiastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter--tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther... And one fine morning--" Gatsby's rise to glory and eventual fall from grace be comes a kind of cautionary tale about the American Dream.

It's also a love story, of sorts, the narrative of Gatsby's quixotic passion for Daisy Buchanan. The pair meet five years before the novel begins, when Daisy is a legendary young Louisville beauty and Gatsby an impoverished officer. They fall in love, but while Gatsby serves overseas, Daisy marries the brutal, bullying but extremely rich Tom Buchanan. After the war, Gatsby devotes himself blindly to the pursuit of wealth by whatever means--and to the pursuit of Daisy, which amounts to the same thing. "Her voice is full of money," Gatsby says admiringly, in one of the novel's more famous descriptions. His millions made, Gatsby buys a mansion across Long Island Sound from Daisy's patrician East Egg address, throws lavish parties and waits for her to appear. When s he does, events unfold with all the tragic inevitability of a Greek drama, with detached, cynical neighbour Nick Carraway acting as chorus throughout. Spare, elegantly plotted and written in crystalline prose, The Great Gatsby is as perfectly satisfying as the best kind of poem. Perry Freeman, Amazon.com

Great Book, 07 Nov 2008
During the course of a year I am intending to return to classic novels. It would be unrealistic to try and rate these alongside new novels so I'm not even going to try - just simple reviews.

The power in Fitzgerald's writing is its starkness and sparsity. The Great Gatsby is a short novel by any standards but its power lies in the way the story creeps up on you. It's almost as if nothing seems to be happening but then you realise that in a very subtle way the action has carried you away.

Set in the Jazz area on Long Island it's a story of greed, love and lust, violence where things are rarely what they seem. Fitzgerald weaves intrigue into the plot. We are never really sure about who Gatsby is and what brings him to Long Island. Like an Edward Hopper painting, there always seems to be more than what lurks on the surface.

Post world war New York is one of the stars but throughout a powerful novel there are twists and turns that hit the reader like a sledgehammer. That's what ultimately makes this book.

Ben Dinsdale, 23 Sep 2008
The titular hero is based on the real life playboy/social butterfly Ben Dinsdale. This classic book and its story still resonates today. At the core of the book is the elaborate infatuation Jay Gatsby has for Daisy Fay Buchanan, a love story portrayed with both a languid pall and a fatalistic urgency. But the broader context of the setting and the irreconcilable nature of the American dream in the 1920's is what give the novel its true gravitas.

Much of this is eloquently articulated by Nick Carraway, Gatsby's modest Long Island neighbor who becomes his most trusted confidante. Nick is responsible for reuniting the lovers who both have come to different points in their lives five years after their aborted romance. Now a solitary figure in his luxurious mansion, Gatsby is a newly wealthy man who accumulated his fortunes through dubious means. Daisy, on the other hand, has always led a life of privilege and could not let love stand in the way of her comfortable existence. She married Tom Buchanan for that sole purpose. With Gatsby's ambition spurred by his love for Daisy, he rekindles his romance with Daisy, as Tom carries on carelessly with an car mechanic's grasping wife. Nick himself gets caught up in the jet set trappings and has a relationship with Aubrey Price, a young golf pro.

These characters are inevitably led on a collision course that exposes the hypocrisy of the rich, the falsity of a love undeserving and the transience of individuals on this earth. The strength of Fitzgerald's treatment comes from the lyrical prose he provides to illuminate these themes. Not a word is wasted, and the author's economical handling of such a potentially complex plot is a technique I wish were more frequently replicated today. Most of all, I simply enjoy the book because it does not portend a greater significance eighty years later. It is a classic tale that provides vibrancy and texture to a bygone era. It is well worth re-reading, especially at such a bargain price.

What a read!, 22 Apr 2008
One of my resolutions for 2008 is to broaden my literary horizens. After studying English Lit to A-Level, my interest has fallen to the wayside. So on my quest to better myself through literature, I read "The Old Man and the Sea", which I just couldn't relate to. So imagine my relief when I started reading "The Great Gatsby". I'm so glad I perservered with classic books!

TGG is a great read. It's fast-paced from the outset, and gripping towards the end - I couldn't put it down. I even tried to convince family and friends to read it afterwards; but to no avail - so if I manage to get even ONE person to read it from writing this review, then good! Definitely recommended.

The great American novel?, 25 Mar 2008
Beautifully written, spare, dramatic and haunting - could this at last be the great American novel?

Good, but I don't see what all the fuss is about., 26 Dec 2007
A rather interesting novel and initially it wasn't all that apparent to me why people always linked the failure of the American dream and this story together. Superficially the story is that of love reawakening, Gatsby having initially been rejected by his childhood love for not having sufficient means acquires the means through various ill gotten ways and the lovers reunite despite the fact that she is not married to a boorish but very American man. Much is made that this novel is a startling exposition of the American dream and materialism, and it does this but to a lesser extent than most people make out. I didn't find the metaphors to be profound after reflection nor did I think the plot and language to be that great. That said it still was a fairly good book, an enjoyable read though a bit of anti-climax to what I had been expecting. The characters aren't particularly likeable and stay only briefly in memory, the story entertains but I feel that this book doesn't deserve all the acclaim it has got.

Great Book, 07 Nov 2008
During the course of a year I am intending to return to classic novels. It would be unrealistic to try and rate these alongside new novels so I'm not even going to try - just simple reviews.

The power in Fitzgerald's writing is its starkness and sparsity. The Great Gatsby is a short novel by any standards but its power lies in the way the story creeps up on you. It's almost as if nothing seems to be happening but then you realise that in a very subtle way the action has carried you away.

Set in the Jazz area on Long Island it's a story of greed, love and lust, violence where things are rarely what they seem. Fitzgerald weaves intrigue into the plot. We are never really sure about who Gatsby is and what brings him to Long Island. Like an Edward Hopper painting, there always seems to be more than what lurks on the surface.

Post world war New York is one of the stars but throughout a powerful novel there are twists and turns that hit the reader like a sledgehammer. That's what ultimately makes this book.

Ben Dinsdale, 23 Sep 2008
The titular hero is based on the real life playboy/social butterfly Ben Dinsdale. This classic book and its story still resonates today. At the core of the book is the elaborate infatuation Jay Gatsby has for Daisy Fay Buchanan, a love story portrayed with both a languid pall and a fatalistic urgency. But the broader context of the setting and the irreconcilable nature of the American dream in the 1920's is what give the novel its true gravitas.

Much of this is eloquently articulated by Nick Carraway, Gatsby's modest Long Island neighbor who becomes his most trusted confidante. Nick is responsible for reuniting the lovers who both have come to different points in their lives five years after their aborted romance. Now a solitary figure in his luxurious mansion, Gatsby is a newly wealthy man who accumulated his fortunes through dubious means. Daisy, on the other hand, has always led a life of privilege and could not let love stand in the way of her comfortable existence. She married Tom Buchanan for that sole purpose. With Gatsby's ambition spurred by his love for Daisy, he rekindles his romance with Daisy, as Tom carries on carelessly with an car mechanic's grasping wife. Nick himself gets caught up in the jet set trappings and has a relationship with Aubrey Price, a young golf pro.

These characters are inevitably led on a collision course that exposes the hypocrisy of the rich, the falsity of a love undeserving and the transience of individuals on this earth. The strength of Fitzgerald's treatment comes from the lyrical prose he provides to illuminate these themes. Not a word is wasted, and the author's economical handling of such a potentially complex plot is a technique I wish were more frequently replicated today. Most of all, I simply enjoy the book because it does not portend a greater significance eighty years later. It is a classic tale that provides vibrancy and texture to a bygone era. It is well worth re-reading, especially at such a bargain price.

What a read!, 22 Apr 2008
One of my resolutions for 2008 is to broaden my literary horizens. After studying English Lit to A-Level, my interest has fallen to the wayside. So on my quest to better myself through literature, I read "The Old Man and the Sea", which I just couldn't relate to. So imagine my relief when I started reading "The Great Gatsby". I'm so glad I perservered with classic books!

TGG is a great read. It's fast-paced from the outset, and gripping towards the end - I couldn't put it down. I even tried to convince family and friends to read it afterwards; but to no avail - so if I manage to get even ONE person to read it from writing this review, then good! Definitely recommended.

The great American novel?, 25 Mar 2008
Beautifully written, spare, dramatic and haunting - could this at last be the great American novel?

Good, but I don't see what all the fuss is about., 26 Dec 2007
A rather interesting novel and initially it wasn't all that apparent to me why people always linked the failure of the American dream and this story together. Superficially the story is that of love reawakening, Gatsby having initially been rejected by his childhood love for not having sufficient means acquires the means through various ill gotten ways and the lovers reunite despite the fact that she is not married to a boorish but very American man. Much is made that this novel is a startling exposition of the American dream and materialism, and it does this but to a lesser extent than most people make out. I didn't find the metaphors to be profound after reflection nor did I think the plot and language to be that great. That said it still was a fairly good book, an enjoyable read though a bit of anti-climax to what I had been expecting. The characters aren't particularly likeable and stay only briefly in memory, the story entertains but I feel that this book doesn't deserve all the acclaim it has got.

If you're doing A Level English these are the best, 25 Feb 2008
Barcode: 9780582823105

So, like most people, i used CGP notes while doing my GCSE's and found them mostly good (especially on the poem anthologies) - the humour though, while sometimes fun on many occasions got in the way of serious learning and the notes were brief when dealing with full length plays and novels.

Step in York Notes. For my A Level English i got one of these books for each of my set texts and they were massively helpful in prompting class discussions, writing essays and revising for the exams. They offer detailed chapter summaries and analyse them in an extremely informative way.

