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Scott Books sorted by Average customer review: high to low .

Scott
Empty Nesting: Reinventing Your Marriage When the Kids Leave Home
Published in Paperback by Jossey-Bass (2001-11-26)
Authors: David H. Arp, Claudia S. Arp, Scott M. Stanley, Howard J. Markman, and Susan L. Blumberg
List price: $23.50
New price: $15.33
Used price: $11.98

Average review score:

Make the rest the best!
Helpful Votes: 16 out of 16 total.
Review Date: 2000-10-24
One word describes this book: OUTSTANDING! Given these two statistics: (1) Every seven seconds, a baby boomer turns age 50, and (2) the divorce rate is up 16 percent for marriages of 30-plus years, this book is a MUST READ for all couples who fall into the empty nest/second half marriage category. Don't let the word "fighting" in the title make you think for a minute that this book is only for couples whose marriages are on shaky ground. It is for ALL couples wanting to build, keep, or return to a great relationship.

This book is the best of the best. It is the best of the book The Second Half of Marriage by David and Claudia Arp in which they identify eight challenges every marriage in the second half faces. And, it is the best of the strategies and techniques of the Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program (PREP) developed by Stanley, Markman, and Blumberg. Not only do the authors suggest powerful, yet simple, ways couples can upgrade their communication and conflict resolution skills, they also stress the importance of building couple friendship, having fun, becoming empty nest lovers, and keeping the relationship strong.

Do you want the rest to be the best? READ this book!

Just the two of us again
Helpful Votes: 22 out of 24 total.
Review Date: 2000-09-22
Although we are an empty nest couple, it doesn't seem that way with the pets we inherited from the kids when they moved out. We have 3 cats, 1 dog and an iguana to keep us busy now. I think the kids were easier to raise!

This great book isn't just for couples who have a truly empty nest. Many midlife couples today find that their nests get refilled with boomerang adult kids, aging parents, visits from kids and grandkids, or grandkids on a full time basis.

I liked the section on how to learn about the danger signs of behaviors that can lead couples who have been married for decades to the divorce court. There is also good information on the major issues that midlife couples need to deal with in order to have a strong marriage.

Make the rest the best!
Helpful Votes: 7 out of 7 total.
Review Date: 2000-10-24
One word describes this book: OUTSTANDING! Given these two statistics: (1) Every seven seconds, a baby boomer turns age 50, and (2) the divorce rate is up 16 percent for marriages of 30-plus years, this book is a MUST READ for all couples who fall into the empty nest/second half marriage category. Don't let the word "fighting" in the title make you think for a minute that this book is only for couples whose marriages are on shaky ground. It is for ALL couples wanting to build, keep, or return to a great relationship.

This book is the best of the best. It is the best of the book The Second Half of Marriage by David and Claudia Arp in which they identify eight challenges every marriage in the second half faces. And, it is the best of the strategies and techniques of the Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program (PREP) developed by Stanley, Markman, and Blumberg. Not only do the authors suggest powerful, yet simple, ways couples can upgrade their communication and conflict resolution skills, they also stress the importance of building couple friendship, having fun, becoming empty nest lovers, and keeping the relationship strong.

Do you want the rest to be the best? READ this book!

Scott
Encyclopedia of Nonlinear Science
Published in Hardcover by Routledge (2004-11-30)
Author: Alwyn Scott
List price: $270.00
New price: $256.50
Used price: $250.00

Average review score:

Nonlinear Science of Nonlinear Nature
Helpful Votes: 6 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2005-04-01
Encyclopedia of Nonlinear Science, edited by A. Scott and just published by Routledge, New York, 2005, as I think, will be one of the most important publications of this year and, probably, of many next years.

Already the first glance at the book strikes by the astonishing variety of topics covered in one volume. This is achieved by effectively combining a mathematically accurate language with the simplicity of presentation, without overloading the material by formulas. Sufficiently simple and transparent presentation makes this book easy to read for
students, starting from the undergraduate level and up, as well as for general scientists interested in grasping the essence of nonlinear phenomena. These phenomena are so common and widespread in Nature, being familiar in Physics, Mathematics, Chemistry, Geology, Medicine, and Social Sciences, that it looks impossible to find any one discipline which would have no
relation to them.

