So what's your opinion on The Great Gatsby book and/or movie?

[Kolby Jack]

I haven't read the book or seen the movie, and honestly I don't plan to ever do either. I've heard some plot points, and it just doesn't sound appealing to me. I don't like "loser in love" stories as they always make the "loser" seem shallow, pathetic, and stupid. I can't bring myself to feel anything for a character like that. I mean, am I wrong? Because this sounds like a pretty typical "loser in love" story, even if it's narrated by someone else.

 

[Neonbob]

I was forced into reading the book during high school, and it was one of the worst things I've ever been exposed to. I don't know if it was the teacher who was sucking all the joy out of the reading or if it was just so much not my liking, but every page was a trial.

 

[Hoplon]

I haven't read the book or seen the movie, and honestly I don't plan to ever do either. I've heard some plot points, and it just doesn't sound appealing to me. I don't like "loser in love" stories as they always make the "loser" seem shallow, pathetic, and stupid. I can't bring myself to feel anything for a character like that. I mean, am I wrong? Because this sounds like a pretty typical "loser in love" story, even if it's narrated by someone else.

Well given it's about the foolish ecesses of the 20's and by extension any era that promotes consumption over contribution and not really about "loser in Love" other than as a device.

You probably should.

 

[username sucks]

I was also forced to read it for school just last week, and I absolutely hated it. Half of it is about how great it as to be so rich that you own a beachside mansion, a quarter of it is color symbolism that is just thrown it randomly, and the last quarter of it is the plot.

The movie is actually pretty good, because it focuses on the plot instead of the money and colors, and the plot is the strongest point in the story. This is the only case where I prefer the movie to the book.

 

[IllumInaTIma]

I'm not sure that's Gatsby is "loser in love". He is in love, sure, but he's far from being a loser in any sense.
I haven't read the book, but I've seen movie just yesterday and I was kinda impressed by it. It was simple story, with a couple of compelling characters. Di Caprio was simply awesome in it, and Elizabeth Debicki as Jordan was just...
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<img src=http://cs521306.vk.me/u15047576/doc/b728dfdc2031/tumblr_ll7wjhiu9V1qiw2fao1_500.gif>

 

[Sir Christopher McFarlane]

I liked the book especially because of the memorable way it phrases things.
The book tells a story full of social critique that's interesting, but its characters aren't likeable. You're not meant to side with them, just analyse them while you're shown their perspective of the world, which is narrow because many of them were born into extreme wealth and are out of touch with the plight of those that society was mistreating. Especially the Buchanan.
If you can live with that, you may enjoy it.

 

[Voulan]

I had to read the book for a first year course at university, and I was one of the few that genuinely enjoyed it. Maybe it was because I was getting all the analysis as we were reading through, but the book is actually very cleverly written. It's one of the first books I've read where you realize the narrator is unreliable, and the characters are completely unlikeable, and it was such a refreshing change from many other books where the main character is often a do-no-wrong kind of person.

I have yet to see the film, but I doubt they can translate that same idea as well as the book does.

 

[YuberNeclord]

I was forced into reading the book during high school, and it was one of the worst things I've ever been exposed to. I don't know if it was the teacher who was sucking all the joy out of the reading or if it was just so much not my liking, but every page was a trial.

Yeah pretty much this for me too.

I didn't like the story, I hated all the characters(especially the main character) and honestly, I found it to be a poorly written book. As in I didn't know what the hell was going on half the time because the main character was either on a tangent about something that was completely unrelated to what was happening or the book went out of its way to describe every little detail of every object, and its meaning in every scene. I honestly found it to be pretentious bollocks and I don't know why people rave about it.

So yeah I really don't have any interest in seeing the film.

Also another thing that pisses me off, Toby Maguire voice overs most of the film(from what I've read in a review). So you've taken a book, translated it to a visual medium and decided to give away most of the story with a voice over? That's fucking lazy and stupid.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I read the book some years ago and liked it. The movie I have to watch on Monday to write a review... and I'm not too keen. I liked the book and Leo's a great actor, but I'm a little weary of Luhrmann as director. I'm afraid he'll be his flashy, showy, flowery usual self and cut his movie the way he did Moulin Rouge!