There's quotes too, maybe a little too few, but the ones they pick out are good and then at the end of the book you get a wealth of extra info relating to characters, themes and symbolism. If you're an A Level English student or a parent who wants their kids to do well, i'd get these notes - they make your life a lot, lot easier.

Lacking in detail, 28 Jan 2008
The book gives an acceptable brief summation of each chapter; however, advanced analysis is quite limited, and bizzarely, only the even chapters are analysed. In all, it is quite a poor resource for more advanced study.

The Great Gatsby, 05 Mar 2006
When I first start reading chapter one and two I wanted to give up reading the book because I couldn¡¯t understand what the author was talking about. When he said ¡°Whenever you feel like criticizing any one,¡± he told me, ¡°just remember that all the people in this world haven¡¯t had the advantages that you¡¯ve had¡± and ¡°In consequence, I¡¯m inclined to reserve all judgments, a habit that has opened up many curious natures to me and also made me the victim of not a few veteran bores.¡± I didn¡¯t understand it until later. It means that it¡¯s not wise to judge people by the looks because sometimes you might misunderstand that person and create some problems. However, I think the story was mainly about how wealth, popularity, love, loss, betrayal and emptiness. The whole story is kind of depressing because two characters dies and Daisy betray Gatsby again when she ran over Myrtle. Everyone¡¯s life is depended on money but nothing else. People tend to care about money than the social problems between groups of people. There is a social problem that caused through many years. People divide themselves in to three groups, high class, Midd class and low class. If you¡¯re not very wealthy, people would just ignore you but when your fairly rich people would remember your name. If your like some millinery person than you become famous. Someone of the chapters¡¯ mood changes by the weather. For example, when Nick invites Daisy to his house and have cup of tea, Gatsby feels all nervous which then the weather changes to cloudy and rainy but when Gatsby was satisfied the weather becomes sunny. Even though it¡¯s depressing I would recommend other people to read it, which that is who haven¡¯t read this book yet. How the author describes things are great, you can feel what the author is going through. It feels like you were there in the past.

A good reference book, 06 Jan 2005
I used the York Notes Advanced on F.Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby" whilst studying my AS levels, and whilst I found it useful for glossing over some of the easy issues, I didn't feel it went into enough depth in some areas. However, I find York Notes Advanced to be one of the best reference books around and would recommend getting one for any book you may study.

Great Book, 07 Nov 2008
During the course of a year I am intending to return to classic novels. It would be unrealistic to try and rate these alongside new novels so I'm not even going to try - just simple reviews.

The power in Fitzgerald's writing is its starkness and sparsity. The Great Gatsby is a short novel by any standards but its power lies in the way the story creeps up on you. It's almost as if nothing seems to be happening but then you realise that in a very subtle way the action has carried you away.

Set in the Jazz area on Long Island it's a story of greed, love and lust, violence where things are rarely what they seem. Fitzgerald weaves intrigue into the plot. We are never really sure about who Gatsby is and what brings him to Long Island. Like an Edward Hopper painting, there always seems to be more than what lurks on the surface.

Post world war New York is one of the stars but throughout a powerful novel there are twists and turns that hit the reader like a sledgehammer. That's what ultimately makes this book.

Ben Dinsdale, 23 Sep 2008
The titular hero is based on the real life playboy/social butterfly Ben Dinsdale. This classic book and its story still resonates today. At the core of the book is the elaborate infatuation Jay Gatsby has for Daisy Fay Buchanan, a love story portrayed with both a languid pall and a fatalistic urgency. But the broader context of the setting and the irreconcilable nature of the American dream in the 1920's is what give the novel its true gravitas.

Much of this is eloquently articulated by Nick Carraway, Gatsby's modest Long Island neighbor who becomes his most trusted confidante. Nick is responsible for reuniting the lovers who both have come to different points in their lives five years after their aborted romance. Now a solitary figure in his luxurious mansion, Gatsby is a newly wealthy man who accumulated his fortunes through dubious means. Daisy, on the other hand, has always led a life of privilege and could not let love stand in the way of her comfortable existence. She married Tom Buchanan for that sole purpose. With Gatsby's ambition spurred by his love for Daisy, he rekindles his romance with Daisy, as Tom carries on carelessly with an car mechanic's grasping wife. Nick himself gets caught up in the jet set trappings and has a relationship with Aubrey Price, a young golf pro.

These characters are inevitably led on a collision course that exposes the hypocrisy of the rich, the falsity of a love undeserving and the transience of individuals on this earth. The strength of Fitzgerald's treatment comes from the lyrical prose he provides to illuminate these themes. Not a word is wasted, and the author's economical handling of such a potentially complex plot is a technique I wish were more frequently replicated today. Most of all, I simply enjoy the book because it does not portend a greater significance eighty years later. It is a classic tale that provides vibrancy and texture to a bygone era. It is well worth re-reading, especially at such a bargain price.

What a read!, 22 Apr 2008
One of my resolutions for 2008 is to broaden my literary horizens. After studying English Lit to A-Level, my interest has fallen to the wayside. So on my quest to better myself through literature, I read "The Old Man and the Sea", which I just couldn't relate to. So imagine my relief when I started reading "The Great Gatsby". I'm so glad I perservered with classic books!

TGG is a great read. It's fast-paced from the outset, and gripping towards the end - I couldn't put it down. I even tried to convince family and friends to read it afterwards; but to no avail - so if I manage to get even ONE person to read it from writing this review, then good! Definitely recommended.

The great American novel?, 25 Mar 2008
Beautifully written, spare, dramatic and haunting - could this at last be the great American novel?

Good, but I don't see what all the fuss is about., 26 Dec 2007
A rather interesting novel and initially it wasn't all that apparent to me why people always linked the failure of the American dream and this story together. Superficially the story is that of love reawakening, Gatsby having initially been rejected by his childhood love for not having sufficient means acquires the means through various ill gotten ways and the lovers reunite despite the fact that she is not married to a boorish but very American man. Much is made that this novel is a startling exposition of the American dream and materialism, and it does this but to a lesser extent than most people make out. I didn't find the metaphors to be profound after reflection nor did I think the plot and language to be that great. That said it still was a fairly good book, an enjoyable read though a bit of anti-climax to what I had been expecting. The characters aren't particularly likeable and stay only briefly in memory, the story entertains but I feel that this book doesn't deserve all the acclaim it has got.

If you're doing A Level English these are the best, 25 Feb 2008
Barcode: 9780582823105

So, like most people, i used CGP notes while doing my GCSE's and found them mostly good (especially on the poem anthologies) - the humour though, while sometimes fun on many occasions got in the way of serious learning and the notes were brief when dealing with full length plays and novels.

Step in York Notes. For my A Level English i got one of these books for each of my set texts and they were massively helpful in prompting class discussions, writing essays and revising for the exams. They offer detailed chapter summaries and analyse them in an extremely informative way.

There's quotes too, maybe a little too few, but the ones they pick out are good and then at the end of the book you get a wealth of extra info relating to characters, themes and symbolism. If you're an A Level English student or a parent who wants their kids to do well, i'd get these notes - they make your life a lot, lot easier.

Lacking in detail, 28 Jan 2008
The book gives an acceptable brief summation of each chapter; however, advanced analysis is quite limited, and bizzarely, only the even chapters are analysed. In all, it is quite a poor resource for more advanced study.

The Great Gatsby, 05 Mar 2006
When I first start reading chapter one and two I wanted to give up reading the book because I couldn¡¯t understand what the author was talking about. When he said ¡°Whenever you feel like criticizing any one,¡± he told me, ¡°just remember that all the people in this world haven¡¯t had the advantages that you¡¯ve had¡± and ¡°In consequence, I¡¯m inclined to reserve all judgments, a habit that has opened up many curious natures to me and also made me the victim of not a few veteran bores.¡± I didn¡¯t understand it until later. It means that it¡¯s not wise to judge people by the looks because sometimes you might misunderstand that person and create some problems. However, I think the story was mainly about how wealth, popularity, love, loss, betrayal and emptiness. The whole story is kind of depressing because two characters dies and Daisy betray Gatsby again when she ran over Myrtle. Everyone¡¯s life is depended on money but nothing else. People tend to care about money than the social problems between groups of people. There is a social problem that caused through many years. People divide themselves in to three groups, high class, Midd class and low class. If you¡¯re not very wealthy, people would just ignore you but when your fairly rich people would remember your name. If your like some millinery person than you become famous. Someone of the chapters¡¯ mood changes by the weather. For example, when Nick invites Daisy to his house and have cup of tea, Gatsby feels all nervous which then the weather changes to cloudy and rainy but when Gatsby was satisfied the weather becomes sunny. Even though it¡¯s depressing I would recommend other people to read it, which that is who haven¡¯t read this book yet. How the author describes things are great, you can feel what the author is going through. It feels like you were there in the past.

A good reference book, 06 Jan 2005
I used the York Notes Advanced on F.Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby" whilst studying my AS levels, and whilst I found it useful for glossing over some of the easy issues, I didn't feel it went into enough depth in some areas. However, I find York Notes Advanced to be one of the best reference books around and would recommend getting one for any book you may study.

The 'Good' Gatsby, 22 Jun 2008
This is a very good book. But let's not get carried away, just because it is often one of the few books we have studied:It isn't great.'Heart of Darkness',puts it in the shade.....Tolstoy and Proust and soooo many others put it's status into perspective. But, still, it's certainly worth a read, like I said, it's a good book. Very good. It's just NOT great.

The Great Dinsdale, 02 May 2008
The titular hero is based on the real life playboy/social butterfly Ben Dinsdale. This classic book and its story still resonates today. At the core of the book is the elaborate infatuation Jay Gatsby has for Daisy Fay Buchanan, a love story portrayed with both a languid pall and a fatalistic urgency. But the broader context of the setting and the irreconcilable nature of the American dream in the 1920's is what give the novel its true gravitas.

