The Perks Of Being A Book Addict discussion

i am thinking about reading the great gatsby for my next read have any of you read it and did u like it or did u not like it??:-)

Uggh. I hated that book. I had to read it for my English class and sighed very loudly for anyone nearby to hear.

why did u hate it?

Mainly because I thought it was boring and surprisingly shallow given its reputation for being layered. I just thought the symbolism was very obvious and forced, i didn't like the story and I didn't like the characters. I might have liked it better if it was lauded as a great classical novel.

ic thank u for sharing :-)

worth reading. not my favorite, not hemingway, but still worth it

I read it twice, once in university and once right before the movie came out. I liked it a lot.

I think it is worth reading. I like what it is supposed to represent, I just didn't think it was effectively written. Carey Mulligan and Leo can make me forgive a lot.

blech!

It is worth riding but yeah the characters do suck but your not supposed to like them that is kind the point.

I've never read it. But i have the audio book. I plan to start it soon. I've never been interested but there's been alot of talk about it since the movie came out so i guess its high time i get it over with. I cant watch the movie til after the book or i'll never read the book. Or in this case listen.

Daisy is almost the villain of the story. One of the interesting themes of the book is the image Gatsby carries around of Daisy and the real woman that we see. A lot of classics use a beautiful woman as the unattainable dream of the main character. As in this one, she is often something much less than the central character believes her to be.

i read it just before watching the movie. although its not very outstanding but the movie came out closest to it and made sense. which i liked.

I'm a huge fan of Fitzgerald and the way he writes and seeing as The Great Gatsby is his most popular work, I'd say it's definitely worth reading. Gatsby is one of the most controversial characters out there - some people hate him and others love him. I'm not his biggest fan but I still think the book is one of the greatest ever written.

I must say though, This Side of Paradise, also by Fitzgerald, is my favorite book of all time, so if you want to, I'd check that out.

I've read the Great Gatsby about 3 times now, and my opinion of it shifts each time. The characters aren't the best, I'll admit that, but I think each of them contribute well to the overall atmosphere of the book.

It's best to go into it without any standing opinions you have of it beforehand - with a clean slate, so to speak. Reading it in high school with others' opinions that it's boring looming in my mind, I couldn't bear to read through it. But afterwards, picking it up a few years later, I started to enjoy it.

I have yet to see the new movie, however. I'm torn on the decision. I do quite like DiCaprio, though :-)

Serenity wrote: "Uggh. I hated that book. I had to read it for my English class and sighed very loudly for anyone nearby to hear."

I'm glad you said that. This book is on every "must read" list, and is read in every high school and university in America. People do nothing but sing its praises.

But it's a terrible book. I liked the language, and there were some interesting scenes, but it didn't really have a story.

I have a review written, but I'm afraid to publish it because it is so revered. Maybe I will now.

Michael E. Henderson

reading it now. not very far yet.

Michael wrote: "Serenity wrote: "Uggh. I hated that book. I had to read it for my English class and sighed very loudly for anyone nearby to hear."

I'm glad you said that. This book is on every "must read" list,..."

Definitely publish it :) Like i said, I might have liked it better if it weren't so revered. As it stands, I don't think it deserves the status it has. I did like the movie though :)

boreddd.....

One of my favorite books the characters are completely unlikeable at least considered to modern standards. Then again I like the era in which F Scott Fitzgerald typically wrote. It is a relatively short read also!

I finished. I can say I enjoyed it. Ready to watch the movie now.

I loved it because I hated all of the characters so much... is that weird?

It's a good book.
Sometimes if I see a book in all must-read lists and read a lot of good reviews about it, I overestimate its quality and in the end hate it.
But I read Gatsby when I didn't know it was so popular so I didn't expect much from it. And I liked it.

James wrote: "I read it many years ago and my father saw the original film with Robert Redford. He said it was a pretty well done film."

The Great Gatsby is one of my favorites.Though I would never be a fool for Daisy.I haven't seen the original film but I will. Robert Redford is a legend. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is one of his best performances.

I was not impressed with Daisy she gets no sympathy from this girl.

I think it's worth reading because Fitzgerald portrays the shallowness of the rich people that time. You can see this especially in Daisy's character.

I didn't like it. The characters were just TOO unlikable. I feel the same way about most Hemminway books

The characters all have their individual flaws, but it leaves you wondering who is the antagonist if everyone is wrong (Daisy IMO). I love Fitzgerald's writing style though, and I think it's hard to argue that it isn't beautiful or poetic.

i kind of liked the 2013 movie better than than book. It rarely happens to me but it did with this book.

I love this book...all the characters are supposed to be so perfect, but they're all so flawed as well. I think it's beautifully written as well. Allegories make me happy.

I love their flaws. I don't like shiny perfect characters wrapped up in a pretty bow and handed to me by some shiny author. We are all hopelessly flawed but theirs are just so glaring. But yes, you either love it or you hate it. I happen to be one who loves it.

Oh! And as for the movie. I grew up with Mr Leo and I loved his performance. As well as Toby. But I just loved the soundtrack. Thank you jay z for your take on the music. It was surprisingly really cool. But that's just me. I loved the blend of jazz and hip hop. I'm not a huge fan of hip hop but this I really really liked a lot.

I thought The Great Gatsby was absoulutely perfect. It's meant to be shallow and with its shallowness comes its deepness. The characters are meant to be horrible, that what makes it so absolutely amazing as both a novel and a social commentary of the time in which Fitzgerald lived.

I just finished it and really enjoyed it. Worth the read but I wasn't forced to read it in high school. The movie was good because of the actors but I don't like that particular director. He did Moulin Rouge and I felt the same about that one.

Ive read The Great Gatsby its a great book the characters are perfect . Daisy she is so pitchy and Apathetic..

I liked but didn't love it. Also did not read it as a school assignment. That seems to help any classic for some reason.

I liked it, I was a bit young when I read it, so I didn't have the acumen and experience I have now.

I didn't love it though: lots of readers will say it's one of the best books ever, I didn't feel like that. Just take mine as personal experience, not at all an expert's point of view.