The Great Gatsby - BoundCovers

No cover — F. Scott Fitzgerald: The Great Gatsby (Paperback, 1978, Bantam Books)

mass market paperback, 186 pages

English language

Published March 19, 1978 by Bantam Books.

(1 review)

He was in love with the Golden Girl of a gilded era. He was Jay Gatsby, a self-made millionaire who gave wild and lavish parties attended by strangers. "In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars." She was Daisy Buchanan, a young rich beauty with bright eyes and a passionate mouth. "High in a white palace, the kings daughter, the golden girl. Even her voice was full of money." A great novel of a glittering era, of amazing richness and scope, this is the most dazzling fiction we possess of the jazz age's reckless revels. A fable of the roaring twenties that will survive as a legend. --back cover

68 editions

Stephanie Jane reviewed The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Perfectly narrated

5 stars

I first listened to this audiobook of The Great Gatsby in April 2010, so nine years ago, and see from my Goodreads that I rated it 4 stars. Frank Muller does a wonderful job of the narration for my edition. His laconic style perfectly suits the story. This recording is no longer available through Audible though so the Amazon links in my blog post go to a Jake Gyllenhaal narrated edition instead.

Listening to the story again now I'm wavering between a four and five star rating. I absolutely love Fitzgerald's prose style which is clear and elegant, yet beautifully richly detailed. His portrayal of these essentially unlikeable selfish people is redolent with jazz age atmosphere and I am in awe of his ability to actually get me to care deeply about what happens to them and the catastrophe they create for themselves. What I didn't like however is Fitzgerald's …

I first listened to this audiobook of The Great Gatsby in April 2010, so nine years ago, and see from my Goodreads that I rated it 4 stars. Frank Muller does a wonderful job of the narration for my edition. His laconic style perfectly suits the story. This recording is no longer available through Audible though so the Amazon links in my blog post go to a Jake Gyllenhaal narrated edition instead.

Listening to the story again now I'm wavering between a four and five star rating. I absolutely love Fitzgerald's prose style which is clear and elegant, yet beautifully richly detailed. His portrayal of these essentially unlikeable selfish people is redolent with jazz age atmosphere and I am in awe of his ability to actually get me to care deeply about what happens to them and the catastrophe they create for themselves. What I didn't like however is Fitzgerald's casual racism and antisemitism. I am not sure whether readers were supposed to empathise with Tom Buchanan's racist comments, and I was quickly upset by Fitzgerald's need to repeatedly draw attention to Jewish character Meyer Wolfsheim's nose. That said, I did enjoy the storyline and wasn't prepared for all its twists and turns. I did even feel a little sorry for Gatsby by the end. And what did become of the puppy?