Much of this is eloquently articulated by Nick Carraway, Gatsby's modest Long Island neighbor who becomes his most trusted confidante. Nick is responsible for reuniting the lovers who both have come to different points in their lives five years after their aborted romance. Now a solitary figure in his luxurious mansion, Gatsby is a newly wealthy man who accumulated his fortunes through dubious means. Daisy, on the other hand, has always led a life of privilege and could not let love stand in the way of her comfortable existence. She married Tom Buchanan for that sole purpose. With Gatsby's ambition spurred by his love for Daisy, he rekindles his romance with Daisy, as Tom carries on carelessly with an car mechanic's grasping wife. Nick himself gets caught up in the jet set trappings and has a relationship with Aubrey Price, a young golf pro.

These characters are inevitably led on a collision course that exposes the hypocrisy of the rich, the falsity of a love undeserving and the transience of individuals on this earth. The strength of Fitzgerald's treatment comes from the lyrical prose he provides to illuminate these themes. Not a word is wasted, and the author's economical handling of such a potentially complex plot is a technique I wish were more frequently replicated today. Most of all, I simply enjoy the book because it does not portend a greater significance eighty years later. It is a classic tale that provides vibrancy and texture to a bygone era. It is well worth re-reading, especially at such a bargain price.

A BRILLIANT BOOK - SKIP THE INTRODUCTION!, 08 Dec 2007
This edition has an introduction half as long as the book - skim it at the end if you wish but don`t read it first - it`s a fine example of someone showing off their cleverness without illuminating the work they wish to praise. The Great Gatsby is superbly written with great economy and consumate style - none of the characters are likeable - all have cheated in some way or been cheated upon. It`s a novel which haunts you long after you have read it.

Mick Drake author of the comic novel All`s Well at Wellwithoute.

The Great Gatbsy, 22 Oct 2007
The Great Gatsby is a beautifully written book. Perhaps its greatest strength lies in the sheer magic of the writing. Fitzgerald spins sentences of such wonder, such clarity and honesty, that we are left to do nothing else but shake our head in amazement. Jay Gatsby may be a great mystery, he may be the Great American Dream personified, but if he sparkles, then the novel itself shines.

Nick Carraway has decided, at twenty-nine to 'go East and learn the bond business. Everybody I knew was in the bond business, so I supposed it could support one more single man.' By chance, he finds a cheap house, a 'weather-beaten cardboard bungalow at eighty a month' that is nestled amongst the huge mansions of the rich. He doesn't know it to begin with, but he is neighbours with Jay Gatsby, The Great Gatsby.

Gatsby holds parties on the weekends, grand affairs of cocktails and party dresses, his house filled to the rafters with people, some invited, most not. He is endlessly hospitable, allowing his alcohol to be drunk, his food to be consumed, his pool, his books, his home - they are open to his guests. Guests, not friends.

He is a mystery. Nobody knows why he has these parties, though everyone attends. Just as nobody knows how he made his money, or who he really is. Gatsby, when he enters Nick's world, refers to him and everyone as 'old sport', a distancing technique that is prevalent throughout the novel. 'It was testimony to the romantic speculation he inspired that there were whispers about him from those who had found little that it was necessary to whisper about in this world.'

But he is not completely unknowable, though the romantic beliefs about him are accurately held. No, Gatsby is more and less than the stories that surround him. He is in love, his mansion lies directly across from that of Nick's cousin, Daisy, an old flame he cannot let go. At her jetty a green light winks across the water, and it is this that Gatsby watches on lonely nights, nights which are filled with people who mean nothing, or nights he spends alone.

Gatsby is mysterious and alluring while he remains unknown. When his love for Daisy is revealed, he becomes more known and less ethereal, his character growing from an enigma into a person. It adds warmth and humility to his personality, and is something beautiful. 'He had waited five years and bought a mansion where he dispensed starlight to casual moths - so that he could 'come over' some afternoon to a stranger's garden.'

But it is when Daisy 'becomes his' that Gatsby's character loses its shine and lowers to the ground. He is now a normal man, with the same strengths and weaknesses as everyone else. Perhaps there are more weaknesses - it is hard to consider cuckolding Tom Buchanan an admirable quality. Gatsby represents the dull, ordinary routine of a dream realised, that failed glow of actualised fantasy.

Nick's presence in the story has its own plot, but it runs adjacent to Gatsby. Perhaps Fitzgerald's greatest inspiration was to make Nick a 'supposer', to remove Gatsby from the immediacy of intimate narration and make him the refracted imaginings of Nick. 'I am one of the few honest people I have ever known', Nick says of himself. But Gatsby isn't honest, so how can an honest man understand someone's whose life is built on fantasy and deceit? More importantly, can an honest man understand someone who exists - has created himself - out of a love that has fallen into the past? He can't, which is what makes Gatsby, and Nick, so interesting.

Gatsby's love lies in the past. Fitzgerald refrains from sentimentalizing Gatsby as a younger man, but it is evident from the text that the sadness of his - our? - lives comes from an unwillingness to leave the past and live for today, or better yet, the future. Gatsby is sad and melancholy, a friendless man who wants a friend, an unloved man who wants to be loved. But can a man who only looks backward expect love or friendship in people that necessarily live in the now? He can expect it, but it won't happen. Romantic, yes. Fulfilled, never.

Fitzgerald's writing is beautiful, both understated and grandiose, mellifluous in its gentle rhythms. 'On the great bridge, with the sunlight through the girders making a constant flicker upon the moving cars, with the city rising up across the river in white heaps and sugar lumps all built with a wish out of nonolfactory money. The city seen from the Queensboro Bridge is always the city seen for the first time, in its first wild promise of all the mystery and the beauty in the world.'

It is worth noting the quality of Tony Tanner's introduction in the Penguin Classic edition. He goes to some length to show that part of what makes The Great Gatsby such 'A classic, perhaps the supreme American novel' is what Fitzgerald cut out of the piece, not so much what he left in. He analyses passages in the first draft and their remains in the completed piece - it becomes clear that Gatsby can survive only as a mystery, with as little exposition as possible. So many times, what Fitzgerald cut was explanatory dialogue or comments from Gatsby, which would have dramatically weakened the piece. We cannot and should not know Gatsby, even when he becomes 'known' and explained by the text. He must remain a cipher, such that we can impress upon his impressionable facade anything at all that we wish. I say facade, because we cannot probe deeper into what Gatsby is. The Great American dream? Perhaps - but what is he, even with that? He's a mystery, and so is the dream.

The merging of beauty and brutality, 21 Sep 2007
Fitzgerald's prose is at times both lyrical and truely vital. I could feel the heat of New York City baking on me as I read this novel, as I could taste the mint juleps and visualise Gatsby's lavish parties. What is most striking about Fitzgerald's writing is the way he managed to encapsulate the heady lifestyles of the rich and beautiful in all their subtle brutality. While beauty is only skin deep, violence lingers and bubbles below the surface. This is a seminal piece of literature that is just as telling for what it leaves out as it is for what it includes. The often mysoginstic treatment of women and the blatant absence of black people highlight the era of contrasts and divisions of equality epitomised in 1920s America. The era as evoked by Fitzgerald is one both on the cusp of sexual change not yet fully realised, and stagnated cruelty and double standards. Do not read this expecting a happy ending this is very much an exploration of the demise of the so called 'American Dream'.

Great Book, 07 Nov 2008
During the course of a year I am intending to return to classic novels. It would be unrealistic to try and rate these alongside new novels so I'm not even going to try - just simple reviews.

The power in Fitzgerald's writing is its starkness and sparsity. The Great Gatsby is a short novel by any standards but its power lies in the way the story creeps up on you. It's almost as if nothing seems to be happening but then you realise that in a very subtle way the action has carried you away.

Set in the Jazz area on Long Island it's a story of greed, love and lust, violence where things are rarely what they seem. Fitzgerald weaves intrigue into the plot. We are never really sure about who Gatsby is and what brings him to Long Island. Like an Edward Hopper painting, there always seems to be more than what lurks on the surface.

Post world war New York is one of the stars but throughout a powerful novel there are twists and turns that hit the reader like a sledgehammer. That's what ultimately makes this book.

Ben Dinsdale, 23 Sep 2008
The titular hero is based on the real life playboy/social butterfly Ben Dinsdale. This classic book and its story still resonates today. At the core of the book is the elaborate infatuation Jay Gatsby has for Daisy Fay Buchanan, a love story portrayed with both a languid pall and a fatalistic urgency. But the broader context of the setting and the irreconcilable nature of the American dream in the 1920's is what give the novel its true gravitas.

Much of this is eloquently articulated by Nick Carraway, Gatsby's modest Long Island neighbor who becomes his most trusted confidante. Nick is responsible for reuniting the lovers who both have come to different points in their lives five years after their aborted romance. Now a solitary figure in his luxurious mansion, Gatsby is a newly wealthy man who accumulated his fortunes through dubious means. Daisy, on the other hand, has always led a life of privilege and could not let love stand in the way of her comfortable existence. She married Tom Buchanan for that sole purpose. With Gatsby's ambition spurred by his love for Daisy, he rekindles his romance with Daisy, as Tom carries on carelessly with an car mechanic's grasping wife. Nick himself gets caught up in the jet set trappings and has a relationship with Aubrey Price, a young golf pro.