The simplicity and clarity of presentation, combined with a rather precise formulations, make the material of the Encyclopedia available to practically anyone. Those who would wish to go to more detailed studies will find a sufficient list of references to both historical publications as well as to the current scientific literature. The Editor, Alwyn Scott, has made a great job in supporting this nice and rare style combining the clarity and brevity of the entries with their accurateness.

I have no doubt that this Encyclopedia is a must for any
university library. And to enjoy having it at home would be a pleasure and help for any scientist.

V.I. Yukalov
Mercator Professor

Institut fur Theoretische Physik,
Freie Universitat Berlin,
Arnimallee 14, D-14195 Berlin, Germany

The book for many
Helpful Votes: 6 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2005-03-31
The book like that was long awaited, and the only reason it has not appeared, say, ten years ago, is probably that compiling it would be an enormously demanding task for anyone. Thus, the effort of the Editor, Professor Alwyn Scott, should be highly appreciated.

The Encyclopedia of Nonlinear Science includes an enormous wealth of information in various sciences: mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, earth sciences, engineering... At the first glance, the book may be perceived as a kaleidoscope of bits and pieces of these sciences. Thus, one may ask, what nonlinear science is and does it exist at all? It does. The basis unifying the problems outlined in the book is that, notwithstanding the huge variety of the phenomena involved, their mathematical description has much in common (nonlinear equations) and, moreover, the terminology ("language") used to characterize qualitative features of the process, such as "oscillations," "waves," "solitons," "chaos," and many others, are equally applicable to numerous natural phenomena as well as to products of human creativity.

Having said that I must also stress that most of the underlying math is simple enough for non-specialists. Actually, the book entries could conditionally be classified into "mathematical," in which basic equations and their solutions are briefly discussed, and "natural," giving a concise description of a variety of natural phenomena. Finally, historical essays should be mentioned, too.

This reference book has been edited and written by high-class professionals. If you are a student, a teacher or instructor in math, physics, chemistry, so on, or you are a researcher, an engineer, or simply a curious individual who wants to help his youngsters to succeed in science, you should consider getting the Encyclopedia.

Encyclopedia of Nonlinear Science, Edited by Alwyn Scott
Helpful Votes: 8 out of 8 total.
Review Date: 2005-03-24
Is the tsunami that recently devastated Southeast Asia, related to the tornadoes and hurricanes that continue to ravage the Midwestern and Southeastern parts of the United States? Is the occurrence of superconductivity in metals and in certain organic polymers, related to the presence of nerve impulses that propagate within the human brain? Do avalanches in the mountains of Utah and the mudslides in California have anything to do with the folding of protein molecules into their intricate three-dimensional shapes as they are synthesized in the living cell?

At first glance, topics such as these may seem to be unrelated. However, closer examination reveals each to reflect the presence of some particular source of nonlinearity in nature. Advances in obtaining solutions to nonlinear partial differential equations over the past twenty-five years have led to the discovery of an exciting new concept. This concept predicts the emergence of coherent structures that have their own unique nonlinear dynamics. The appearance of such structures in DNA, proteins, membranes and cellular organelles could play a key role in determining life's processes.

The Encyclopedia of Nonlinear Science is a remarkable compendium of topics in many areas of science. It is the first of its kind. The book contains 438 entries by a large number of international specialists. Topics such as black holes, chaotic dynamics, turbulence, fractals, glacial flow, Jupiter's great red spot, general relativity, particles and antiparticles, information theory, Tacoma Narrows bridge collapse, gravitational waves, Hodgkin-Huxley equations, DNA premelting, protein dynamics, cardiac arrhythmias and electrocardiograms, explosions and forest fires are but a few of the entries that lie within.

The book is intended for undergraduate and graduate students in the physical and biological sciences. In addition, teachers of science and research scientists in many diverse scientific areas will find this to be a valuable reference. Professor Scott is to be applauded for the creation of this unique information source. The Encyclopedia of Nonlinear Science has found a very special place in my bookshelf.

Henry M. Sobell
Professor of Chemistry and Biophysics (retired)
The University of Rochester
Rochester, New York 14627

http://members.localnet.com/~sobell



Scott
Environmental Law: Public and Private Nuisances
Published in Hardcover by Cahners Pub Co (1995-05)
Author: Steven Scott Young
List price: $24.95

Average review score:

Good Read on Environmental Legal Foundations
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2003-04-09
The book is a review of basic environmental law foundations around nuisance theory. I would recommend this book to any attorney refreshing their skills on local environmental regulations.

