The Great Gatsby

Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgiastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter--tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther.... And one fine morning--So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.

I did not expect to enjoy it this much considering the many failed attempts to read it previously. But I finally found the right moment to pick it up again and I couldn't put it down.

Nick Carraway's voice as a narrator was just enthralling. I was touched by his friendship with Jay Gatsby and his loyalty to him. I might not approve the path Gatsby took to fulfill his „American dream”, but his sparkling optimist bordering on naiveté was quite endearing. It was so dispiriting to see Gatsby's life and dreams shattered.

The story might be set the 1920s, but the themes tackled are all so current. There's so much gloom underneath all that glamour that the feeling of desolation still lingers with me, days after finishing this book.