Book Review: The Great Gatsby (Chapter 1-3)

Picture taken from en.wikipedia.org through www.google.com

I have read a great novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald titled The Great Gatsby.  When the first time I read it, immediately I was impressed by a saying on the second paragraph, that is, “Whenever you feel like criticizing any one, just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.” This sentence that I love the most in Chapter 1 is explained by Nick in an opening paragraph. It was written there that it is advice given by Nick’s father in his younger and more vulnerable years. This quote, for me, is exactly related to my life. I realized that I often mad with someone and, whether directly or not, I always criticize them. But after I read this quote, whenever I am mad with someone, I remember this great quote and, believe it or not, it successes to calm me down.

A part that also impressed me is a funny moment in Chapter 3, that is, when Nick said to the man whom he talked with, “This is unusual party for me. I haven’t even seen the host. I live over there-- -- and this man Gatsby sent over his chauffeur with an invitation”. But, suddenly, the man said, “I am Gatsby.” I always laugh when I read this part because I really ever feel this awkward moment. At that time, I told someone about the badness of an event. She is just smiling and even nodding when I told her. But at the end, surprisingly, she told me that she is the organizer of that event. This is such an embarrassing moment that I never want to remember so far. Maybe, if I were in Nick’s position, I would ask for permission to everyone there to go home soon after I realized that my cheeks are getting red like I used to do.

Still in Chapter 3, page 53, exactly, I was impressed by Nick’s explanation about Gatsby’s smile. Actually, it has no relation to my life or experience. But, it makes me curious enough to imagine how actually the scene of this part. In this part, it’s written: “He smiled understandingly--much more than understandingly. It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life. It faced--or seemed to face--the whole external world for an instant, and then concentrated on YOU with an irresistible prejudice in your favor. It understood you just so far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself and assured you that it had precisely the impression of you that, at your best, you hoped to convey.” These sentences are made me curious about how the real ‘Gatsby’s smile’ that seems so mysterious. And from this explanation, I imagine that Gatsby is hardly put a smile on his face throughout his life.

Honestly, there is no impressing part in Chapter 2 for me. However, in a whole story of Chapter 1 until Chapter 3, I was impressed the most by Gatsby’s love life. It seems to me that he always keeps his heart for a girl only, Daisy. Even though he already reached a wealth and he has a lot of money, he never finds another girl to accompanying him in his middle-age. He is still waiting for Daisy who already has a husband and a child. In fact, we all know that many of rich men are usually tempted by women. But amazingly, he is not the kind of those men. His love, for me, is a true love; a timeless love, which is must be imitated by those who are hard to keep his or her love to someone for a long time. This Gatsby’s personality is convinces me that actually there is a loyal man who is not playing love likes most people in that time. Especially for this, I think it is not only related to my life, but also everyone’s life.