The author of this review is exactly the type of pretensious person Gatsby is critiquing. No wonder they don’t “get it” or like it.
I don’t agree. I read the book several times, and always found it an appalling bore. And that last paragraph always grated on me.
I see Fitzgerald as a Tarkington manqué -
Bingo! I was always fond of the book. I suspect many detractors react against the popularity of the work and simply have to find something wrong with it to demonstrate how much smarter they are than the great unwashed who enjoyed it.
I found the Redford/Farrow film wearisome and horribly cast (with the exception of Sam Waterston as Carraway). The trailers for the DiCaprio film seem to be more promising. DiCaprio is IMHO, a much better casting choice than Redford for the part (and I'm generally not much of a DiCaprio fan). One of my big disappointments with the Redford film is that it largely ignored the real backstory (Dan Cody, WWI), while the DiCaprio trailers seem to actively reference both. DiCaprio tends to run hot or cold, but if he's on his game, this could rank with The Aviator. IMHO, Tobey McGuire is really the one with the big shoes to fill here as his Carraway will inevitably be compared to Waterston's, which has to qualify as one of Hollywood's best casting choices ever.