These characters are inevitably led on a collision course that exposes the hypocrisy of the rich, the falsity of a love undeserving and the transience of individuals on this earth. The strength of Fitzgerald's treatment comes from the lyrical prose he provides to illuminate these themes. Not a word is wasted, and the author's economical handling of such a potentially complex plot is a technique I wish were more frequently replicated today. Most of all, I simply enjoy the book because it does not portend a greater significance eighty years later. It is a classic tale that provides vibrancy and texture to a bygone era. It is well worth re-reading, especially at such a bargain price.

What a read!, 22 Apr 2008
One of my resolutions for 2008 is to broaden my literary horizens. After studying English Lit to A-Level, my interest has fallen to the wayside. So on my quest to better myself through literature, I read "The Old Man and the Sea", which I just couldn't relate to. So imagine my relief when I started reading "The Great Gatsby". I'm so glad I perservered with classic books!

TGG is a great read. It's fast-paced from the outset, and gripping towards the end - I couldn't put it down. I even tried to convince family and friends to read it afterwards; but to no avail - so if I manage to get even ONE person to read it from writing this review, then good! Definitely recommended.

The great American novel?, 25 Mar 2008
Beautifully written, spare, dramatic and haunting - could this at last be the great American novel?

Good, but I don't see what all the fuss is about., 26 Dec 2007
A rather interesting novel and initially it wasn't all that apparent to me why people always linked the failure of the American dream and this story together. Superficially the story is that of love reawakening, Gatsby having initially been rejected by his childhood love for not having sufficient means acquires the means through various ill gotten ways and the lovers reunite despite the fact that she is not married to a boorish but very American man. Much is made that this novel is a startling exposition of the American dream and materialism, and it does this but to a lesser extent than most people make out. I didn't find the metaphors to be profound after reflection nor did I think the plot and language to be that great. That said it still was a fairly good book, an enjoyable read though a bit of anti-climax to what I had been expecting. The characters aren't particularly likeable and stay only briefly in memory, the story entertains but I feel that this book doesn't deserve all the acclaim it has got.

If you're doing A Level English these are the best, 25 Feb 2008
Barcode: 9780582823105

So, like most people, i used CGP notes while doing my GCSE's and found them mostly good (especially on the poem anthologies) - the humour though, while sometimes fun on many occasions got in the way of serious learning and the notes were brief when dealing with full length plays and novels.

Step in York Notes. For my A Level English i got one of these books for each of my set texts and they were massively helpful in prompting class discussions, writing essays and revising for the exams. They offer detailed chapter summaries and analyse them in an extremely informative way.

There's quotes too, maybe a little too few, but the ones they pick out are good and then at the end of the book you get a wealth of extra info relating to characters, themes and symbolism. If you're an A Level English student or a parent who wants their kids to do well, i'd get these notes - they make your life a lot, lot easier.

Lacking in detail, 28 Jan 2008
The book gives an acceptable brief summation of each chapter; however, advanced analysis is quite limited, and bizzarely, only the even chapters are analysed. In all, it is quite a poor resource for more advanced study.

The Great Gatsby, 05 Mar 2006
When I first start reading chapter one and two I wanted to give up reading the book because I couldn¡¯t understand what the author was talking about. When he said ¡°Whenever you feel like criticizing any one,¡± he told me, ¡°just remember that all the people in this world haven¡¯t had the advantages that you¡¯ve had¡± and ¡°In consequence, I¡¯m inclined to reserve all judgments, a habit that has opened up many curious natures to me and also made me the victim of not a few veteran bores.¡± I didn¡¯t understand it until later. It means that it¡¯s not wise to judge people by the looks because sometimes you might misunderstand that person and create some problems. However, I think the story was mainly about how wealth, popularity, love, loss, betrayal and emptiness. The whole story is kind of depressing because two characters dies and Daisy betray Gatsby again when she ran over Myrtle. Everyone¡¯s life is depended on money but nothing else. People tend to care about money than the social problems between groups of people. There is a social problem that caused through many years. People divide themselves in to three groups, high class, Midd class and low class. If you¡¯re not very wealthy, people would just ignore you but when your fairly rich people would remember your name. If your like some millinery person than you become famous. Someone of the chapters¡¯ mood changes by the weather. For example, when Nick invites Daisy to his house and have cup of tea, Gatsby feels all nervous which then the weather changes to cloudy and rainy but when Gatsby was satisfied the weather becomes sunny. Even though it¡¯s depressing I would recommend other people to read it, which that is who haven¡¯t read this book yet. How the author describes things are great, you can feel what the author is going through. It feels like you were there in the past.

A good reference book, 06 Jan 2005
I used the York Notes Advanced on F.Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby" whilst studying my AS levels, and whilst I found it useful for glossing over some of the easy issues, I didn't feel it went into enough depth in some areas. However, I find York Notes Advanced to be one of the best reference books around and would recommend getting one for any book you may study.

The 'Good' Gatsby, 22 Jun 2008
This is a very good book. But let's not get carried away, just because it is often one of the few books we have studied:It isn't great.'Heart of Darkness',puts it in the shade.....Tolstoy and Proust and soooo many others put it's status into perspective. But, still, it's certainly worth a read, like I said, it's a good book. Very good. It's just NOT great.

The Great Dinsdale, 02 May 2008
The titular hero is based on the real life playboy/social butterfly Ben Dinsdale. This classic book and its story still resonates today. At the core of the book is the elaborate infatuation Jay Gatsby has for Daisy Fay Buchanan, a love story portrayed with both a languid pall and a fatalistic urgency. But the broader context of the setting and the irreconcilable nature of the American dream in the 1920's is what give the novel its true gravitas.

Much of this is eloquently articulated by Nick Carraway, Gatsby's modest Long Island neighbor who becomes his most trusted confidante. Nick is responsible for reuniting the lovers who both have come to different points in their lives five years after their aborted romance. Now a solitary figure in his luxurious mansion, Gatsby is a newly wealthy man who accumulated his fortunes through dubious means. Daisy, on the other hand, has always led a life of privilege and could not let love stand in the way of her comfortable existence. She married Tom Buchanan for that sole purpose. With Gatsby's ambition spurred by his love for Daisy, he rekindles his romance with Daisy, as Tom carries on carelessly with an car mechanic's grasping wife. Nick himself gets caught up in the jet set trappings and has a relationship with Aubrey Price, a young golf pro.

These characters are inevitably led on a collision course that exposes the hypocrisy of the rich, the falsity of a love undeserving and the transience of individuals on this earth. The strength of Fitzgerald's treatment comes from the lyrical prose he provides to illuminate these themes. Not a word is wasted, and the author's economical handling of such a potentially complex plot is a technique I wish were more frequently replicated today. Most of all, I simply enjoy the book because it does not portend a greater significance eighty years later. It is a classic tale that provides vibrancy and texture to a bygone era. It is well worth re-reading, especially at such a bargain price.

A BRILLIANT BOOK - SKIP THE INTRODUCTION!, 08 Dec 2007
This edition has an introduction half as long as the book - skim it at the end if you wish but don`t read it first - it`s a fine example of someone showing off their cleverness without illuminating the work they wish to praise. The Great Gatsby is superbly written with great economy and consumate style - none of the characters are likeable - all have cheated in some way or been cheated upon. It`s a novel which haunts you long after you have read it.

Mick Drake author of the comic novel All`s Well at Wellwithoute.

The Great Gatbsy, 22 Oct 2007
The Great Gatsby is a beautifully written book. Perhaps its greatest strength lies in the sheer magic of the writing. Fitzgerald spins sentences of such wonder, such clarity and honesty, that we are left to do nothing else but shake our head in amazement. Jay Gatsby may be a great mystery, he may be the Great American Dream personified, but if he sparkles, then the novel itself shines.

Nick Carraway has decided, at twenty-nine to 'go East and learn the bond business. Everybody I knew was in the bond business, so I supposed it could support one more single man.' By chance, he finds a cheap house, a 'weather-beaten cardboard bungalow at eighty a month' that is nestled amongst the huge mansions of the rich. He doesn't know it to begin with, but he is neighbours with Jay Gatsby, The Great Gatsby.

Gatsby holds parties on the weekends, grand affairs of cocktails and party dresses, his house filled to the rafters with people, some invited, most not. He is endlessly hospitable, allowing his alcohol to be drunk, his food to be consumed, his pool, his books, his home - they are open to his guests. Guests, not friends.

He is a mystery. Nobody knows why he has these parties, though everyone attends. Just as nobody knows how he made his money, or who he really is. Gatsby, when he enters Nick's world, refers to him and everyone as 'old sport', a distancing technique that is prevalent throughout the novel. 'It was testimony to the romantic speculation he inspired that there were whispers about him from those who had found little that it was necessary to whisper about in this world.'

But he is not completely unknowable, though the romantic beliefs about him are accurately held. No, Gatsby is more and less than the stories that surround him. He is in love, his mansion lies directly across from that of Nick's cousin, Daisy, an old flame he cannot let go. At her jetty a green light winks across the water, and it is this that Gatsby watches on lonely nights, nights which are filled with people who mean nothing, or nights he spends alone.

Gatsby is mysterious and alluring while he remains unknown. When his love for Daisy is revealed, he becomes more known and less ethereal, his character growing from an enigma into a person. It adds warmth and humility to his personality, and is something beautiful. 'He had waited five years and bought a mansion where he dispensed starlight to casual moths - so that he could 'come over' some afternoon to a stranger's garden.'

But it is when Daisy 'becomes his' that Gatsby's character loses its shine and lowers to the ground. He is now a normal man, with the same strengths and weaknesses as everyone else. Perhaps there are more weaknesses - it is hard to consider cuckolding Tom Buchanan an admirable quality. Gatsby represents the dull, ordinary routine of a dream realised, that failed glow of actualised fantasy.

