This summer, I read the Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald, partly because I had a copy on hand, had just seen the movie that spring, and because it was on the summer reading list. As I was reading it, I noticed that, in my opinion, the language in the book is nicer than the characters. Especially most of the women characters, who don't really have any character development. For example, I'll invite Daisy Buchannan to the spotlight. Daisy is seen as being attractive, as well as lovable. She also has a certain habit of murmuring instead of speaking clearly, causing the people around her to lean in. Nick Carraway, the narrator, points out that Daisy loves the attention that people give her.

Next, shall we invite the lovely Miss Baker to the stage? She is one of Nick's close friends, and goes with him to Gatsby's party. She seems clever enough, until we find out that she's a 'pathological liar'. Oh, and she cheats at golf. What a wonderful résumé.

Now lets add Myrtle Wilson, Tom Buchannan's very own mistress into the mix. She is described as being unattractive, as well as unladylike. Alright, that's fine. But then when Nick meets Mrs Wilson, he founds out that not only is she already married, she's cheating on her husband Mr Wilson by being Tom's mistress. And then she's also cheating in her own way on Daisy because she knows that Daisy is married already to Tom.

In this book, not only are most of the women characters shallow and not entirely likeable, but the men are, too. Let's take a look at this Tom. Mr Buchannan, please take the spotlight. When Nick goes to dinner at the Buchannans' estate, the talk during dinner is all about some rather racist book that Tom had just read. Tom is generally described as being conceited. Then Tom is very eager to introduce Nick to his mistress Myrtle, so he can boast about how much of a man he is and to make Nick jealous.

And now what about this Nick character anyway? Mr Carraway, the floor is yours. In the very introduction to the book, Nick states that he thinks of himself as having high standards because of his father. Later in the book, Nick says in a conversation that he doesn't like careless people. At the same time, Nick is friends with Gatsby, who careless at times, but has enough money that he can literally 'afford' to be careless.

So, after reading the Great Gatsby, I learned that there can still be a great book, with excellent writing and technique, and a fine story, despite having many not so nice characters.