I reread The Great Gatsby for about the 20th time (and third time in the last calendar year).
Here’s what 11th graders have to say about it. I made them “Tweet” their reviews, hence the hashtags:
“Overall all I didn’t like the book, it wasn’t very good and I feel it is very confusing to the young mind. Although that’s probably just because I’m not very smart.”
“It was alright.”
“I personally think that this book is an OK one, but I think some people are giving this book a little to much respect then it actually deserves. The character development is smooth and interesting and the way the story is told keeps it intriguing, but most of the jokes (if any) are so out of date that the original meaning has been lost throughout the ages and some experiences are impossible to relate with now.”
“I honestly was not a fan of the novel #GreatGatsby, the story lulls along without much significance, it’s just not one of my favorite books.”
“overall the book was easy to read but some parts in the book was confusing when there were telling a story and it was hard to follow”
“Overall the novel was somewhat appealing to me but was not something that interest me enough to want to keep reading the novel on my own. It took me a while to finish the novel because of this, and although i thought the novel had an interesting plot, something about it just made it boring to the point where it was dreadful. It may be the fact that some of parts in the novel were confusing to me and i had to re read multiple times to fully understand what was happening.”
“I really didn’t like the book. In my opinion, it wasn’t attention grabbing and I got bored while reading it. To anyone else it could be a good book, but it’s just not for me.”
“Pretty good but i don’t really understand any of the themes or storytelling”
“I forgot to turn it in but it was fun!”
“it was okay”
“Gatsby was a great novel that exposes the ugly side of wants, money, and power. The novel challenges one idea of the American Dream. The novel exposes many different problems, but all in all it was a very good book especially if you can understand the symbolism.”
“I thought that the novel was okay but it’s not something I would want to read in my free time.”
“the book was good it just didn’t interest me because i didn’t pick it but it gives you a lot of good information and you made us look inside the book more”
“I didn’t like the book at all. There wasn’t anything that grabbed my attention and kept me reading. I didn’t feel like there was a story that I could connect to and follow what it was saying. The older style of narration also probably played a part in the lack of interest.”
(Photo by M. LaFlaur)