Nick's presence in the story has its own plot, but it runs adjacent to Gatsby. Perhaps Fitzgerald's greatest inspiration was to make Nick a 'supposer', to remove Gatsby from the immediacy of intimate narration and make him the refracted imaginings of Nick. 'I am one of the few honest people I have ever known', Nick says of himself. But Gatsby isn't honest, so how can an honest man understand someone's whose life is built on fantasy and deceit? More importantly, can an honest man understand someone who exists - has created himself - out of a love that has fallen into the past? He can't, which is what makes Gatsby, and Nick, so interesting.

Gatsby's love lies in the past. Fitzgerald refrains from sentimentalizing Gatsby as a younger man, but it is evident from the text that the sadness of his - our? - lives comes from an unwillingness to leave the past and live for today, or better yet, the future. Gatsby is sad and melancholy, a friendless man who wants a friend, an unloved man who wants to be loved. But can a man who only looks backward expect love or friendship in people that necessarily live in the now? He can expect it, but it won't happen. Romantic, yes. Fulfilled, never.

Fitzgerald's writing is beautiful, both understated and grandiose, mellifluous in its gentle rhythms. 'On the great bridge, with the sunlight through the girders making a constant flicker upon the moving cars, with the city rising up across the river in white heaps and sugar lumps all built with a wish out of nonolfactory money. The city seen from the Queensboro Bridge is always the city seen for the first time, in its first wild promise of all the mystery and the beauty in the world.'

It is worth noting the quality of Tony Tanner's introduction in the Penguin Classic edition. He goes to some length to show that part of what makes The Great Gatsby such 'A classic, perhaps the supreme American novel' is what Fitzgerald cut out of the piece, not so much what he left in. He analyses passages in the first draft and their remains in the completed piece - it becomes clear that Gatsby can survive only as a mystery, with as little exposition as possible. So many times, what Fitzgerald cut was explanatory dialogue or comments from Gatsby, which would have dramatically weakened the piece. We cannot and should not know Gatsby, even when he becomes 'known' and explained by the text. He must remain a cipher, such that we can impress upon his impressionable facade anything at all that we wish. I say facade, because we cannot probe deeper into what Gatsby is. The Great American dream? Perhaps - but what is he, even with that? He's a mystery, and so is the dream.

The merging of beauty and brutality, 21 Sep 2007
Fitzgerald's prose is at times both lyrical and truely vital. I could feel the heat of New York City baking on me as I read this novel, as I could taste the mint juleps and visualise Gatsby's lavish parties. What is most striking about Fitzgerald's writing is the way he managed to encapsulate the heady lifestyles of the rich and beautiful in all their subtle brutality. While beauty is only skin deep, violence lingers and bubbles below the surface. This is a seminal piece of literature that is just as telling for what it leaves out as it is for what it includes. The often mysoginstic treatment of women and the blatant absence of black people highlight the era of contrasts and divisions of equality epitomised in 1920s America. The era as evoked by Fitzgerald is one both on the cusp of sexual change not yet fully realised, and stagnated cruelty and double standards. Do not read this expecting a happy ending this is very much an exploration of the demise of the so called 'American Dream'.

Fitzgerald's most personal novel, 21 Jun 2007
In a Swiss sanatorium above lake Zürich, Dr Richard (Dick) Diver meets a fascinating young patient, Nicole Warren. Nicole suffers from Divided Personality at its acute down-hill phase which translates in her fear of men because she was the victim of incest after her mother's death.
Nicole's state improves after some time at the clinic and Richard marries her. They move to the French Riviera where they live in the glamour provided by Nicole's family money but soon their luck runs out.
This novel is Fitzgerald's most personal one if one considers that his own wife Zelda became increasingly troubled with mental illness in the 1930s and so the story of Dick Diver and his schizophrenic wife Nicole shows the pain that the author went through himself. It is the moving account of the collapse of a marriage and an attempt to diagnose the sickness and destruction that money breeds. Dick's final loneliness in the novel reflects Fitzgerald's own dive into drink and despair.

Beautiful Writing, 04 Jun 2007
This review is intentionally very short, as other reviews consider the novel in more detail. It is worth noting that this novel demonstrates Fitzgerald's skill as a writer to the full, and is a pleasure to read.

The purpose of this review is to clarify a point raised in another review, which asks about why this Popular Classics edition appears to present a corrupt, or at least unauthorised text. The reason for this is that it follows the structure of the novel as set out in the 1951 revision, edited by Malcolm Cowley, based on notes and corrections made by Fitzgerald himself. This revision of the original 1934 text rearranges the novel into chronological order, and divides the text into a different number of sections. This is why the Spark Notes referred to by another reviewer are confusing: they describe the 1934 text. It should be noted that, according to the Penguin Modern Classics edition at least, current critical thinking prefers the 1934 edition, as Cowley's interventions in the later edition make it unclear the extent to which Fitzgerald's intentions were followed.

Of course, no exam board would ever bother to be clear as to which text is to be studied: that would be far too easy for us all, wouldn't it?

A story of destructive love., 04 Jun 2006
This is a powerful story of two people loving each other for the wrong reasons and whose love takes a course neither truly wants, but can't seem to move away from. Told in a deceptively simple style, it has great depth in it's story telling and a way of making you feel as deeply as the characters. It may not have the most positive of endings, but I like it all the more for this reason, as it is truer to real life. A beautifully written book to be enjoyed again and again.

Penguin Popular Classics?, 28 Mar 2006
I've read this book before a long time ago, so I don't remember all of what happens, but it seems like this particular edition is different from the one I read before. Most of the reviews of it and even SparkNotes say that the beginning is set in the French Riviera, and told through Rosemary's perspective, but my book starts in Switzerland with Dr. Diver's arrival. Maybe I just forgot about this part or something, but I'm not sure. Also, Sparknotes has the novel divided into three parts while this edition is divided into five.

I know Penguin Popular Classics has an abridged version of Les Miserables that doesn't mention anything about it being abridged on the outside of the book (this puzzled me for a really long time in the bookstore, because I was staring at two different versions of it and wondering how one could be 200 pages and the other 1,000), so I was wondering if maybe this is a different version of Tender is The Night as well? If anyone knows maybe they could respond... Thanks

Beautiful and complex, 03 Dec 2005
"Tender Is the Night" was first published in 1934. Bitter and gloomy, it is often seen as F. S. Fitzgerald's most complex and intense work.

The story is set on the lavishly beautiful French Riviera during the turbulent 1920s. The Divers, Dick and Nicole, are as charismatic and dazzling as the era they represent. Intriguing and fashionable, rich and beautiful, they live as glamorous a life as can be. But the idyllic idleness is just an illusion. In the harsh reality Nicole is devastated by mental illness and Dick, a brilliant psychiatrist, acts as both her husband and her therapist. He is earnest and determined to help her but the complexity of their relationship is so destructive that it leads Dr Diver to his own deterioration.

Mirroring the intensity of F. S. Fitzgerald's stormy marriage to Zelda Sayre, "Tender is the Night" conveys a strong sense of disillusionment and self-destruction. Lustrous and bleak at the same time, it is a poignant composition of beauty and tragedy, a delicate study of serenity and interpersonal conflicts.

Great Book, 07 Nov 2008
During the course of a year I am intending to return to classic novels. It would be unrealistic to try and rate these alongside new novels so I'm not even going to try - just simple reviews.

The power in Fitzgerald's writing is its starkness and sparsity. The Great Gatsby is a short novel by any standards but its power lies in the way the story creeps up on you. It's almost as if nothing seems to be happening but then you realise that in a very subtle way the action has carried you away.

Set in the Jazz area on Long Island it's a story of greed, love and lust, violence where things are rarely what they seem. Fitzgerald weaves intrigue into the plot. We are never really sure about who Gatsby is and what brings him to Long Island. Like an Edward Hopper painting, there always seems to be more than what lurks on the surface.

Post world war New York is one of the stars but throughout a powerful novel there are twists and turns that hit the reader like a sledgehammer. That's what ultimately makes this book.

Ben Dinsdale, 23 Sep 2008
The titular hero is based on the real life playboy/social butterfly Ben Dinsdale. This classic book and its story still resonates today. At the core of the book is the elaborate infatuation Jay Gatsby has for Daisy Fay Buchanan, a love story portrayed with both a languid pall and a fatalistic urgency. But the broader context of the setting and the irreconcilable nature of the American dream in the 1920's is what give the novel its true gravitas.

Much of this is eloquently articulated by Nick Carraway, Gatsby's modest Long Island neighbor who becomes his most trusted confidante. Nick is responsible for reuniting the lovers who both have come to different points in their lives five years after their aborted romance. Now a solitary figure in his luxurious mansion, Gatsby is a newly wealthy man who accumulated his fortunes through dubious means. Daisy, on the other hand, has always led a life of privilege and could not let love stand in the way of her comfortable existence. She married Tom Buchanan for that sole purpose. With Gatsby's ambition spurred by his love for Daisy, he rekindles his romance with Daisy, as Tom carries on carelessly with an car mechanic's grasping wife. Nick himself gets caught up in the jet set trappings and has a relationship with Aubrey Price, a young golf pro.

These characters are inevitably led on a collision course that exposes the hypocrisy of the rich, the falsity of a love undeserving and the transience of individuals on this earth. The strength of Fitzgerald's treatment comes from the lyrical prose he provides to illuminate these themes. Not a word is wasted, and the author's economical handling of such a potentially complex plot is a technique I wish were more frequently replicated today. Most of all, I simply enjoy the book because it does not portend a greater significance eighty years later. It is a classic tale that provides vibrancy and texture to a bygone era. It is well worth re-reading, especially at such a bargain price.

