The Great Gatsby

I have a very long list of books that I probably should've read earlier in life but I'm just getting around to. The Great Gatsby was high on that list until recently when I read it. I have a confession to make about this book: I avoided reading it because I thought it was going to be boring. Who knows where I developed my preconceived notions about the content of this book from, maybe the movie trailer or some artwork or someone else's comments about it. Coming into this book, I thought it was going to be a story about decadence in the 20's, and that expectation maybe made the book better in a curious way. Nick is introduced to Gatsby in a similar way, he sees the flashy car and the extravagant parties and assumes he knows what Gatsby is about. Then just as Gatsby turned away his party guests as closed in on his goal of reuniting with Daisy, the book turned me away as well. It was only at the very end of the book, when we are shown what Gatsby does in the wake of Myrtle's death did I really start to feel like I knew anything about the character. Nick feels like he's the only one who knew the real Gatsby, and it took a while for me to get there as well. I almost put the book down in the middle of it because I didn't see it going anywhere, but I'm glad I stuck with it. In the end, I think that my prejudice about who the Gatsby character was going to be made for a longer character development arc. I had pigeonholed him and therefor he started off very far away from where he would end up. If I hadn't had that fortuitous preconception, and I read him from the start as a blank slate, I think maybe that character arc wouldn't have been as dramatic or as rewarding. I judged him unfairly before the very first page, and that made his true character all the more impressive by the end. The Great Gatsby to me was like stumbling upon a street performer and getting roped into watching the show, at first you're ready to be disappointed at a lackluster juggling routine, but then the performer gets you to laugh and amazes you with their tricks and by the end you find yourself surprised at how much enjoyment you got out of the experience. I'll give you all one free pass to wag your finger at me and say "let that be a lesson to you, it's a classic for a reason". It is a good book and I should've trusted that over my presumptions.