Book review: The Great Gatsby (Book by: F. Scott Fitzgerald)

Ethan Chan ☺

Book review: The Great Gatsby

Book by: F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Great Gatsby is a fictional tale of love, lust, and jealousy. The story takes place in Long Island. It is the 1920s, and “gin was the national drink and sex the national obsession”. Narrated by Nick Carraway, it goes into the details of the love of Daisy and Gatsby. Daisy, however, is reluctantly wed to Tom, because at the moment when she had to make the choice, Gatsby was in a financial slump. However, Daisy knew she loved Gatsby, and the same went for Gatsby.

The theme of this book is obviously love. When characters love one another, sometimes jealousy and anger occur. In this case, Daisy had loved Gatsby, and Tom was very mad at Gatsby. There are many confusing moments in this book when you read it, because it may not be immediately obvious. I did not realize who Nick had loved until one of the two had said “I love you”. It's really hard to understand up to mid-way, but from there on it's a bit easier.

The main characters in this book have quite a bit of depth. It probably could have been a bit better, but I think that it's satisfactory. However, I think that some of the other characters could have been given a bit more description. In one part, you see a criminal who crashed his car into a wall. However, this had nothing to do with the story, and could have been left out entirely. In fact, we never see this man again. I feel that there were sometimes too many characters, and it was not necessary to have so many. The author should have left out some characters, using the extra space to flesh out the main characters more.

This book's writing style is really hard to understand sometimes. Sometimes I cannot tell what the author is trying to convey. It all gets confusing, since you really have to pay attention to what happens in the story in order to actually understand it. I was half asleep when I was reading one part, and I learned the consequences when I did not understand most of the next part. It makes it so you almost have to be paying attention at all times when you read it.

The wording in this book is absolutely astounding. It amazes me that the author barely ever uses the same word in each paragraph. I don't think that he has ever used the same adjective in this book more than ten times. I would think that this book is a great way to find out new words. This may be an exaggeration, but I think it would be impossible to read this without a dictionary.

However, I have yet to get to the most important part. I really mean this when I say this: only hardcore readers should read this. It may sound ridiculous, but it's really hard to keep up with the story. You really have to have read a lot of books to understand this one. Sometimes it switches scenes without warning, and I am left wondering what happened. You can never be forgetful, and have to keep track of the story.

To conclude, this book is okay. I think that the story was pretty interesting, but sometimes it gets boring reading it, since you don't know whats going on. It's hard to keep track of what's going on, but it all makes sense at the end. The ending was also very tragic, and it turns for the worse for Gatsby. So as a result, I recommend it for only those who can take sad endings, and those who are hardcore readers. Readers 18+ will probably enjoy it more than younger readers. It's simply too much confusion for me to bear, so I can only give it 2.5/5. Cold love is really the best way to describe this book.

-Ethan ★★½

Book review: Fahrenheit 451 (By: Ray Bradbury)

Ethan Chan ☺

Book review: Fahrenheit 451

By: Ray Bradbury

This book, Fahrenheit 541, is a very interesting book indeed. It's likely that you won't find another gem like this. The setting is Earth, in the distant (or maybe not-so-distant) future. In the beginning, Montag (the main character) is a fireman. But here's the big twist: firemen START fires, instead of putting them out! In a whacked up world like this, technology rules; books are unneeded. Thus, the firemen now put fire to those books which everyone hates. Absolutely no one questions this order, because they are happy with this life. Until... a young girl named Clarisse steps in and warps Montag's mind. The author, Ray Bradbury, sure had a deep train of thought when he was designing these intriguing characters. Clarisse was always the odd one, questioning things around her. This influences Montag to do things with his life, not just burn books all day. Montag ponders this, and it troubles him deeply. It's not what he's told to do with his life, it's what he wants to do.

There are a lot of confusing terms here and there, so I would recommend reading this book with a dictionary close at hand. The characters have unique personalities too. Clarisse, who I mentioned earlier, is the girl that just doesn't fit in. She questions society and all that comes with it. Montag, however, is the man opposite of the scale. He's the one that fits perfectly in, until the two meet, talk, and discuss a time when books were read, firemen stopped fires, and knowledge existed. In this bleak future, Montag is very surprised at this shocking past. However, in all exciting stories, there is at least one bad egg. That bad egg, intriguingly, is a fellow fireman. He is the bad guy, who just hates books. However, at first glance, he doesn't seem bad. That, my friends, will change very soon. His name is Captain Beatty. At first, he's just a poker playing fireman. However, he notices Montag and what he's doing. You'll have to read to find out what happens.

The theme of this story: books. Books, books, and more books. However, books are very scarce in Montag's world, and if one is found reading them, they will receive a heavy, undesirable punishment: their houses being burned down. This twisted world revolves around the way of the flame. There is no knowledge, no books, only fire. It is once said in the book: “It's perpetual motion; the thing man wanted to invent but never did. Or almost perpetual motion. If you let it go on, it'd burn our lifetimes out ... It's real beauty is that it destroys responsibility and consequences. A problem gets too burdensome, then into the furnace with it.” That's what firemen do. They lift the “burden” of books off of the people's backs. However, it's all a lie. People don't even know how important books are.

This book is literature at it's best. The writing style is so immersive and descriptive; it tells of every little part of the picture. You can almost see the scenery, feel the emotions hopping out of the book. “There must have been a billion leaves on the land; he waded in them, a dry river smelling of hot cloves and warm dust.” It's almost like you are Montag, watching the world get destroyed bit by bit. It's so descriptive, it's like a movie that you control. The author provides a black and white world, you provide color. In this way, each reading is different, but the same.

In conclusion, this is a great book to read. It's no big series, nor it is well known, but as I said before, it's one of a kind. The plot is highly original; a big plus for any book. After all, how many books are about burning books? This book probably ranks up on my top ten. I've read a lot of books before, but this one keeps me wanting more. It has been one of the more interesting titles in the library. It's definitely a good read for anyone, but it's more enjoyable from ages 11+. I give this book a 5/5, for keeping my eyes glued to the book till the very end. -Ethan ★★★★★