The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

After reading the Max Perkins biography I knew that I wanted to read at least one of Fitzgerald's works. 

I'm pretty sure I was supposed to read it in high school, but actually did not.  There's an excellent chance I just read the Cliffs Notes, and probably not all the way through.  I really missed out. 

I knew the basics of the story, so no big surprises.

But the way Fitzgerald builds the tension between the Buchanan's, the narrator Nick Carraway, and Gatsby himself, drew me in.  Each chapter made you want to continue even more so than the last.

And the climactic chapter - the longest in the book - when Daisy (with Gatsby riding shotgun in his fancy yellow car) accidentally kill his mistress is a masterpiece.  It arrived earlier than I expected (Chapter seven of nine), so it caught me off guard a little. 

Who exactly is the villain in the story?  That's what interested me.  It seems that the entire story is setting Gatsby up as the villain.  His secret past.  Unexplained wealth.  The rumors that surround him.  He must be the bad guy, right?

But what unfolds is that Tom and Daisy Buchanan are really the bad apples.  They both use other people to get what they want.  They're both involved in affairs.  They both look down on everyone else.  They have no sense of remorse.  Daisy has seemingly no problem abandoning poor Gatsby.

And the final scene at Gatsby's funeral, how sad.  The man who entertained Long Island at great trouble and expense.  No one could even both to show up at his funeral.  It really makes you think about true friendships vs. fake friendships.

Great stuff.  I'm glad I finally read it through to the end.