THE GREAT GATSBY (audiobook) by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Read by Tim Robbins.
Duration: 5 hours, 3 minutes.
Unabridged.
Way back in the 1980s, I read The Great Gatsby. I remembered very little about it except that a rich guy was pining over a woman throughout the book. I also misremembered a few plot points. For example, I remembered Gatsby's car being dumped in a swimming pool or maybe in the bay.
I have been reminded of the book on a regular basis because I teach in a high school and the book is read yearly by some English class or another. I usually ask a student if they like the book and tell them that I read it in high school. If they ask them if I liked it, I usually respond that I barely remember the plot except for "rich man - sad."
When my daughter read it in her high school English class, I decided that it was time to re-visit the book.
Synopsis:
Nick Carraway is newly arrived in New York City. He is a World War I veteran and is trying a career as a bond seller. He is renting a small place on Long Island nestled in among mansions of the rich and trendy set.
His neighbor is Jay Gatsby, a mysterious young single millionaire. Everyone knows of him, but no one seems to know much about him. He hosts massive blow-out parties but always hangs out on the edge. He is polite, but does not participate.
Gatsby takes an interest in Nick and Nick ends up with a front row seat to a deadly drama...
My review:
The book is a lot better than I remembered. Class is a major theme and readers who are high school aged or older can clearly see that one.
Older readers know from experience that timing is as important as anything in relationships and the Gatsby/Daisy relationship is a victim of bad timing as it is a victim of class prejudice. We've all met people that we know we could be good friends with - but events and prior commitments pull us apart. The timing is just bad.
The audiobook was read by Tim Robbins. I am not a big Tim Robbins fan, but I am a big audiobook listener and I have never heard of Tim Robbins read any audiobook. I figured that if he is reading this audiobook, he must have some sort of special affinity for it and he will pull out all of the stops.
Turns out, I was right. After a slow monotone start, Robbins lets loose with a variety of voices that are so good that you can listen to the conversations without paying attention to all of the "he saids" and "she saids."
I rate this audiobook 4 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Duration: 5 hours, 3 minutes.
Unabridged.
Way back in the 1980s, I read The Great Gatsby. I remembered very little about it except that a rich guy was pining over a woman throughout the book. I also misremembered a few plot points. For example, I remembered Gatsby's car being dumped in a swimming pool or maybe in the bay.
I have been reminded of the book on a regular basis because I teach in a high school and the book is read yearly by some English class or another. I usually ask a student if they like the book and tell them that I read it in high school. If they ask them if I liked it, I usually respond that I barely remember the plot except for "rich man - sad."
When my daughter read it in her high school English class, I decided that it was time to re-visit the book.
Synopsis:
Nick Carraway is newly arrived in New York City. He is a World War I veteran and is trying a career as a bond seller. He is renting a small place on Long Island nestled in among mansions of the rich and trendy set.
His neighbor is Jay Gatsby, a mysterious young single millionaire. Everyone knows of him, but no one seems to know much about him. He hosts massive blow-out parties but always hangs out on the edge. He is polite, but does not participate.
Gatsby takes an interest in Nick and Nick ends up with a front row seat to a deadly drama...
My review:
The book is a lot better than I remembered. Class is a major theme and readers who are high school aged or older can clearly see that one.
The audiobook was read by Tim Robbins. I am not a big Tim Robbins fan, but I am a big audiobook listener and I have never heard of Tim Robbins read any audiobook. I figured that if he is reading this audiobook, he must have some sort of special affinity for it and he will pull out all of the stops.
Turns out, I was right. After a slow monotone start, Robbins lets loose with a variety of voices that are so good that you can listen to the conversations without paying attention to all of the "he saids" and "she saids."
I rate this audiobook 4 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
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