Common Law History
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2000-07-10
This is a good book for anyone that want to know about the basic history of environmental law. As a municipal environmental officer I found the book very helpful. The publisher is difficult to contact directly; however, the book is well work the investment.

This work was compiled for environmental lawyers.
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 1998-08-26
I wrote this work with environmental regulators in mind. It is a brief history of the common law foundations of environmental law.

Scott
Eric in the Land of the Insects
Published in Hardcover by Houghton Mifflin (1994-03-28)
Author: Godfried Bomans
List price: $14.95
Used price: $2.99

Average review score:

Wonderfully old-fashioned fable
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2006-07-16
One evening in bed Eric, a third grader studying for a test on insects, magically enters grandfather's painting that depicts a meadow filled to the brim with insects. When Erik understands what actually has happened, he decides to start his search for the frame of the painting, so that he can jump back to his room. This quest will get him in contact with a colorful world of friendly and sometimes not so friendly insects. The wasps, bees, butterflies and other critters are all intrigued by that strange creature that calls himself Erik. As he gets invited to their homes, Erik discovers that in the end the difference between man en insect is not that big. You can indeed learn a lot from the insects, although they themselves have also quite a lot to learn.

Godfried Bomans published this Dutch novel (Erik of het klein insectenboek) originally in 1941. Meanwhile it has been translated in English as Eric in the Land of the Insects. Although the style is a bit outdated, most obvious in the old-fashioned dialogues, it still is an enjoyable read. The comparison with Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll is easily made, because the undertone of absurdity is present throughout the whole story. Nevertheless Erik is less forceful in advertising a certain sense of morality and good behavior. After reading the story you get more the impression that Godfried wanted to us to more enjoy the little things of life. A message that can never get outdated anyway.

Eric in the land of the Insects
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2004-03-26
Eric was going to sleep for the Insect test the next day. When Eric was about to fall asleep he saw his grandfathers picture come to life and started talking to Eric. Then eric got out of his bed and went to see his grandmothers picture and she wasn't there. Eric then touched the corner of one of the grassy places of the picture and got sucked into the frame. There he landed on a petal and was sitting next to a wasp. the wasp invited eric to his house, the inside of the flower. Then the wasp asked Eric to stay but Eric knew he couldn't. So then the waso called for a taxi bee that took him to a snail apartment villige. There he lift the bee and met a snail that took him around showing his apartments. The daddy longleg, caterpiller, horsefly, and etc. then one day the caterpiller didn't come to eat so they all went in his room and saw a cacoon. Then the snail wanted to kick the cacoon out but Eric said that it was okay and he will pay the bills. A few weeks later a butterfly came in and said "where am I?" Eric then payed the bill by taking a piece of his paper and giving it th the snail. That night eric and the butterfly flew off together untill the butterfly saw another female butterfly. The two butterflys got engaged and then Eric was by himself again doing his journey to get out of this world. Then Eric met a gigantic spider and in a few moment it was about to stike. then Eric woke up and saw the spider dead and three beetles standing in front of him. The leader beetle then asked eric to come with him and Eric did so. they went underground and then Eric ran away into a maze of tunnels. Then Eric met a group of ants that needed to hatch the larvas. Then Eric told the ants too take it outside and Eric went with them. Then the ants called Eric to go to a meeting about a great battle. Eric wanted to and went to battle withe the ants. Then another tribe of ant went into battle with them and just when the ants were going to kill Eric. He woke up and went to take his test at school. He failed it and had to sleep an hour early that day. When he was growing up he never told anyone about that experience. From that day forward he cared for the insects and always wandered that if that dream was real.

This book was very interesting and exiting. It takes yoou on an adventure that you will never go in you life. It makes you want to read on and has interesting details that you might catch. I can't describe this book well enough because it's too good of an adventure book.

My favorite part is when he runs away from everyone that he meets and how it ended. These parts are my favorite because first he has to run from everyone because he isn't an insect and the ending summarized the story.