 

[capper42]

I read it a few years ago and found it ok, but it hardly enthralled me. I feel like I didn't really give it my full attention though, just sort of struggled through it. I feel like I should read it again though, but I have such a huge backlog of books I want to read.

 

[soren7550]

Back in 11th grade, my English teacher gave us a choice on what to read, this or some other 'American classic', and Gatsby sounded the least boring of the two. I was one of the few people who did choose Gatsby, so me and four other people were lumped together into one group. Not only was I the only one who did the work, I was the only one who actually read the damn thing, thus the rest of my group harped on me to do all of their work. This didn't help improve my opinion of the book, which I found dull, tedious, and boring.

 

[TehCookie]

I found it to be great zombie repellant. After reading it your brain will be so tainted not even zombies will want to eat it.

 

[Eddie the head]

I found the movie so unrealistic. I mean when I show woman the book I have about them they just call the cops and run.

 

[PoolCleaningRobot]

I read the book and saw the original 70's film when I was in grade school and WAAAAAYYYYYYYYY to young to appreciate it. Honestly, we read over complicated boring books from half a century ago when in grade school and are too young to get them, then when you get to college you read the interesting books from a few years ago that are still relevant.

As a kid, the book was basically about bored rich people trying to kill time during the summer and complaining about being hot because it was before air conditioning was invented

After I saw Movie Bob's review and FINALLY get what it was supposed to be about, maybe its not so bad.
[small]still seems boring though[/small]

 

[Eomega123]

Spoilers. The book's hella old though, so I'm not going to give it a full spoiler tag. Statute
of limitations.​

The Great Gatsby, or, Boring Rich People Doing Boring Rich People Things.

I read the book last year, and not only was it dull, but pretty much every character was a miserable excuse of a human being. I do not care, nor am I given any reason to care, about Gatsby's love, the green light, or that billboard with the eyeglasses. The only mildly interesting or sympathetic character was the garage owner, and every character, and the author himself, treats him like shit. Yes, I am aware that the point of the book was that the lives of the rich were not terribly glamorous and that materialism is corrupting, and ect, but that does not mean that the point was interesting or worth making.

My distaste of the book is the reason I will not be seeing the movie. It was the same story with Life of Pi and will be the same story for Ender's Game.

 

[Vegosiux]

It's a book I only understood when I read it for the second time. You know to me, the most important scene was basically at the very end, with exactly three people attending.

Yes, I am aware that the point of the book was that the lives of the rich were not terribly glamorous and that materialism is corrupting, and ect, but that does not mean that the point was interesting or worth making.

Well I think it's a point worth making. Interesting or not, or as tvtropes would say, you just have to drop a couple anvils here and there. [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped]

I agree on the entire thing being bland as fuck, but I'll say that's a bloody good change from the constant oversaturation of special-effects and boisterous, pretentious, over the top "ass-kicking awsomeness" that's gotten lame just from the fact it's force-fed to us through every damn pore.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

I was made to read the book in high school and really didn't like it. I have no plans on seeing the film as it hold absolutely no appeal to me. That's about the long and short of it...short mostly I suppose.

 

[shwnbob]

I just saw the movie today, and I freaking loved it! It took the book and literally re-enacted almost every part of it. The book is pretty boring, I will admit. But, it has a very interesting story hidden underneath there with one of my most favorite book characters ever created; Gatsby! Anyway, yeah, you should all see that movie.

 

[ServebotFrank]

Whoa, a lot of hate for this book for some reason. This was probably one of the few books I was forced to read in High school that I actually liked. If you take the time to read it and think about it, it's a very clever book and actually holds up very well as a classic.

I don't get the complain about "Boring rich people doing boring rich things." I don't really get that all. A lot of the book gave me the impression that practically every person in the book was unlikable on purpose. Hell the ending scene just flat out states how assholish some people can be. It's definitely not some loser love story as Gatsby at least kept me interested until the end. It's a damn good book.