Literary fiction · Jazz Age
The Great Gatsby
- Suggested levelC1
- Lengthabout 47,000 words
- Original languageEnglish
The story
Nick Carraway rents a small house on Long Island next to the mansion of Jay Gatsby, a mysterious millionaire who throws enormous parties every weekend.
Slowly Nick learns that the parties have one purpose: to attract Daisy Buchanan, Nick's cousin, whom Gatsby loved five years earlier. What follows is one hot summer of reunions, lies and a drive back from the city that changes everything.
Themes: the American Dream, wealth and class, love and illusion, 1920s New York.
Why it's a good book for language learners
Fitzgerald's prose is short in length but rich in style: long, rhythmic sentences, striking images and a lot of meaning between the lines. It is a rewarding challenge for advanced learners who want to move from understanding words to understanding tone.
What you'll practise
- Figurative language and imagery
- Describing people, parties and wealth
- Narrative distance and irony
- American English of the 1920s
Reading tip
Read the last page aloud. It is one of the most quoted passages in American literature, and it rewards slow reading.
Did you know?
The novel sold poorly when it appeared; it became an American classic only after Fitzgerald's death in 1940.
The PageWalker adventure
In the adventure you move through Gatsby's summer as a guest whose choices can change how the story ends. The first page is free to play in your browser, and the adventure is available in 13 languages with click-to-translate.
The Great Gatsby in other languages
- EnglishThe Great Gatsby
- العربيةغاتسبي العظيم
- DeutschDer große Gatsby
- EspañolEl Gran Gatsby
- FrançaisGatsby le Magnifique
- हिन्दीद ग्रेट गैट्सबी
- ItalianoIl grande Gatsby
- 日本語グレート・ギャツビー
- 한국어위대한 개츠비
- PortuguêsO Grande Gatsby
- РусскийВеликий Гэтсби
- TürkçeMuhteşem Gatsby
- 简体中文了不起的盖茨比