Great read-aloud book for parent and child.
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 1999-08-31
This book is absolutely delightful! I am afraid that the targetted audience (ages 9-12, grades 5-8) are just that segment of the population that will, temporarily, not really appreciate it. I read it aloud to my five year old daughter and I would be hard pressed to say who enjoyed it more. She loved the fantasy and adventure. I was charmed by the quaint language and usage and amused by the satire. My husband is now reading it and says it's a great way to relax at the end of the day - it puts all the quotidian nonsence into perspective! I suggest getting this book to read to your toddlers and then putting it away until they are ready for a bit of fun to unwind while studying for college finals: it will awaken fond memories, and be something they can continue to go back to for a pleasant "time out" from "fast-paced modern-day living".

Scott
Essentials of Economics
Published in Paperback by Scott Foresman & Co (1990-01)
Author: Paul R. Gregory
List price: $58.00
New price: $6.00
Used price: $0.40

Average review score:

really helpful book for econ students
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2000-10-04
This book was extremely helpful and well-written. Concepts are well explained and the book leaves you with no questions left to ask during lecture!

really helpful book for econ students
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2000-10-04
This book was extremely helpful and well-written. Concepts are well explained and the book leaves you with no questions left to ask during lecture!

Great book for a business student
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2000-08-24
Great book and also "great" price

Scott
Esther Waters: A novel
Published in Unknown Binding by Walter Scott (1894)
Author: George Moore
List price:
Used price: $54.00
Collectible price: $35.00

Average review score:

A nice little time capsule of the period
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2007-05-17
A nice insightful look into the life of a working class umarried mother of the late victorian period who copes with her misfortune of falling in with the WRONG PERSON and struggles to rise from the situation towards her self redemption. Everyone can identify with this main character.

It is cold and unsentimental. Very Victorian in its writing and very very real in its view. Absolutely unflinching in its view.

I got this novel to give me insights into the period. I found more than I was looking for and am very very well pleased as will anybody who cares to sit down and read this delightful novel.

Good look for the student of history interested in Victorian England. A joy for anyone interested in the life of women. And a very good moral novel that anyone will enjoy reading.

First major English realist novel
Helpful Votes: 24 out of 24 total.
Review Date: 1998-12-09
George Moore was an Irish landowner who received his indoctrination into the world of art and literature in France. His encounter there with the realist movement led to the first three truly realistic (defined as against the prevailing moralism and/or melodrama of Victorian fiction) novels in English literature proper: A Modern Lover, A Mummer's Wife and Esther Waters.

Of the three, Esther Waters is the most fully developed and it is certainly the most engaging for a modern reader. In it, a woman has a child out of wedlock, and not only survives (through a variety of trials that are dispassionately but unflinchingly depicted) but in a manner of speaking prospers (Compare this for example with Elizabeth Gaskell's *Ruth*, written some 40+ years earlier).

A great read. An important milestone in the transition from moralism to realism in English fiction. An Irish writer who played an important role in the Irish literary renaissance in the early years of the 19th century.

Well worth the read.

An unflinching survey of poverty and survival
Helpful Votes: 5 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2004-07-16
An unsentimental (nearly unemotional) survey of poverty’s crushing dehumanization. Born impoverished, the title character is nonetheless raised with a carefully defined sense of morality and self-respect. This is wrung out of her over years of economic exploitation and casual sadism by the moneyed class. By the end of the novel she’s accepting the most degrading misfortune as almost a birthright.

The Victorian writing requires careful reading. The paragraph where Esther has premarital sex is so opaque that it’s uncertain what exactly happened until later when the pregnancy is revealed. And certainly the word ‘pregnancy’ isn’t used (“Yes Ma’am, I’m 7 months gone”).

Finally a pet peeve about phonetically spelling dialects. Reading dialogue like " ‘e went ‘ome to see ‘is wife, but she locked ‘im out o’ the ‘ouse. " gets mighty tiresome.

Scott
Every Crushing Stroke
Published in Paperback by Scott Shipley,US (2002-01-10)
Author: Scott Shipley
List price:

Average review score:

Want to paddle slalom? Read this book...
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2005-03-06
Although there is a lot of good knowledge floating around out there, very little of it has ever been compiled. Shipley does an outstanding job of compiling some outstanding information useful to a recreational paddler wanting to improve technique, or a hopeless racer-head trying to eleveate themselves to the next level.

