Why The Great Gatsby may be the world’s most misunderstood novel

Few characters from books capturecapture: To take someone or something into one's possession by force; to record accurately in words or images. — 捕获；捕捉；记录 an eraera: A long and distinct period of history characterised by particular features. — 时代；年代 as firmlyfirmly: In a strong or definite way; with determination. — 坚定地；牢固地 as Jay Gatsby captures the Jazz AgeJazz Age: the 1920s in America, when jazz music and lively nightlife defined the decade — 爵士时代. A century after F Scott Fitzgerald wrote him into being, Gatsby has become a kind of brand. His name now sells hotels, sofas, hair products and eveneven: Exactly, just, fully — 正好 sandwiches. People who have never read the novel still feel that they know him, partlypartly: To some extent; not completely. — 部分地；在一定程度上 because Hollywood has filmed his story so many times. Yet the figure on the screen and the figure on the page are not always the same person.

Misunderstanding has followed The Great Gatsby from the start. When the book was published in 1925, Fitzgerald complained to a friend that no reviewerreviewer: A person who writes reviews for a newspaper or other publication; a critic — 评论员,书评人 had any idea what it was really about. Sales were modestmodest: Unassuming in the estimation of one's abilities; moderate in amount or size. — 谦虚的；适度的, and by the time he died in 1940, most copies sat unsoldunsold: Not sold — 未售出的. The novel only took off after World War Two, when the US militarymilitary: Relating to the armed forces or the profession of a soldier. — 军事的；军队的 gave away thousands of free copies to soldiers. By the 1960s it was being taught in schools, and pop culture turned it into a symbol of glamourglamour: Alluring beauty or charm (often with sex appeal) — 魅力;光鲜 and wild parties.

That imageimage: A mental picture of something not real or not present — 心理意象，脑海中的画面, however, hides what the novel is doing. The story is told by Nick Carraway, a first-person narratornarrator: The person or voice whose viewpoint is used in telling a story — 叙述者first-person narrator: the character who tells a story using 'I', as if from inside the events — 第一人称叙述者 who reports events using “I”. The novelistnovelist: A person who writes novels. — 小说家 Michael Farris Smith, whose recent book Nick gives Carraway his own backstorybackstory: The previous life and experiences of a person, especially a character in a dramatic work, prior to the time when their story is being told — 背景故事, suggests that readers often pass over this voice too quickly. In Smith’s version, Nick has fought in the trenchestrench: A narrow excavation as used in warfare, providing cover for soldiers — 战壕 of World War One and has come home with what we would now call PTSD. Trench warfarewarfare: the activity of fighting a war, especially using particular methods or weapons — 战争；作战；冲突trench warfare: the WW1 form of fighting from long defensive ditches dug into the ground — 堑壕战 is therefore not a small detail. It may explain why Nick watches the parties so coldly and why he describes Gatsby with both admirationadmiration: A positive emotion including wonder and approbation; the regarding of another as being wonderful — 钦佩;赞赏 and quiet criticismcriticism: The expression of disapproval based on perceived faults; the analysis and judgement of a work of art. — 批评；评论.

William Cain, a professor at Wellesley College, agrees that Nick is the key to the book. He warns against treating the novel only as a stage for big ideas. Yes, Gatsby raises the question of the American DreamAmerican Dream: the belief that anyone in the US can achieve success and prosperity through hard work — 美国梦, but Fitzgerald shows that the dream is far easier to chasechase: To pursue someone or something in order to catch or catch up with them. — 追赶；追逐 than to reach. Class lines, Cain argues, are stricterstrict: Demanding that rules are obeyed; precisely defined and not to be deviated from. — 严格的；严厉的 than money can fix. Many of his students now feel a kind of sadness about the dream, partly because of wideningwiden: to make or become wider or broader in scope, range, or extent — 加宽；扩大；拓宽 inequalityinequality: a lack of equality, especially in terms of status, rights, or opportunities — 不平等；不均等. To read the novel well, he says, we need to slow down and look closelyclosely: In a way that involves careful attention to detail; in a way that is near in distance or relationship. — 紧密地；密切地 at how Fitzgerald actually writes, sentence by sentence.

Some parts of the novel have not aged well. Fitzgerald clearly disliked the white supremacistsupremacist: Advocating or relating to the supremacy of one particular group over all others — 至上主义的white supremacist: believing that white people are superior to people of other races — 白人至上主义 views of Tom Buchanan, yet the book still uses ugly language about African Americans. The female characters, too, feel thin: they are mainly seen through the eyes of men who want them. Recent writers have responded with new versions. One novel flipsflip: To throw so as to turn over. — 翻转；翻面 the roles so that Jay Gatsby is a woman; another invents a younger sister called Greta Gatsby and turns the story into a murder mystery.

Why does the book still matter? One reason is that it changes with us. Pick it up at fifteen, and it can feel like a glamorousglamorous: Having glamour; stylish — 迷人的 love story. Pick it up at thirty, and it may read as a warning about hope and selfself: A person's essential being that distinguishes them from others; one's own identity. — 自我；自身-deceptiondeception: An act or scheme that misleads someone into believing a lie or inaccuracy — 欺骗,蒙蔽. Read it again later, and the small details of class and loss come forward. As Smith puts it, great novels keep evolvingevolve: To develop gradually over time; to change through biological evolution. — 进化；逐步发展 in our heads because we ourselves keep changing. The parties may be the surface, but the deeper question, what we want and what it costs, is what keeps Gatsby alive.