Hannah throws shoes at the Great Gatsby // guest post

Well, friends. Everyone can be very happy, because today is a good day. Why is today such a good day?

Let me share with you an exciting thing. Hannah (my amazing blogging friend who has an amazing blog here) and I are doing a book-swap-guest-post of the Great Gatsby! It's such a classic book, and neither of us had read it, so we decided to switch things up and read it together, and then trade reviews.

Here's Hannah's review!! you're going to love it. (to see mine, go visit the Daisy Tree!! It's a pretty fun place.)

 "In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars."

     The Great Gatsby is one of those books that is on all of the book lists. "20 Books to Read Before You Turn 20", "10 Books That Will Change Your Life", "Classics Everyone Should Read At Least Once" - you can count on it that Gatsby will be there. It's considered a masterpiece. A work of art. A book that will change your life. That's why, when I reached the end of the book, I felt like I must have missed something. It was okay, and I liked some things about it, but considering all the hype I'd heard I was just underwhelmed. A little disappointed, too. But first let's talk about the good stuff, shall we? Because there was some good stuff.

1. Gatsby was Great.

 "Can't repeat the past?" he cried incredulously. "Why of course you can!"

    I like complicated characters, and Gatsby was definitely that. He was mysterious and clever, but there was also something innocent and childlike about him. It was like he was a little boy playing a game of make-believe. He was naive, and he didn't think about the consequences of his actions. He was a pretty messed-up person, granted, but I couldn't help but enjoy reading about him.
 

 2. The Writing Was Pretty.

 It was one of those rare smiles...It understood you just as 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.

    Fitzgerald could certainly write. His style is simple, but descriptive. He described the setting in a way that made you feel like you were in the 1920s, visiting Gatsby's mansion, and attending his extravagant parties.

3. It Made Me Think.

 Every one suspects himself of at least one of the cardinal virtues, and this is mine: I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known.

    It's a deep book and brings up a lot of issues to think about. I finished it early last month, and I still find myself thinking about it sometimes...why the characters did what they did, what would have happened if they had acted differently. I like that about a book.

 

4. The Message was Important.

 "You said a bad driver was only safe until she met another bad driver? Well, I met another bad driver, didn't I?"

    The people in this book treated a blatantly sinful lifestyle like it was the norm. Getting drunk every night? Why not! Cheating on your spouse? Who's gonna find out? But in the end, this book showed that this kind of life does not lead to happiness. It leads to broken families and desolate funerals.   

 

 And Yet... 

    As you can see, I had quite a lot of good things to say about this book. So why was I so disappointed and underwhelmed? It comes down to three main reasons:  1. It was a hard book to get through. It wasn't nice reading about people living such Godless, hopeless, selfish lives. It wasn't nice reading about the lies and the sadness and the broken relationships.  2. Other than Gatsby (and maybe Nick), the characters were horrible. I know they are supposed to be horrible, but I personally prefer reading about people who don't make me want to throw shoes at them. I mean, Daisy? *throws shoe*  3. And here's where the bitter truth comes out! Please don't kill me, Gatsby fans, but to be completely honest with you, I was bored most of the time. Yes, I said "most" of the time. I found myself skim reading at times no matter how hard I tried not to. Hate. Being. Bored. However, despite those things, I am glad I read this book. It's not the masterpiece for me that it is for other people, and I didn't love it. But I do think that it's worth the read.

Hannah is a seventeen-year-old girl from Ireland. She has a family that consists of six people and two cats. She really, really likes to read books, and she really, really likes to talk about them. She also enjoys photography, blogging, baking, and fangirling over BBC shows. She has a lot of fun talking about herself in third-person, and she wishes she could do it more often.