On Slalom
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2005-09-13
What I wasn't prepared for the first time I picked up this book was what an inspired writer Scott Shipley is. Don't get me wrong -- this book is for folks who are captivated by slalom racing. I would protect this book if I could - from all the demanding folks with five free minutes between TV watching sessions and lack of comprehension enough to think that the title on the cover actually contains the correct letters to spell "Into Thin Air." I think that this book has settled comfortably into obscurity (with the possible exception of Scott's garage, where I'm sure many copies hold a prominent position!) This book does not have a wide appeal - it is a book (half-techincal manual, really) written by an engineer and man who lived with his head down for years, honed in on a desperate pursuit of excellence.

And so it is just so surprising how lyrical and inspired the writing is. The first third of the book is a history of Shipley's career -- and what a history! It is more than just Rich Weiss's legacy that "shines forth from the pages of this book." It is Shipley's. He has undertaken an incredible journey -- one from which he has not really returned. It all comes through -- the heartbreaking three failures in the Olympic Games, the "necessary arrogance" and "heat-seeking missle" that he became - refusing to lose during even basic practice sessions, the death of the seemingly invincible Rich Weiss, the living in stark poverty in a tree house in British Columbia and then being whisked into the opulence of the Olympic Village, the flailings and missteps and ragged toughness of Shipley, Weiss and Brian Brown walking barefoot through the snow, digging out their cars with kayak paddles, paddling barehanded in the huge water of the Chilliwack "at Biblical levels" and mututally breaking down and systematically putting back together the ideal racing technique in their "laboratory" way out in British Columbia - trying to succeed where Americans never had, exiles from their own country -- and from the traditional, lavish hotspots of the European racing factory.

It's all there. I can still picture a young Shipley on the river bank at the World Championships scanning the fog and hearing the cheers of the crowd just upstream -- only to see Jon Lugbill's fist just above the fog - his top hand hammering up and down with "every crushing stroke" and then seeing Lugbill himself in all his glory "surge out of the fog on a full speed sprint" with the other two Americans, Jed Prentice and Davey Hearn, right on his stern, as they smoked down the course on their way to the Team Gold Medal.

Overall, it's a great technical manual too - but you would expect that. I won't write any more, lord knows few enough people will ever read this book I believe. But I think it's awesome still.

essential
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2004-08-30
essential reading for any slalom athlete, even if a little outdated. needs to be read a few times to be fully understood, but that's because at times it goes pretty deep.

Scott
Exploring Arizona Wild Areas: A Guide for Hikers, Backpackers, Climbers, X-Country Skiers & Paddlers (Exploring Wild Area Series)
Published in Paperback by Mountaineers Books (1996-05)
Author: Scott S. Warren
List price: $14.95
New price: $8.95
Used price: $3.55

Average review score:

Superb guide to Arizona wilderness areas
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2000-08-01
This is an excellent guide for hikers to the wilderness areas in Arizona. It includes many fine areas, such as Apache Creek , Cedar Bench, and Pine Mountain not covered in the newer "Guide to Arizona Wilderness Areas."

Each of the 87 areas includes a quick summary of important info such as distance & elevation, detailed instructions to reach the areas and find the trailheads (and whether 4WD is required), a basic map of the wilderness area (including access roads and designated trails), discussion of geology, plants, wildlife, and sometimes historical notes. Many areas include B&W pictures.

Some areas have descriptions of activities beyond hiking, such as river running, rock climbing, and cross-country skiing.

Exemplary collection of Arizonaýs Wild Areas
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 1999-01-01
Covering over eighty designated wilderness areas you will be suprised. The focus of the book is to provide valuable information. Geology, history, plants, wildlife, and seasons to explore are well documented. Areas rarely published make this a great book. I agree with Todd Tiddyman's review, you will enjoy this book time and time again.

