Catching Up: The Great Gatsby

The novel captures the decadence of post-World War I American society and is considered to be an example of the Great American Novel. It has been included as required text for most high schools and colleges in the US. An interesting tidbit about the book is that there was a time that the author wanted to call the book "Trimalchio in West Egg"

One of the things that struck me was the narrator's description of Gatsby's dream and eventual fate. "...and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it. He did not know that it was already behind him, somewhere back in that vast obscurity beyond the city, where the dark fields of the republic rolled on under the night." There are dreams that we hold sacred in our minds, picturing over and over again our moment of attaining it but when you finally achieve that dream, you realize that the dreamer that you were and the person that you are now cannot be reconciled anymore.

So, there, that's 7 down and only 89 more to go (hehehe).