my take: True confessions: this is not the cover of the copy I read … mine (from the 80’s?) has Robert Redford and Mia Farrow. THE MOVIE EDITION. Gasp. I know. Youth! I bought it well before I knew better.

And, frankly, reading the movie edition was not very helpful. How caI evaluate Jay Gatsby when there are visuals of him played by ROBERT? I adore Robert. He can do no wrong. And in a white suit? Gorgeous!

And that Mia, I mean Daisy, I just want to slap her for not leaving to be with Robert, I mean Gatsby. At least then we could get some romantic satisfaction from this sad bunch of characters.

The inside front cover of my book has hand-written in old style cursive, “Lonely is the heart without love.” Can’t think who read this copy, or that maybe I bought it second-hand … yes, all the characters seem lonely. In the end, Nick’s return to the “middle West” at least gives some comfort of geography… to those of us who love it.

Gorgeous vocabulary and sentence structure combined with a cast of characters seduced by wealth and other people’s spouses … seems very readable today. A lot of great scholars have dissected this work … iIm not one of them! And, hey, this is a one minute review ….  it did make me think about what each of us “lives for” and made me evaluate my own life values.

my source: Book Chicks classic pick

my verdict: Worthwhile re-reading experience