The Great Gatsby

By: F. Scott Fitzgerald

Narrated by: Jake Gyllenhaal

Length: 4 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's summary

Audie Award Finalist, Classic, 2014

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic American novel of the Roaring Twenties is beloved by generations of readers and stands as his crowning work. This new audio edition, authorized by the Fitzgerald estate, is narrated by Oscar-nominated actor Jake Gyllenhaal (Brokeback Mountain). Gyllenhaal's performance is a faithful delivery in the voice of Nick Carraway, the Midwesterner turned New York bond salesman, who rents a small house next door to the mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby. There, he has a firsthand view of Gatsby’s lavish West Egg parties - and of his undying love for the beautiful Daisy Buchanan.

After meeting and losing Daisy during the war, Gatsby has made himself fabulously wealthy. Now, he believes that his only way to true happiness is to find his way back into Daisy’s life, and he uses Nick to try to reach her. What happens when the characters’ fantasies are confronted with reality makes for a startling conclusion to this iconic masterpiece.

This special audio edition joins the upcoming film - as well as many other movie, radio, theater, and even video-game adaptations - as a fitting tribute to the cultural significance of Fitzgerald’s Jazz Age classic, widely regarded as one of the greatest stories ever told.

©1925 Charles Scribner's Sons. Copyright renewed 1953 by Frances Scott Fitzgerald Lanahan (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

My Favorite audiobook

Best book/narration combo ever!! Brilliant direction and production. A great testament to what audio can be. Can do.

This book is a classic for a reason

It is poetry disguised as prose. Every word has a place and every combination of words packs within it a beauty, a profound sadness, an alluring decadence that almost fills you with envy for the writer‘s prowess in wielding his pen. Jake Gyllenhaal's narration couldn't have been more perfect.

Excelente soporte de audible

Me encantó la narración de este hombre. Una joya y un gran libro, ahora sí podré ver la película y comparar jaja

Perfect book.

I really enjoyed the narration of this amazing book. I totally recommend it for those who are willing to enter the great world of Fitzgerald.

Nice voice, terrible voice acting.

I was pretty excited when I saw this release. I hadn't read The Great Gatsby before, but I was aware of the soon to be released movie. I am a fan of Jake Gyllenhaal as an actor and I was curious about how his first audiobook narration would go.

To be honest, the listening was very dissapointing. From the very beginning I noticed how Gyllenhaal was merely whispering his way through the book. At first I thought this was needed to keep a nostalgic mood for the novel introduction, but the pace, tone and volume kept exactly the same till the end.

I even wondered wether Jake was trying very hard to sound what, sexy? Except that didn't work when he had to switch between different characters. When dialog occured, I had a very hard time distinguishing what character was supposed to be talking, the voice-acting being so plain. Only Tom and Gatsby sounded distinct (if not cued by hearing "oldsport" at the end of every Gatsby's line). Appart from them, even male and female characters were undistinguishable from each other, for they all had the same dull, muted voice of Nick, the narrator.

Also, there's lack of emotion everywhere. Not even lines like "oh my god" (hint: near the end) sound convincing enough to me. When characters are supposed to be really angry, Jake makes them sound like presenting their arguments as-a-matter-of-fact-ly. Several times I found myself mentally repeating the lines with my own expression added to it, in order to try and enjoy the novel a bit more.

Unfortunately, there's something else to add. There are several occasions in which listeners will notice audio editing, (i.e. cut and paste voice clips in the right place), like when the narrator does a mistake during recording and has to do a second take, but resumes from few words behind (presumably after a comma) instead of reading again the whole parragraph. You can tell where's the cut because of the change in Gyllenhaal's breath or the apparent variation in distance to mic (different envelope or openness sound).

As for the story... I didn't like it. But I can't tell to what extent the negative experience was due to the narration performance. It could simply be a different writing style than I was expecting, though. As I stated before, I didn't know the story before.

Bottom line: I don't recommend this audiobook. I sincerely hope Gyllenhaal gets better at narrating if he seeks this path.

Didn't draw me in

The story failed to draw me in. Maybe it was too short, or maybe it was simply too uninteresting, or maybe it's the dull reading.

Having the book narrated by a screen actor was not a good idea. It wasn't terrible, but neither was it good. For such a short book they could have picked some really good professional narrator instead.

The Great GREAT Gatsby

If you could sum up The Great Gatsby in three words, what would they be?

Excellent Descriptive Writing

Who was your favorite character and why?

Mr J Gatsby was by far my favorite! He came from such a poor family and transformed himself into this great man all for the love of one woman! WOW!

What does Jake Gyllenhaal bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Jake brings his own style to the book with his different "voices" and the way he reads is enchanting!

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Sort of...the ending is very shocking and the way it unfolds kind of takes you by surprise.

Jake Gyllenhaal's narration is a work of art!

The book, of course, is a masterpiece. But what is not less delightful in this audiobook is the exceptionally enchanting narration by Jake Gyllenhaal, transporting you completely and fully into the storry.

average

good narration but prefer the movie tbh

add extra words for the stupid limit.

Lives up to the reputation

I'll be honest. After coming to this book, right after a fantasy novel marathon, I had some trouble getting into it. Luckily, the awe worthy wordsmanship kept me listening. Once the mood had been set and I had become acquainted with the titular character, I was hooked. If ever while listening to this book you feel like the descriptions off the character's frivolous lives are running the pace, just take a break and go sentence by sentence thinking of while the implications of every thing these people do, while focusing on the phrase "Everyone already knows everything". Even if you end up not adding this book to your favorites, I can vouch that you will come out the better for listening to it, and 5 hours isn't that much of a sacrifice, now, it's it?