A Must For Hiking Arizona
Helpful Votes: 5 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 1997-08-10

This book is one of Scott Warren's exemplary outdoor-related books. This mammoth effort includes area and trail descriptions for 87 of Arizona's Wild Areas. Descriptions of each area include statistics, hiking seasons recommended, plants and wildlife, geology, and a hiking narrative which includes good trail information as well as detailed information on how to access trailheads. An excellent basic map detailing every trail accompanies each area. This book is the first one I reach for when I am looking for Arizona hiking information. I am sure it will be yours too

Scott
Exploring Language
Published in Paperback by Scott Foresman/Addison-Wesley (1989-01)
Author: Gary Goshgarian
List price: $24.60
Used price: $0.34
Collectible price: $24.60

Average review score:

A Textbook I Actually Enjoyed!
Helpful Votes: 11 out of 11 total.
Review Date: 2000-09-27
I used this book, coupled with some dry, boring, pretentious linguistics book, in my Anthropology class "Language and Culture." Goshgarian did a wonderful job putting it together. It would be a great tool for any student of sociolinguistics. Some of the books for sociolinguistics have forgotten who they're writing to; they try so hard to sound intelligent and end up making themselves look foolish when nobody understands. This book however, completely avoids that. Goshgarian should be applauded for this work. I can't wait for the next edition to come out!

Great essay book
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2006-02-26
Delivery was a blast(2 days). Packaging was perfect, and the book was new as promised . This book has many great essays and written works by famous writers and various other people. It has guidelines for writing essays and speeches, also it has language visuals e.g. cartoons, ads, media, e-mails. Detailed explaination of every topic plus writing assignment and critical thinking. Great book for college studies and teaching.

terrific!
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 11 total.
Review Date: 1999-12-04
this book is highly recommended by cityu of hk students, as it can inspire your interest in writing, surely you can gain a lot and improve your writing skills after reading this book.

Scott
F Scott Fitzgerald: The Great Gatsby (Icon Reader's Guides to Essential Criticism)
Published in Paperback by Totem Books (1997-05)
Author:
List price:
New price: $22.25
Used price: $12.38

Average review score:

The Great Gatsby: What a novel!
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2003-07-09
The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a fiction novel that took the world by storm. Nick, Jay Gatsby, Tom and Daisy Buchanan, Jordan a tangled mess of social relationships, some intended for love, some for friendships, others stemmed from old running love. Nick lives on West Egg, near the Gatsby mansion, Gatsby a man whom Nick comes to know well, as well as possible.

Gatsby throws huge social gatherings that people come to even if not familiar with the man Gatsby himself. Nick goes to these gatherings and soon meets Gatsby and becomes friends of leisure. When reading of these lavish parties of Gatsby's F. Scott Fitzgerald makes you feel as though you have been there and wish to stay one second and leave the next by feelings of discomfort. But yet you will want to continue to read to see what is in store next.

Gatsby throws these gatherings in hopes of meeting Daisy once again, for in the past they were lovers. Tom, who is Daisy's husband, is also Nick's old college buddy, is clueless of Gatsby's intentions with Daisy. Which Tom himself is not so faithful to Daisy. Nick agrees, not so whole heartedly, to help Gatsby and Daisy meet. As all of this falls into place Tom continues to see a mistress by the name of Mrs. Wilson, a woman who is married to a mechanic living in a dreary place. Meanwhile Nick starts to fall for a flirtatious and wildly mannered Ms. Jordan Baker. The parties continue to exist, and the company continues to fall into a social web of deceit and denial. As this all takes place you feel for Gatsby because of his longing for Daisy, but are struck by a weak appalling feeling for the way he seems to go about his business.

As the story continues to fall into place some find true love, some find old love, while others find the truth. The plot thickens as a death occurs causing an uproar of suspension of motive and a scandalous cover up causing suspension and tension among the old acquaintances.

F. Scott Fitzgerald throws twist and turns at you in this novel just when you think nothing else could happen. He has quite the talent for hooking a read and slowly reeling them in to feel every slight bump and jerk before reaching the shore, or the end. Which leads to another misfortunate death in the novel that was a great mistake, but yet made a great ending to a great novel that will have you intrigued from the first page to the last.

Maybe Gatsby wasn't great, but the story is...
Helpful Votes: 6 out of 10 total.
Review Date: 2004-09-28
There is a reason why this is required reading in advanced literature classes throughout the country. This is without a doubt one of the best tales ever told. It should be used as an example to any aspiring writer of what great writing can be. The thing that makes it so great is Fitzgerald's ability to formulate characters, both large and small, and his ability to have them interact in a manner that is at once both imaginative and realistic. This makes the story, which in and of itself is not more amazing than other books, more amazing because you are compelled to believe the plausibility of a story that is incredible. Even if you are not a literature student you will find this book an enjoyable read that is intellectually stimulating, yet easy reading for those reading to relax. Many have copied this story directly and indirectly because of the lesson it teaches (that in the story about life and that about creating a story) and many will continue to do so in the future.

