“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”
Well over a decade has passed since the first time I read ’s , and yet its last line remains indelible, an elegiac refrain so innately human, so attuned to our greatest pains and most fervent desires, that it was impossible to forget. It resonated with me at 14, reading a dog-eared school-issued copy punctuated with scrawled notes from generations of students before, and it hit me even harder at 21 when I reencountered Gatsby as the core text of a literature seminar focused on the Jazz Age.
Now, as Gatsby celebrates its publication centennial, I’m listening for the first time, and finding meaning anew in Jake Gyllenhaal’s understated, melancholic performance of an outsider’s observations on empty opulence and the impossibility of the American Dream. The novel’s themes are illuminated by Gyllenhaal’s remarkable narration, which you can hear for yourself in the audio highlights showcased here.
"Gatsby believed in the green light..."
Gatsby is frequently hailed as “The Great American Novel,” a moniker that emphasizes that the book is as significant as it ubiquitous. But despite the novel’s lasting legacy, its initial publication was rather underwhelming: Fitzgerald’s third novel was reviewed well by the era’s literary critics and contemporaries including T.S. Eliot, but its modest sales and misinterpretations meant Gatsby was a failure commercially. Tragically, it wasn’t until after F. Scott Fitzgerald’s death in 1940 that the novel’s perception shifted, soaring in popularity and garnering widespread acclaim in the years that followed.
This reassessed appreciation for The Great Gatsby expanded beyond literary circles after thousands of Armed Services Editions were printed and sent to American troops during World War II, increasing widespread readership. By the mid-1940s, the novel had captured the American imagination as Fitzgerald always hoped it would. As the 20th century gave way to the 21st, that renaissance would be rendered eternal by the novel's significance to American literature instruction in classrooms across the country. To this day, the story remains a staple—it’d be difficult to find a high school curriculum that didn’t include the book at least once on its required reading list.
"He had one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it..."
In the 100 years since Scribner’s published , neither circulation nor adulation has receded. Authors have been inspired by Fitzgerald’s story and characters, crafting their own novels, while critics and historians continue to muse on what has to say about both its author and its audience. Artists across mediums—from the big screen to the stage to video games—have imagined the tragic tale of Jay Gatsby time and again, and audiences have approached, analyzed, and assessed the story from every imaginable viewpoint. And the future of is bright: The novel will no doubt enjoy countless more retellings, reimaginings, and reassessments following its 2021 entrance into the public domain.
