Literature

The Great Gatsby

F. Scott Fitzgerald · 1920

Lindy Score

12,152·Ancient

106 yrs

Age

5

Endorsers

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Why it endured

The quintessential American novel about the hollowness of the American Dream. Gatsby's green light, Daisy's voice full of money, the eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg — Fitzgerald's imagery has become part of the cultural vocabulary. Deceptively simple on the surface.

What they're saying

5 people recommend this book

Taylor SwiftSinger-songwriter & author

Fitzgerald's scene-writing is so vivid — the emotional depth is extraordinary. I keep returning to it.

Interview

Sam AltmanCEO of OpenAI

The Great Gatsby captures something essential about ambition, reinvention, and the gap between who we are and who we want to be.

Blog

Ryan HolidayAuthor & Stoic philosopher

Fitzgerald's prose is as close to perfect as American fiction gets. The Great Gatsby is a warning about confusing the pursuit of greatness with greatness itself.

DailyStoic.com

Andrej KarpathyAI researcher & former Tesla AI Director

The author does a good job of verbally sugar-coating an otherwise boring story about an obsessed bootlegger and his unstable acquaintances. A book perfectly suited to teach helpless K-12 children to value prose over content and that unfaithfulness and obsession lead to despair and death. 2/5

Twitter

Bill GatesCo-founder of Microsoft

Melinda and I really like [this book]. When we were first dating, she had a green light that she would turn on when her office was empty and it made sense for me to come over.

Twitter

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