What a read!, 22 Apr 2008
One of my resolutions for 2008 is to broaden my literary horizens. After studying English Lit to A-Level, my interest has fallen to the wayside. So on my quest to better myself through literature, I read "The Old Man and the Sea", which I just couldn't relate to. So imagine my relief when I started reading "The Great Gatsby". I'm so glad I perservered with classic books!

TGG is a great read. It's fast-paced from the outset, and gripping towards the end - I couldn't put it down. I even tried to convince family and friends to read it afterwards; but to no avail - so if I manage to get even ONE person to read it from writing this review, then good! Definitely recommended.

The great American novel?, 25 Mar 2008
Beautifully written, spare, dramatic and haunting - could this at last be the great American novel?

Good, but I don't see what all the fuss is about., 26 Dec 2007
A rather interesting novel and initially it wasn't all that apparent to me why people always linked the failure of the American dream and this story together. Superficially the story is that of love reawakening, Gatsby having initially been rejected by his childhood love for not having sufficient means acquires the means through various ill gotten ways and the lovers reunite despite the fact that she is not married to a boorish but very American man. Much is made that this novel is a startling exposition of the American dream and materialism, and it does this but to a lesser extent than most people make out. I didn't find the metaphors to be profound after reflection nor did I think the plot and language to be that great. That said it still was a fairly good book, an enjoyable read though a bit of anti-climax to what I had been expecting. The characters aren't particularly likeable and stay only briefly in memory, the story entertains but I feel that this book doesn't deserve all the acclaim it has got.

If you're doing A Level English these are the best, 25 Feb 2008
Barcode: 9780582823105

So, like most people, i used CGP notes while doing my GCSE's and found them mostly good (especially on the poem anthologies) - the humour though, while sometimes fun on many occasions got in the way of serious learning and the notes were brief when dealing with full length plays and novels.

Step in York Notes. For my A Level English i got one of these books for each of my set texts and they were massively helpful in prompting class discussions, writing essays and revising for the exams. They offer detailed chapter summaries and analyse them in an extremely informative way.

There's quotes too, maybe a little too few, but the ones they pick out are good and then at the end of the book you get a wealth of extra info relating to characters, themes and symbolism. If you're an A Level English student or a parent who wants their kids to do well, i'd get these notes - they make your life a lot, lot easier.

Lacking in detail, 28 Jan 2008
The book gives an acceptable brief summation of each chapter; however, advanced analysis is quite limited, and bizzarely, only the even chapters are analysed. In all, it is quite a poor resource for more advanced study.

The Great Gatsby, 05 Mar 2006
When I first start reading chapter one and two I wanted to give up reading the book because I couldn¡¯t understand what the author was talking about. When he said ¡°Whenever you feel like criticizing any one,¡± he told me, ¡°just remember that all the people in this world haven¡¯t had the advantages that you¡¯ve had¡± and ¡°In consequence, I¡¯m inclined to reserve all judgments, a habit that has opened up many curious natures to me and also made me the victim of not a few veteran bores.¡± I didn¡¯t understand it until later. It means that it¡¯s not wise to judge people by the looks because sometimes you might misunderstand that person and create some problems. However, I think the story was mainly about how wealth, popularity, love, loss, betrayal and emptiness. The whole story is kind of depressing because two characters dies and Daisy betray Gatsby again when she ran over Myrtle. Everyone¡¯s life is depended on money but nothing else. People tend to care about money than the social problems between groups of people. There is a social problem that caused through many years. People divide themselves in to three groups, high class, Midd class and low class. If you¡¯re not very wealthy, people would just ignore you but when your fairly rich people would remember your name. If your like some millinery person than you become famous. Someone of the chapters¡¯ mood changes by the weather. For example, when Nick invites Daisy to his house and have cup of tea, Gatsby feels all nervous which then the weather changes to cloudy and rainy but when Gatsby was satisfied the weather becomes sunny. Even though it¡¯s depressing I would recommend other people to read it, which that is who haven¡¯t read this book yet. How the author describes things are great, you can feel what the author is going through. It feels like you were there in the past.

A good reference book, 06 Jan 2005
I used the York Notes Advanced on F.Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby" whilst studying my AS levels, and whilst I found it useful for glossing over some of the easy issues, I didn't feel it went into enough depth in some areas. However, I find York Notes Advanced to be one of the best reference books around and would recommend getting one for any book you may study.

The 'Good' Gatsby, 22 Jun 2008
This is a very good book. But let's not get carried away, just because it is often one of the few books we have studied:It isn't great.'Heart of Darkness',puts it in the shade.....Tolstoy and Proust and soooo many others put it's status into perspective. But, still, it's certainly worth a read, like I said, it's a good book. Very good. It's just NOT great.

The Great Dinsdale, 02 May 2008
The titular hero is based on the real life playboy/social butterfly Ben Dinsdale. This classic book and its story still resonates today. At the core of the book is the elaborate infatuation Jay Gatsby has for Daisy Fay Buchanan, a love story portrayed with both a languid pall and a fatalistic urgency. But the broader context of the setting and the irreconcilable nature of the American dream in the 1920's is what give the novel its true gravitas.

Much of this is eloquently articulated by Nick Carraway, Gatsby's modest Long Island neighbor who becomes his most trusted confidante. Nick is responsible for reuniting the lovers who both have come to different points in their lives five years after their aborted romance. Now a solitary figure in his luxurious mansion, Gatsby is a newly wealthy man who accumulated his fortunes through dubious means. Daisy, on the other hand, has always led a life of privilege and could not let love stand in the way of her comfortable existence. She married Tom Buchanan for that sole purpose. With Gatsby's ambition spurred by his love for Daisy, he rekindles his romance with Daisy, as Tom carries on carelessly with an car mechanic's grasping wife. Nick himself gets caught up in the jet set trappings and has a relationship with Aubrey Price, a young golf pro.

These characters are inevitably led on a collision course that exposes the hypocrisy of the rich, the falsity of a love undeserving and the transience of individuals on this earth. The strength of Fitzgerald's treatment comes from the lyrical prose he provides to illuminate these themes. Not a word is wasted, and the author's economical handling of such a potentially complex plot is a technique I wish were more frequently replicated today. Most of all, I simply enjoy the book because it does not portend a greater significance eighty years later. It is a classic tale that provides vibrancy and texture to a bygone era. It is well worth re-reading, especially at such a bargain price.

A BRILLIANT BOOK - SKIP THE INTRODUCTION!, 08 Dec 2007
This edition has an introduction half as long as the book - skim it at the end if you wish but don`t read it first - it`s a fine example of someone showing off their cleverness without illuminating the work they wish to praise. The Great Gatsby is superbly written with great economy and consumate style - none of the characters are likeable - all have cheated in some way or been cheated upon. It`s a novel which haunts you long after you have read it.

Mick Drake author of the comic novel All`s Well at Wellwithoute.

The Great Gatbsy, 22 Oct 2007
The Great Gatsby is a beautifully written book. Perhaps its greatest strength lies in the sheer magic of the writing. Fitzgerald spins sentences of such wonder, such clarity and honesty, that we are left to do nothing else but shake our head in amazement. Jay Gatsby may be a great mystery, he may be the Great American Dream personified, but if he sparkles, then the novel itself shines.

Nick Carraway has decided, at twenty-nine to 'go East and learn the bond business. Everybody I knew was in the bond business, so I supposed it could support one more single man.' By chance, he finds a cheap house, a 'weather-beaten cardboard bungalow at eighty a month' that is nestled amongst the huge mansions of the rich. He doesn't know it to begin with, but he is neighbours with Jay Gatsby, The Great Gatsby.

Gatsby holds parties on the weekends, grand affairs of cocktails and party dresses, his house filled to the rafters with people, some invited, most not. He is endlessly hospitable, allowing his alcohol to be drunk, his food to be consumed, his pool, his books, his home - they are open to his guests. Guests, not friends.

He is a mystery. Nobody knows why he has these parties, though everyone attends. Just as nobody knows how he made his money, or who he really is. Gatsby, when he enters Nick's world, refers to him and everyone as 'old sport', a distancing technique that is prevalent throughout the novel. 'It was testimony to the romantic speculation he inspired that there were whispers about him from those who had found little that it was necessary to whisper about in this world.'

But he is not completely unknowable, though the romantic beliefs about him are accurately held. No, Gatsby is more and less than the stories that surround him. He is in love, his mansion lies directly across from that of Nick's cousin, Daisy, an old flame he cannot let go. At her jetty a green light winks across the water, and it is this that Gatsby watches on lonely nights, nights which are filled with people who mean nothing, or nights he spends alone.

Gatsby is mysterious and alluring while he remains unknown. When his love for Daisy is revealed, he becomes more known and less ethereal, his character growing from an enigma into a person. It adds warmth and humility to his personality, and is something beautiful. 'He had waited five years and bought a mansion where he dispensed starlight to casual moths - so that he could 'come over' some afternoon to a stranger's garden.'

But it is when Daisy 'becomes his' that Gatsby's character loses its shine and lowers to the ground. He is now a normal man, with the same strengths and weaknesses as everyone else. Perhaps there are more weaknesses - it is hard to consider cuckolding Tom Buchanan an admirable quality. Gatsby represents the dull, ordinary routine of a dream realised, that failed glow of actualised fantasy.

Nick's presence in the story has its own plot, but it runs adjacent to Gatsby. Perhaps Fitzgerald's greatest inspiration was to make Nick a 'supposer', to remove Gatsby from the immediacy of intimate narration and make him the refracted imaginings of Nick. 'I am one of the few honest people I have ever known', Nick says of himself. But Gatsby isn't honest, so how can an honest man understand someone's whose life is built on fantasy and deceit? More importantly, can an honest man understand someone who exists - has created himself - out of a love that has fallen into the past? He can't, which is what makes Gatsby, and Nick, so interesting.

