[Pocket Edition] World Literature Masterpieces Library - The Great Gatsby

Author: (USA) F. Scott Fitzgerald
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-11-01
Features: This book is part of the "World Classics Library," a fully translated and illustrated edition. F. Scott Fitzgerald is a renowned novelist of the 20th-century American literary scene, alongside Hemingway and Faulkner. This novel is his most famous and outstanding work, as well as one of the finest in American modern literature. The renowned American literary critic T.S. Eliot highly praised the novel, calling it "the most significant step American fiction has taken since Henry James." In 1998, Random House ranked "The 100 Best English Novels of the 20th Century," and The Great Gatsby was ranked second, far ahead of other American novels. The novel is set in the upper-middle-class white society of modern America and is narrated by Carraway. Carraway was born in the Midwest of the United States and later moved to New York to study stock trading, hoping to make a fortune. He lives on Long Island and becomes neighbors with Gatsby, the protagonist of the story, and becomes friends with him. Gatsby's original name was Gatz, and like Carraway, he came from the Midwest. He was born into poverty but was ambitious. Later, he became wealthy through bootlegging. He often hosted lavish parties at his home, entertaining guests to display his wealth, with the goal of attracting Daisy, his lover five years ago, and winning her heart back. Five years earlier, when Gatsby was in the army, Daisy was his lover. During Gatsby's overseas service in World War I, blinded by greed, she married Tom Buchanan, a wealthy and dissolute man. However, the fulfillment of material and physical desires could not fill the spiritual emptiness and lack in Daisy's life. With Carraway's help, after reuniting with Gatsby, she seemed to rekindle their old romance. But Daisy was no longer the same as before. She was no longer the innocent girl Gatsby imagined, but a foolish, selfish, vulgar, and beautiful shell. Gatsby's beautiful dream finally shattered, yet he still struggled in his last moments, clinging to a sliver of hope for Daisy, which led to a more tragic and miserable fate. Later, Daisy, while driving Gatsby's car, accidentally killed Tom's mistress. She then conspired with Tom to cruelly frame Gatsby, leading to the deceased's husband bursting into Gatsby's home and shooting him to death. The husband then took his own life, making Gatsby a final and utter sacrifice to the selfish and cruel Daisy.