Is The Great Gatsby difficult to read?

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Yes. It's pretty easy to read and Jane Austen books aren't very difficult to read if you have a glossary at the back of the book. :smile:

Reply 21

shopoholic

Original post by Waterloo Sunset

It's not hard to read at all, the plot and characters can be frustrating at times but Fitzgerald's writing is wonderful. His short stories and other novels (especially Tender Is the Night) are also great.

I loved Tender is the Night! Can you recommend me some good short stories from Fitzgerald?

Reply 22

Waterloo Sunset

Original post by shopoholic

I loved Tender is the Night! Can you recommend me some good short stories from Fitzgerald?

Sure, 'Babylon Revisited' is my favourite. 'May Day', 'Winter Dreams', 'The Lost Decade' and 'Absolution' are also noteworthy.

Reply 23

ahappydyl

The first few paragraphs launch straight into Fitzgerald's style of overwhelmingly descriptive writing, which can be inexplicably beautiful at points, however, I had to push myself through the first page or so because I wasn't used to his style. After that, the book was easy to follow.

Absolutely would recommend you giving it a try! :smile:

Reply 24

shopoholic

Original post by Waterloo Sunset

Sure, 'Babylon Revisited' is my favourite. 'May Day', 'Winter Dreams', 'The Lost Decade' and 'Absolution' are also noteworthy.

Alright, thank you! :smile:

Added to my reading list.

Reply 25

Ecds

Definitely would recommend it; the language is lyrical and beautiful. Heartbreaking as well 💔

Reply 26

_HS

love gatsby! Fitzgerald is so clever with his writing as every word he uses has so much meaning behind it. For example the recurring theme of 'dust' represents poverty and the use of the unreliable narrator makes us question on genuine Nick's feeling are at the end of the novel. I guess it's difficult to read in the sense that it is very dense and so layered but I guess just take your time with it and re-read it so you can appreciate the masterpiece

Reply 27

Kallisto

Entertainment Forum Helper

Original post by hali0112

Hey everyone,

I was thinking of reading The Great Gatsby. I was wondering if anyone has read it and if anyone thought the language was difficult? I find that with some classics the English can be impossible to understand. I found that while reading Jane Austen's books. But not at all with To Kill a Mockingbird or The Crucible.

Thanks :smile:

As a foreigner whose mother tongue is not the English one, it was difficult to read indeed. That is why it is so hard to judge for native speakers. I remember to look after vocabuaries I have never heard before in this language which surely be a naturalness for British and Americans. The story telling itself was the least problem. At the beginning it was a bit dull when the narrator described the surrounding of Gatsby's place, his luxury and gigantic house with the lots of guests in it over 42 pages. But when one of the protagonists, Daisy, entered the story, it was the start to a drama. From this part of the book to the end, it gets more interesting.

Reply 28

reemmohammad

For native English speakers, I don't think they will find it hard but if you are not native English speaker like me and you're studying this novel, it's so natural to find it hard LOL :smile: