100 Books to Read Poster No. 13

I read this one sort of by accident!

I have a friend here who occasionally brings me bags of books that she's finished with. It's very kind of her and I read the ones I want and then pass them on again. Generally they're thrillers but this time, right on top was F Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. Which I have never read. And which features on my poster. A happy coincidence. So I read it. 

It's quite short. Which was a mercy. It's also very of-its-time, which wasn't. 

I am quite willing to believe, from my position of ignorance, that this is  at least a contender for the title of the Great American Novel. However I've never been a fan of reading books which are full of horrible characters with nary  a redeeming feature between them, and although son no 2, who studied this at Higher tells me that's sort of the point, and I get that, it doesn't mean I have to like it. 

Everyone in  this book is selfish, idle and stupid, except for Gatsby who is stupidly delusional (and also, let's not forget a criminal.) It's also misogynist, and anti-Semitic. The only thing in its favour is the elliptical narrative style which means that the reader is never on a sure footing about the past lives of these people. It's cleverly sustained, a bit of a tour-de-force of narrative technique in fact. The problem is of course that I don't care about their pasts any more than I care about their present, so for me it's just so much wasted effort. 

It was a book that left me feeling ever so slightly slimy after I'd read it. As such it is a resounding Miss for me. 

Here is the picture that was behind the silver screen for the book. Forty eight hours after revealing it I still have no idea about a) what it's supposed to be and b) how it relates to the book. Suggestions in the comments are welcome! Ignore the scrape above the lenses/car headlights/whatever. That was just me being over enthusiastic with the coin I was using for the reveal.