Heard someone at the library call 'The Great Gatsby' shallow and it stuck with me

I was in line at the Seattle Public Library last Thursday and a person said they thought the book was just about rich people being sad. In my view, that misses how Fitzgerald shows the American Dream failing. The green light and the valley of ashes are not shallow details. Has anyone else had a book club debate where you felt the main point was being overlooked?

3 comments

3 Comments

avery6292mo ago

Seriously? That take is so surface level it hurts. The whole book is about chasing something that doesn't exist. The fancy parties and clothes are just the shiny trap. Missing the valley of ashes is like missing the point on purpose. It's a tragedy, not a sad rich people diary.

karenhenderson2mo ago

Forget the parties, watch Gatsby's face crumble.

grace_hunt8421h ago

My book club spent an entire night arguing about whether Nick was secretly in love with Gatsby or just obsessed with his lifestyle. One lady kept insisting the green light was about class anxiety and another was dead set it was about literal navigation on the water. We never even got to the valley of ashes because everyone was too busy defending their weird pet theories. Reading that person's take makes me think they probably skimmed the book during a hangover. The whole thing is so loaded with symbols that calling it shallow is like calling the ocean a little damp.

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