The Great Gatsby

By: F. Scott Fitzgerald

Narrated by: William Hope

Length: 5 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

Elegant, enigmatic Jay Gatsby yearns for his old love, the beautiful Daisy. But she is married to the insensitive if hugely successful Tom Buchanan, who won’t let her go despite having a mistress himself. In their wealthy haven, these beguiling lives are brought together by the innocent and entranced narrator, Nick – until their decadent deceits spill into violence and tragedy. Part morality tale, part fairy tale, The Great Gatsby is the consummate novel of the Jazz Age. Its tenderness and poetry make it one of the great works of the 20th century.

Download the accompanying reference guide.

Public Domain (P)2010 Naxos Audiobook

Great Performance!

The narrator really brought this book alive! Very impressed, helped me understand the novel in a better way. Very enjoyable

Wonderful

A wonderful story by F. Scott Fitzgerald and a great performance by William Hope. It was lovely to listen to him.

Entertaining till the end!

I can’t believe I’ve waited so long to read The Great Gatsby! What a fun, yet deep read... I was so entertained by the liveliness and richness of the world and characters. William Hope’s performance was fabulously engaging too. It was a very different type and length of book for me. A very welcome change indeed!

The Very Good Gatsby

The Book
What can I say? It is one of the best known plots of modern times. It is regarded as a modern American classic, alongside "Grapes of Wrath", Huck Finn's Adventures and Scout's wondering at her father's integrity. But for me, it has always been missing something. I know it's about soulless people for whom, what it looks like is more important than what it is. So of course it is missing something. That's the point! But still, there's something I can't put my finger on that separates this from the true "Greats".
I just read Melinda's review (which I always read with interest). She gets it, but I don't. For me Fitzgerald has so successfully dismissed these glitzy cut-out figures, that I have no empathy for any of them, not even Dan. That leaves me this: awed by the language, but not so hot about the story. And, isn't it all about the story? Anyway, who am I to criticise the book. It can't have been too bad because I listened to two versions of it over a day!
Overall, I think my prejudice is not a good guide. I love the language, but I could easily never read this again. I wouldn't say the same for Wrath, Mockingbird or Finn, and certainly I will read Of Mice and Men again, hopefully many times.

The Performance
As mentioned, I listened to two versions of this tale. I started with this one, then saw the Jake Gyllenhaal one advertised. It wasn't that I wasn't enjoying William Hope's performance, because I listened to both from "cover to cover". However, I found it a bit over dramatic, although that sense of avarice has its place within this book. Also, I wanted to understand why this is an hour longer than the Gyllenhaal version. I never got to the bottom of that. I liked his (Hope's) characterisation (especially of Daisy and Gatsby) more than the other version, but I didn't like the "sing-song" aspect of some of the narrative. Still the performance was good and didn't detract from the book, and it's all about the book.

Gatsby’s Relevance Today

The Great Gatsby, especially when read by William Hope, is as relevant today as it was the day it was first published. Hope’s reading brings the story to life in a way, l believe, Fitzgerald would have loved. Each of Fitzgerald’s words is a precise piece of a magnificent puzzle. Hope’s performance is as good as it gets. Powerful stuff.

amazing

It is an amazing story, and a good narrator for my favorite book. Must read for anyone.

Recommended

The movie truly did it justice! I loved it! I highly recommend. A must read.

Classic Story... the reader needs to try less

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The voices the reader, William Hope, does or tries to do are annoying. His female voices are bad to the point of being distracting.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

The voices the reader, William Hope, does or tries to do are annoying. His female voices are bad to the point of being distracting.

Was The Great Gatsby worth the listening time?

Gatsby is one of those "I'll read it someday books" that appears on a number of "must read" lists. So, yes take the time.

Great Gatsby - Audio Book - Hope

Book - Rated as a classic it not sure if it should be in the top 50. However, I see it is a classic and a very good piece of work. The chief asset is the narration, characters, and description prose. I did not find the plot terribly grand but that was backdrop for the chararacter.

Production - A very good production and presentation.

Great Confusion, Gatsby!

I read an article a week or so ago, criticizing electronic reviews, and pointing out that in some cases, the reviewer obviously hadn't read the review because its rating was so low. One of the examples quoted was a 1-star rating for this book, "The Great Gatsby." The article's writer pointed out that this is one of the greatest novels of the 20th century.

I can completely understand a 1-star rating for this book, although my rating is higher. I, too, was bored at the beginning. I almost stopped listening after the first third of the book. I kept going because I wanted to know why this was considered a great novel. I'd heard so much about it.

The story became more lively, and the characters became more complex and more interesting. By the end, I was enthralled. When I finished the book, I spent quite a lot of time thinking about what it meant.

Before I wrote this review, I read several other reviews, and I realized that one of the reasons the book is considered great is that individual readers see the book differently.

I saw the main characters and the story as a metaphor for a dissolute age, and I thought that the story could have taken place in the 1990's just as easily as it takes place in the 1920's. In both eras, the world was relatively at peace. Money could be easily made, impressions bought, and everyone wanted to be friends with the hottest celebrity around.

With a book like this, there's a temptation to just get the Cliff Notes to discuss the book knowledgeably, without reading it. Avoid the temptation - that would be like eating a Hershey's Bar instead of Godiva Chocolate.