了不起的盖茨比英文读书笔记.doc

1、The Great Gatsby ReviewThe Great Gatsby is probably F. Scott Fitzgerald s greatest novel-a book that offers damning and insightful views of the American nouveau riche in the 1920s. The Great Gatsby is an American classic and a wonderfully evocative work. Like much of Fitzgerald s prose, it is neat a

2、nd well-crafted. Fitzgerald seems to have had a brilliant understanding of lives that are corrupted by greed and incredibly sad and unfulfilled. The novel is a product of its generation-with one of American literatures most powerful characters in the figure of Jay Gatsby, who is urbane and world-wea

3、ry. Gatsby is really nothing more than a man desperate for love.The AuthorF. Scott Fitzgerald was born on September 24, 1896, in St. Paul, Minnesota. His first novels success made him famous and let him marry the woman he loved, but he later descended into drinking and his wife had a mental breakdow

4、n. Following the unsuccessful Tender is the Night, Fitzgerald moved to Hollywood and became a scriptwriter. He died of a heart attack in 1940, at age 44, his final novel only half completed.OverviewThe Great Gatsby is a story told by Nick Carraway, who was once Gatsbys neighbor, and he tells the sto

5、ry sometime after 1922, when the incidents that fill the book take place. As the story opens, Nick has just moved from the Midwest to West Egg, Long Island, seeking his fortune as a bond salesman. Shortly after his arrival, Nick travels across the Sound to the more fashionable East Egg to visit his

6、cousin Daisy Buchanan and her husband, Tom, a hulking, imposing man whom Nick had known in college. There he meets professional golfer Jordan Baker. The Buchanans and Jordan Baker live privileged lives, contrasting sharply in sensibility and luxury with Nicks more modest and grounded lifestyle. When

7、 Nick returns home that evening, he notices his neighbor, Gatsby, mysteriously standing in the dark and stretching his arms toward the water, and a solitary green light across the Sound.One day, Nick is invited to accompany Tom, a blatant adulterer, to meet his mistress, Myrtle Wilson, a middle-clas

8、s woman whose husband runs a modest garage and gas station in the valley of ashes, a desolate and run-down section of town that marks the convergence of the city and the suburbs. After the group meets and journeys into the city, Myrtle phones friends to come over and they all spend the afternoon dri

9、nking at Myrtle and Toms apartment. The afternoon is filled with drunken behavior and ends ominously with Myrtle and Tom fighting over Daisy, his wife. Drunkenness turns to rage and Tom, in one deft movement, breaks Myrtles nose.Following the description of this incident, Nick turns his attention to

10、 his mysterious neighbor, who hosts weekly parties for the rich and fashionable. Upon Gatsbys invitation (which is noteworthy because rarely is anyone ever invited to Gatsbys parties they just show up, knowing they will not be turned away), Nick attends one of the extravagant gatherings. There, he b

11、umps into Jordan Baker, as well as Gatsby himself. Gatsby, it turns out, is a gracious host, but yet remains apart from his guest an observer more than a participant as if he is seeking something. As the party winds down, Gatsby takes Jordan aside to speak privately. Although the reader isnt specifi

12、cally told what they discuss, Jordan is greatly amazed by what shes learned.As the summer unfolds, Gatsby and Nick become friends and Jordan and Nick begin to see each other on a regular basis, despite Nicks conviction that she is notoriously dishonest (which offends his sensibilities because he is

13、one of the few honest people he has ever met). Nick and Gatsby journey into the city one day and there Nick meets Meyer Wolfshiem, one of Gatsbys associates and Gatsbys link to organized crime. On that same day, while having tea with Jordan Baker, Nick learns the amazing story that Gatsby told her t

14、he night of his party. Gatsby, it appears, is in love with Daisy Buchanan. They met years earlier when he was in the army but could not be together because he did not yet have the means to support her. In the intervening years, Gatsby made his fortune, all with the goal of winning Daisy back. He bou

15、ght his house so that he would be across the Sound from her and hosted the elaborate parties in the hopes that she would notice. It has come time for Gatsby to meet Daisy again, face-to-face, and so, through the intermediary of Jordan Baker, Gatsby asks Nick to invite Daisy to his little house where

16、 Gatsby will show up unannounced.The day of the meeting arrives. Nicks house is perfectly prepared, due largely to the generosity of the hopeless romantic Gatsby, who wants every detail to be perfect for his reunion with his lost love. When the former lovers meet, their reunion is slightly nervous, but shortly, the two are once again comfortable with each other, leaving Nick to feel an outsider in the warmth the two people radiate. As the afternoo