The Great Gatsby

Have you heard of the term "American dream"? I believe, you have. Tinsel. Vanity. Richness. Kitsch. Illusion. This description doesn't sound complimentary, does it? But, is there a place for love? Or is love too old-fashioned for this glamorous life, where only diamonds are real?
Francis Scott Fitzgerald knew what he was writing about. He lived lives of his characters. Or, better say, his characters lived his life? Talented writer with a beautiful wife,"golden girl" of the local society,"jazz age", America. You can consider such life perfect, if you don't know, that Fitzgerald had problems with alcohol and his adorable wife turned out to be schizophrenic. Sometimes glossy cover is just a front side of deeper world where loneliness and emotional poverty rule.

You might wonder, what makes Jay Gatsby great? It is love. While reading, you may be captured by the gripping plot, or facsinated how little people have changed, though a century has passed. Still, the author plays with us- he left the culmination, the zest of novel for the end. And its flavour is both bitter and sweet: a poignant aftertaste accompanied by the odd feeling of pride and respect for the hero would remain in your heart after reading, for sure. Jay Gatsby is great because he obtained to remain Jay Hatwell in his heart. He hasn't allowed sparking but a false world to take his soul for the wealth, in return he gave his name only- from Hatwell to Gatsby.
["The Great Gatsby" is on the 43rd place in top100 list of books according to BBC]
P.S. You may find interesting a view of Scott Fitzgerald's character from the eyes of Ernest Hemingway in his "A Movable Feast".