Gatsby's love lies in the past. Fitzgerald refrains from sentimentalizing Gatsby as a younger man, but it is evident from the text that the sadness of his - our? - lives comes from an unwillingness to leave the past and live for today, or better yet, the future. Gatsby is sad and melancholy, a friendless man who wants a friend, an unloved man who wants to be loved. But can a man who only looks backward expect love or friendship in people that necessarily live in the now? He can expect it, but it won't happen. Romantic, yes. Fulfilled, never.

Fitzgerald's writing is beautiful, both understated and grandiose, mellifluous in its gentle rhythms. 'On the great bridge, with the sunlight through the girders making a constant flicker upon the moving cars, with the city rising up across the river in white heaps and sugar lumps all built with a wish out of nonolfactory money. The city seen from the Queensboro Bridge is always the city seen for the first time, in its first wild promise of all the mystery and the beauty in the world.'

It is worth noting the quality of Tony Tanner's introduction in the Penguin Classic edition. He goes to some length to show that part of what makes The Great Gatsby such 'A classic, perhaps the supreme American novel' is what Fitzgerald cut out of the piece, not so much what he left in. He analyses passages in the first draft and their remains in the completed piece - it becomes clear that Gatsby can survive only as a mystery, with as little exposition as possible. So many times, what Fitzgerald cut was explanatory dialogue or comments from Gatsby, which would have dramatically weakened the piece. We cannot and should not know Gatsby, even when he becomes 'known' and explained by the text. He must remain a cipher, such that we can impress upon his impressionable facade anything at all that we wish. I say facade, because we cannot probe deeper into what Gatsby is. The Great American dream? Perhaps - but what is he, even with that? He's a mystery, and so is the dream.

The merging of beauty and brutality, 21 Sep 2007
Fitzgerald's prose is at times both lyrical and truely vital. I could feel the heat of New York City baking on me as I read this novel, as I could taste the mint juleps and visualise Gatsby's lavish parties. What is most striking about Fitzgerald's writing is the way he managed to encapsulate the heady lifestyles of the rich and beautiful in all their subtle brutality. While beauty is only skin deep, violence lingers and bubbles below the surface. This is a seminal piece of literature that is just as telling for what it leaves out as it is for what it includes. The often mysoginstic treatment of women and the blatant absence of black people highlight the era of contrasts and divisions of equality epitomised in 1920s America. The era as evoked by Fitzgerald is one both on the cusp of sexual change not yet fully realised, and stagnated cruelty and double standards. Do not read this expecting a happy ending this is very much an exploration of the demise of the so called 'American Dream'.

Fitzgerald's most personal novel, 21 Jun 2007
In a Swiss sanatorium above lake Zürich, Dr Richard (Dick) Diver meets a fascinating young patient, Nicole Warren. Nicole suffers from Divided Personality at its acute down-hill phase which translates in her fear of men because she was the victim of incest after her mother's death.
Nicole's state improves after some time at the clinic and Richard marries her. They move to the French Riviera where they live in the glamour provided by Nicole's family money but soon their luck runs out.
This novel is Fitzgerald's most personal one if one considers that his own wife Zelda became increasingly troubled with mental illness in the 1930s and so the story of Dick Diver and his schizophrenic wife Nicole shows the pain that the author went through himself. It is the moving account of the collapse of a marriage and an attempt to diagnose the sickness and destruction that money breeds. Dick's final loneliness in the novel reflects Fitzgerald's own dive into drink and despair.

Beautiful Writing, 04 Jun 2007
This review is intentionally very short, as other reviews consider the novel in more detail. It is worth noting that this novel demonstrates Fitzgerald's skill as a writer to the full, and is a pleasure to read.

The purpose of this review is to clarify a point raised in another review, which asks about why this Popular Classics edition appears to present a corrupt, or at least unauthorised text. The reason for this is that it follows the structure of the novel as set out in the 1951 revision, edited by Malcolm Cowley, based on notes and corrections made by Fitzgerald himself. This revision of the original 1934 text rearranges the novel into chronological order, and divides the text into a different number of sections. This is why the Spark Notes referred to by another reviewer are confusing: they describe the 1934 text. It should be noted that, according to the Penguin Modern Classics edition at least, current critical thinking prefers the 1934 edition, as Cowley's interventions in the later edition make it unclear the extent to which Fitzgerald's intentions were followed.

Of course, no exam board would ever bother to be clear as to which text is to be studied: that would be far too easy for us all, wouldn't it?

A story of destructive love., 04 Jun 2006
This is a powerful story of two people loving each other for the wrong reasons and whose love takes a course neither truly wants, but can't seem to move away from. Told in a deceptively simple style, it has great depth in it's story telling and a way of making you feel as deeply as the characters. It may not have the most positive of endings, but I like it all the more for this reason, as it is truer to real life. A beautifully written book to be enjoyed again and again.

Penguin Popular Classics?, 28 Mar 2006
I've read this book before a long time ago, so I don't remember all of what happens, but it seems like this particular edition is different from the one I read before. Most of the reviews of it and even SparkNotes say that the beginning is set in the French Riviera, and told through Rosemary's perspective, but my book starts in Switzerland with Dr. Diver's arrival. Maybe I just forgot about this part or something, but I'm not sure. Also, Sparknotes has the novel divided into three parts while this edition is divided into five.

I know Penguin Popular Classics has an abridged version of Les Miserables that doesn't mention anything about it being abridged on the outside of the book (this puzzled me for a really long time in the bookstore, because I was staring at two different versions of it and wondering how one could be 200 pages and the other 1,000), so I was wondering if maybe this is a different version of Tender is The Night as well? If anyone knows maybe they could respond... Thanks

Beautiful and complex, 03 Dec 2005
"Tender Is the Night" was first published in 1934. Bitter and gloomy, it is often seen as F. S. Fitzgerald's most complex and intense work.

The story is set on the lavishly beautiful French Riviera during the turbulent 1920s. The Divers, Dick and Nicole, are as charismatic and dazzling as the era they represent. Intriguing and fashionable, rich and beautiful, they live as glamorous a life as can be. But the idyllic idleness is just an illusion. In the harsh reality Nicole is devastated by mental illness and Dick, a brilliant psychiatrist, acts as both her husband and her therapist. He is earnest and determined to help her but the complexity of their relationship is so destructive that it leads Dr Diver to his own deterioration.

Mirroring the intensity of F. S. Fitzgerald's stormy marriage to Zelda Sayre, "Tender is the Night" conveys a strong sense of disillusionment and self-destruction. Lustrous and bleak at the same time, it is a poignant composition of beauty and tragedy, a delicate study of serenity and interpersonal conflicts.

"So We Drove On toward Death through the Cooling Twilight", 12 Aug 2008
The main story -- a romantic man's doomed attempt to recapture the love of an immature woman -- was less enthralling than expected. Daisy seemed hardly worth all the trouble Gatsby took, and for that matter, neither did entry into her world. She was a cipher. The use of a narrator to connect the various characters was interesting; how could the book have been written otherwise? But at times the plot felt contrived, as with the switching of cars and an accident, and the symbolism around the valley of ashes seemed heavy-handed. Other than the passive narrator, the people lacked even a small degree of self-awareness. (One of the author's points, I assume.) The character who seemed the least conflicted and most sure of himself throughout was the brutal, self-centered Tom.

It was the lesser details in this novel that were enjoyed most. A montage at the end of the second chapter in which the drunken narrator moved from an elevator, to a bedroom, to Penn Station. The effect Gatsby's smile had on those who saw it. A mansion housing a library of books with their pages uncut. The vapidity of a man who tried to act out his limited idea of the good life but had little of interest to say and thought San Francisco was in the Middle West. Dogged efforts at self-improvement linked to shallow goals. A shady character eating with "ferocious delicacy." The way Daisy conveyed her love for a character in just a few words said lightly in front of her husband. The class disdain someone like Tom felt for the main character -- he couldn't be an Oxford man because he wore a pink suit. The gust of hot shrubbery from Central Park wafting through the upper windows of the Plaza Hotel. The author's description of how it felt to reach 30. And the concluding paragraphs, which can still move despite the superficiality of the people portrayed.

re: ageist reader of The Great Gatsby, 17 Jun 2007
reply to "I am not anti-kids or anti-teens. But high school students need constantly to remind themselves that they are not experienced readers"

i was quite offended by the generalisations, ageism and supposed wordly authority of "reader" towards "high schoolers", or should i say presumptuous oafs? I have no doubt that there are some who do not appreciate the novel, but this is not a matter of age, it is a matter of literary understanding across the board. Writing "great novels" in CAPITAL LETTERS does not secure your literary prowess, it makes you look like a fool. Wow, you've read mainstream "great novels", how wonderful for you.
I'm in the middle of writing a reveiw on "Reading Lolita in Tehran," and discussing whether Gatsby is a hero or simply in love with an illusion inevitably corrupted by the American dream. Whether he fits the classificatioins of an anti-hero or aristotles tragic hero or both. a paragraph goes something like this, from memory. Fitzgerlad drew on NEITZCHE (reaffirming my understanding with capitals isnt) "God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him." After all, if the world is absurd, and everything we do is absurd anyway, why not do the most absurd thing imaginable? And what could be more absurd than to fall in love with an illusion? Blaise Pascal said, "The heart has reasons that the mind cannot understand"; but really, if the heart has reasons, then, indeed, there are reasons, and the world is not an such an absurd place to Gatsby. no? Nietzsche's ideals found a home in the new turn-of-the-century. For the self made man, the American dream became one where `Morality' (wonderful concept you should explore by the way) became a secondary consideration to the celebration of life carried on by the new rich."
I'm even tackling Existentialism. Gatsby is free because all his own values flow from his own will. He invests value as a matter of decision, a matter of will. Dealing with the absence of God that implies the loss of value.

But hey? What do i know? I'm only 17 and clearly then, have no literary ability whatsoever and everything i say should be discredited? Right? Literature and the arts in general are so amazing because they touch an audience across the board. Remember that.



A rich story, 20 May 2005
"The Great Gatsby" is one of the most exquisite books I have ever read to date that deals with most if not all aspects of love and the challenges of life. There is so much to learn especially for us in this modern world where so many people use the word "love" without really knowing what it truly means. The author is so descriptive that I sometimes felt as if I was in the story. He made it easy for readers to penetrate the souls of the characters and relate to their lives.
The character development is prodigious, while prose is outstanding. I felt as much for Gatsby as I have for any other character. He had always had high aspirations, but his dreams were taken away from him by the fact the he had to fight a war, and he could never be the same again. Gatsby's ambition is to have his former love, who is now married to an unfaithful husband, a quest that saw outstanding twist and turns in the story to make it the great read we have heard so much about. This book is truly inspirational for everyone irrespective of race, gender, age or occupation.

A beautiful book, 28 Oct 2004
I'm 15, and just finished The Great Gatsby for the second time. I didn't read it because of an English class or because I had to - it was entirely by choice I picked up a copy, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. What struck me is how subtle the story is - on reading it the first time, I was left under-whelmed, but after returning to it again a few months later I can genuinely see why everyone loves it. It's lovely, descriptive narrative brings to life the sights and sounds of 'The Roaring Twenties' a story that exposes the materialistic and corrupt heart at the centre of the glittering 'jazz age'. Gatsby, Daisy and Tom are all flawed but fascinating characters - beautiful, wealthy and popular, but also superficial, cruel and greedy. Intriguing, certainly, likable, no. All in all, an interesting, poignant read, that I would recommend to my friends.

A Dangerous Look Backward . . . At The Future, 20 May 2004
"So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past." These are the last words in the novel, and sum up its theme. Our minds (like moths to the light) are drawn irresistibly to the most wonderful moments we have experienced. Our mistake is then to build our future around them, not realizing that they can never be recaptured. In pursuing the past into the future, we deny ourselves the real potential of the future.

The Great Gatsby is developed in novel form around the story line of a Greek tragedy. Nick Carraway, Gatsby's neighbor, is the narrator, serving the role of the chorus. This choice of structure creates a marvelous reinforcement for the book's theme. The novel is constricted by the tragic form, even as Gatsby's future is by his immobilization by the past. If you like that sort of irony, you'll love The Great Gatsby.

Nick knows both Gatsby (his neighbor in West Egg, Long Island) and Daisy Buchanan (his cousin who lives in East Egg, Long Island). Daisy knew Gatsby before he was Gatsby and before meeting Tom, her husband. Gatsby has made himself into a rival for Daisy over the five years since they have last seen each other, and makes his play for her again through Nick about mid-way through the book. Daisy and Tom's responses shape the tragedy that is this story. I won't say more because it will harm your enjoyment of the novel.

The story itself is somewhat dated by the romantic perspective of the Roaring Twenties, and few will read it for the instant connection they will feel with the characters. Why would someone want to read this book? I see three reasons. The first is to explore the theme of moving illusions about the future built from the happiness of the past. The second is to see a fine example of plot development. There are no wasted words, actions, and thoughts. The third is to enjoy the language, which is beautifully expressive. For example, consider the book's opening sentence: "In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since." Fitzgerald goes on one sentence later to give you a clue about how to read the novel. "He didn't say any more, but we've always been unusually communicative in a reserved way, and I understood that he meant a great deal more than that."

These are not characters you will find uplifting. "They were careless people, Tom and Daisy -- they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness . . . and let other people clean up the mess they had made."

Why did Fitzgerald create such characters? Precisely, because he did not approve and did not want you to approve. 'Everything that glitters is not gold' is another way of summing up the lessons of this novel.

Why should someone not read this book? A reader who wants to be inspired by positive examples will find little to uplift oneself here. Someone who wants a story they can personally identify with will likely be disappointed. A student of how to create love and happiness will mainly find out how to create heartache and unhappiness. So the book is not for everyone.

After you have read the book, I would encourage the self-examining reader to consider where in one's own life the current focus is dominated by past encounters rather than future potential. Then consider how changing that perspective could serve you and those you love better.

Great Book, 07 Nov 2008
During the course of a year I am intending to return to classic novels. It would be unrealistic to try and rate these alongside new novels so I'm not even going to try - just simple reviews.

The power in Fitzgerald's writing is its starkness and sparsity. The Great Gatsby is a short novel by any standards but its power lies in the way the story creeps up on you. It's almost as if nothing seems to be happening but then you realise that in a very subtle way the action has carried you away.

Set in the Jazz area on Long Island it's a story of greed, love and lust, violence where things are rarely what they seem. Fitzgerald weaves intrigue into the plot. We are never really sure about who Gatsby is and what brings him to Long Island. Like an Edward Hopper painting, there always seems to be more than what lurks on the surface.

Post world war New York is one of the stars but throughout a powerful novel there are twists and turns that hit the reader like a sledgehammer. That's what ultimately makes this book.

Ben Dinsdale, 23 Sep 2008
The titular hero is based on the real life playboy/social butterfly Ben Dinsdale. This classic book and its story still resonates today. At the core of the book is the elaborate infatuation Jay Gatsby has for Daisy Fay Buchanan, a love story portrayed with both a languid pall and a fatalistic urgency. But the broader context of the setting and the irreconcilable nature of the American dream in the 1920's is what give the novel its true gravitas.

Much of this is eloquently articulated by Nick Carraway, Gatsby's modest Long Island neighbor who becomes his most trusted confidante. Nick is responsible for reuniting the lovers who both have come to different points in their lives five years after their aborted romance. Now a solitary figure in his luxurious mansion, Gatsby is a newly wealthy man who accumulated his fortunes through dubious means. Daisy, on the other hand, has always led a life of privilege and could not let love stand in the way of her comfortable existence. She married Tom Buchanan for that sole purpose. With Gatsby's ambition spurred by his love for Daisy, he rekindles his romance with Daisy, as Tom carries on carelessly with an car mechanic's grasping wife. Nick himself gets caught up in the jet set trappings and has a relationship with Aubrey Price, a young golf pro.

These characters are inevitably led on a collision course that exposes the hypocrisy of the rich, the falsity of a love undeserving and the transience of individuals on this earth. The strength of Fitzgerald's treatment comes from the lyrical prose he provides to illuminate these themes. Not a word is wasted, and the author's economical handling of such a potentially complex plot is a technique I wish were more frequently replicated today. Most of all, I simply enjoy the book because it does not portend a greater significance eighty years later. It is a classic tale that provides vibrancy and texture to a bygone era. It is well worth re-reading, especially at such a bargain price.

What a read!, 22 Apr 2008
One of my resolutions for 2008 is to broaden my literary horizens. After studying English Lit to A-Level, my interest has fallen to the wayside. So on my quest to better myself through literature, I read "The Old Man and the Sea", which I just couldn't relate to. So imagine my relief when I started reading "The Great Gatsby". I'm so glad I perservered with classic books!

TGG is a great read. It's fast-paced from the outset, and gripping towards the end - I couldn't put it down. I even tried to convince family and friends to read it afterwards; but to no avail - so if I manage to get even ONE person to read it from writing this review, then good! Definitely recommended.

The great American novel?, 25 Mar 2008
Beautifully written, spare, dramatic and haunting - could this at last be the great American novel?

Good, but I don't see what all the fuss is about., 26 Dec 2007
A rather interesting novel and initially it wasn't all that apparent to me why people always linked the failure of the American dream and this story together. Superficially the story is that of love reawakening, Gatsby having initially been rejected by his childhood love for not having sufficient means acquires the means through various ill gotten ways and the lovers reunite despite the fact that she is not married to a boorish but very American man. Much is made that this novel is a startling exposition of the American dream and materialism, and it does this but to a lesser extent than most people make out. I didn't find the metaphors to be profound after reflection nor did I think the plot and language to be that great. That said it still was a fairly good book, an enjoyable read though a bit of anti-climax to what I had been expecting. The characters aren't particularly likeable and stay only briefly in memory, the story entertains but I feel that this book doesn't deserve all the acclaim it has got.

If you're doing A Level English these are the best, 25 Feb 2008
Barcode: 9780582823105

So, like most people, i used CGP notes while doing my GCSE's and found them mostly good (especially on the poem anthologies) - the humour though, while sometimes fun on many occasions got in the way of serious learning and the notes were brief when dealing with full length plays and novels.

Step in York Notes. For my A Level English i got one of these books for each of my set texts and they were massively helpful in prompting class discussions, writing essays and revising for the exams. They offer detailed chapter summaries and analyse them in an extremely informative way.

There's quotes too, maybe a little too few, but the ones they pick out are good and then at the end of the book you get a wealth of extra info relating to characters, themes and symbolism. If you're an A Level English student or a parent who wants their kids to do well, i'd get these notes - they make your life a lot, lot easier.

Lacking in detail, 28 Jan 2008
The book gives an acceptable brief summation of each chapter; however, advanced analysis is quite limited, and bizzarely, only the even chapters are analysed. In all, it is quite a poor resource for more advanced study.

The Great Gatsby, 05 Mar 2006
When I first start reading chapter one and two I wanted to give up reading the book because I couldn¡¯t understand what the author was talking about. When he said ¡°Whenever you feel like criticizing any one,¡± he told me, ¡°just remember that all the people in