Book #11 - The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

I decided to read The Great Gatsby because a number of people told me that it was a quick read. When you're trying to read 100 books in a year, and the phrase "quick read" is combined with "classic," you need to jump at the opportunity.

The story follows Nick Carroway, a young Midwestern man who's moved to New York City after college. He then meets Jay Gatsby, his neighbor who is fabulously wealthy and is famous for throwing lavish parties on his sprawling estate. As the novel progresses, we learn that Jay loves Nick's cousin Daisy, whom he met and courted before going off to fight in the war. Daisy is now married to Tom Buchanan, another wealthy man, who cheats on his wife and thinks he is better than those around him.

After an initially awkward reunion, Gatsby and Daisy reestablish their connection and begin an affair. Tom soon becomes suspicious of his wife's relationship with Gatsby and confronts them on a trip to New York City. As they rush back to Long Island when things go awry, the car Daisy is driving accidentally strikes and kills Tom's lover, Myrtle, but Gatsby takes the blame. Myrtle's husband seeks out revenge, and when Tom tells him that Gatsby allegedly killed his wife, he finds and shoots Gatsby in his pool, ending his mysterious and tragic life.

The American lifestyle of the 1920s that The Great Gatsby portrays is eerily similar to the years preceding the recent economy crash of 2008; living in excess, spending beyond our means, wrapped up in questionable morals and a quest for pleasure above all else. Just like Gatsby, Americans no longer value the dreams of discovery, individualism and the pursuit of happiness. Instead, it is about having more money than the next guy, and having better stuff than him, too.

Perhaps we should take Fitzgerald's observations about the changing American Dream to heart. Because look what happened to Gatsby - his desire for money and personal pleasure overtook his more noble goals, and eventually, led to his demise.