The Failure of Gatsby's American Dream
Helpful Votes: 6 out of 11 total.
Review Date: 2003-12-01
The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, was published by Simon & Schuster Inc. in New York in 1925. The book is about the American Dream and the failure of the attempt to reach its illusionary goals, especially the Gatsby's. The attempt to capture the American Dream is central theme to many stories of all times. For Gatsby, the dream is that one can acquire love and happiness through wealth and power. F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896 - 1940) was born in St Paul, Minnesota. He was an American short-story writer and novelist. The Great Gatsby is considered as Fitzgerald's finest novel.
The story was set in New York and Long Island in 1920's. Nick Carraway is a young man working as a bond broker in New York. He is used as the narrator throughout the story. Nick acts as an insider as well as an outsider. He eyes everything that is happening in between, but has no intention to interfere. I think he chooses not to lose anybody close to him in the story. This arrangement makes it easy for Fitzgerald to give the audience detailed inside information and to back out as an outsider as needed. The core character, Jay Gatsby, is a character that longs for the past. He devotes most of his adult life trying to recapture it and he finally pays his life as the price in his pursuit. When he was young in the military, Gatsby fell in love with the beautiful Daisy, but he could not marry her because of the difference in their social status. So he left her to acquire wealth. When he got the wealth legally or illegally, he moved near to Daisy, who has already married to another wealthy man, and threw extravagant parties every week hoping Daisy might show up one day at the party. Finally, he set up a meeting with Daisy through her cousin Nick. Fitzgerald uses Gatsby's personal dream to symbolize the larger American Dream where all have the opportunity to get what they want.
Nick is a multi-functional character to the author. He uses Nick as the approach for Gatsby to Daisy. The author naturally arranges all these. Gatsby cannot accept that the past is gone and done with. Nick once attempts to show him the folly of his dream, but Gatsby innocently replies to Nick's assertion that the past cannot be relived. For Gatsby, his American Dream is not material possessions, although it may seem that way. He only comes into wealth to fulfill his Dream, Daisy.
Gatsby believes that he is acting for good beyond his personal interest and that should guarantee success. However, he is terribly wrong. He is so determined and so blind that he would do anything to get Daisy, even covering her up for the fatal accident. His dream never comes about and he ends up paying the ultimate price for it. The idea of the American Dream still holds true in today's time, which is wealth, love, or fame. But one thing never changes about the American Dream. That is everyone desires something in life and strives to get it. Gatsby is a good example of pursuing the American Dream.
A society naturally breaks up into various social groups over time. Members of the lower statuses constantly suppose that their problems can be solved if they gain enough wealth to reach the upper class. Fitzgerald believes in his story that many people interpret the American Dream as being this passage to high social status. They believe once reaching that point, they do not have to worry about money any more. Though, the American Dream involves more than the social and economic standings of an individual.
It seems that the more Gatsby tries to obtain, the less he ends up with. The saddest part of Gatsby is the funeral, which symbolizes the ultimate failure of Gatsby to ever achieve what he has wanted. The women he loved and died for was not present. None of the people who frequented the parties over the summer showed up. Wolfsheim, whom Nick believed to be a close friend to Gatsby, refused to attend. The idealism conflicts with the materialism and is torn apart. However, it is his father who lives at the bottom of the society, who is the most natural and native person in the story, whom Gatsby has never mentioned about, finds his way to his son's mansion for the funeral. What greatness of a father's love is in contrast to the love that Gatsby died for? That is the love of eternity. The father loves his son no matter his son is rich or poor. At this moment, both the idealism and materialism are eclipsed by the truthfulness and naturalness. And that is why Nick was tired of the life there, the carelessness of the people, and the corruption of the society in the American East. He decided to head back to his origin, to the more natural and traditional American Mid-West.
Gatsby possesses an extreme imbalance between the material and spiritual sides of himself. Fitzgerald uses him as a portrait of the ultimate failure of the American Dream in that individuals tend to believe wealth is everything. Maybe what Fitzgerald wants to say is that a nation cannot operate solely on materialism. The spirits of individuals are the true composition of a nation.


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