The Great Gatsby Chapter 1

The Great Gatsby
F. Scott Fitzgerald

With The Great Gatsby, I was not immediately intrigued as with The House of Mirth.  The first chapter went pretty slow, and I thought that Nick, the narrator, was Gatsby at first until he actually mentioned Gatsby by name a few paragraphs into the story.  The West Egg/East Egg contrast was very interesting, but the novel really picked up when Mr. Carraway visited Tom and Daisy Buchanan for dinner.  I liked Daisy pretty well at first, but Tom seemed a little pompous and lived in the past [the football reference].  I also liked Ms. Baker and was really surprised that her first name was Jordan considering the novel was written in 1925 [I thought Jordan was more of a modern name].
      The chapter also had some funny moments, as when Daisy asked if anyone missed her from her hometown, and Nick replied, "The whole town is desolate.  All the cars have the left rear wheel painted black as a mourning wreath, and there's a persistent wail all night along the north shore" (Fitzgerald, page 9).  Oh, and I forgot Tom's mistress-- what a jerk!
      I wonder maybe if Daisy has a little thing for Nick.  They had a private conversation and later Nick claimed that she should "rush out of the house, child in arms" (Fitzgerald, page 20)-- possibly with him...
      I also want to take a second and comment on a major difference between The House of Mirth and The Great Gatsby: the narrator and corresponding point of view.  In the novel, Nick Carraway is the narrator and the story is written in first person, while the narrator was omniscient in The House of Mirth.