The story is told by Nick, Gatsby’s next-door neighbour. Jay Gatsby is this mysterious millionaire who organises huge parties in his mansion. He cultivates a mystery around his life and his fortune, no one really knows where he comes from. He seems to be this imperturbable man, life just flowing over him. However, he is still in love with Daisy and hopes to be able to renew their relationship, even though Daisy is married. Tom, Daisy’s husband, is also having an affair with Myrtle, George’s wife. The story reaches its peak when Gatsby informs Tom that Daisy is going to leave him. They depart with their cars, and Daisy kills Myrtle on the way back. Tom then tells George that it was Gatsby driving the car. George proceeds to kill Gatsby in his swimming pool and then kills himself. It’s a story of rich, very often drunk people with a large sense of entitlement that brings to the fore the American dream and its disillusionment. A lovely classical read.
“He smiled understandingly–much more than understandingly. It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life. It faced–or seemed to face–the whole eternal world for an instant, and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor. 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.”