Great Gatsby Second book of 20th century

My friends honestly i really didn`t like the great Gatsby at all. I mean I liked it but not as a big work. you know i am not that much knowledgeable may be that`s why. but really i didn`t see anything in this story that makes it remarkable. in my own opinion i think it is normal story like so many other stories. also when i ask my friends they think so.it is simple story that any one can write. I mean I myself didn`t see anything in the story that makes it second story of the century.
what do you think? as i mentioned i am not professional or critic or anything. may be criticizers see something that cannot see. anyway what is your opinion is there any reason that it is one the best works.?

I did not think it was a bad book. I just did not feel very moved by it. I am a little surprised that it is so well regarded. Perhaps there was a lot in it that I missed.

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Originally Posted by kev67

I did not think it was a bad book. I just did not feel very moved by it. I am a little surprised that it is so well regarded. Perhaps there was a lot in it that I missed.

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Yeah as i said it is not bad book but i what does it really have that it deserve to be the best book of all time? or second book of the century?
the question is: what really made it to be the best novel of the century?
actually when i compare it with other works like catcher in the rye or seize the day or so many other stories i don`t see any thing remarkable. all of these works that i mentioned got the potential of being the best novel or novella which in my opinion i think are more remarkable that the great Gatsby.
really what made the great Gatsby,The Great Gatsby?

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Originally Posted by mohammadali

in my own opinion i think it is normal story like so many other stories.

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This is the crux of it. It is the same reason why Shakespeare is "Shakespeare": it is not so much a normal story, but a universal story - a story of longing and regret, something we all have. Also similar to Shakespeare is the memorability of every major character. You do not find such vibrant characters in Catcher in the Rye or even in most Hemingway novels (despite the fact that overall, Hemingway is considered the better author) - The Great Gatsby leaves you remembering Nick, Tom, Daisy, Jay, Jordan &c. because you are given such an intimate look into their lives that they break through the fictional barrier in ways others do not.

Next, the writing style. It is so carefully constructed; hardly a phrase is wasted.

And of course the reflection of its time: the statement that it made against the concept of the American Dream is both powerful and continues to be relevant (which I do not believe Catcher in the Rye does) in today's capitalist society.

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Originally Posted by Charles Darnay

This is the crux of it. It is the same reason why Shakespeare is "Shakespeare": it is not so much a normal story, but a universal story - a story of longing and regret, something we all have. Also similar to Shakespeare is the memorability of every major character. You do not find such vibrant characters in Catcher in the Rye or even in most Hemingway novels (despite the fact that overall, Hemingway is considered the better author) - The Great Gatsby leaves you remembering Nick, Tom, Daisy, Jay, Jordan &c. because you are given such an intimate look into their lives that they break through the fictional barrier in ways others do not.

Next, the writing style. It is so carefully constructed; hardly a phrase is wasted.

And of course the reflection of its time: the statement that it made against the concept of the American Dream is both powerful and continues to be relevant (which I do not believe Catcher in the Rye does) in today's capitalist society.

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This, basically. Anybody could have written that novel but nobody could have written it like Fitzgerald. It encapsulated its era in a way that few other books have done and yet it is more than a period piece.