The Great Gatsby

I'm glad I read The Great Gatsby.  It was a really fascinating interweaving of characters and relationships.  The setting of 1920's New York was also beautifully described, from the mansions of Tom and Gatsby to the "valley of ashes" that George and Myrtle Wilson reside in. Initially, it was a bit difficult for me to get invested in the story, but things got really interesting by Chapter 5 when Gatsby planed to see Daisy for the first time in five years.  The book did a great job of making me sympathize with Gatsby despite all his shortcomings.  Here was a man who pursued the love of his life for years, accomplishing so much and trying to treat her with the utmost respect, only to end up with nothing as all his hopes, dreams, and ultimately life went away in a matter of a day.

It was interesting to see how the book handled its focus on the characters in the story.  I had initially assumed that the book was going to mostly revolve around Gatsby, but it instead seemed to focus on the love triangle of Tom, Daisy, and Gatsby as a whole.  In fact, Nick seemed to only exist as a window into the world and story of the love triangle.  Even plot-wise, he just exists as the key to what Gatsby believes will be a successful reunion with Daisy.  Aside from Nick's noted honesty, there's nothing really special about his character, and his living space is far closer to average than Tom's or Gatsby's mansions. He does have somewhat of a relationship with Jordan for a part of the book, but the passages that discuss that aspect of the narrative are kept rather short.