I was taken aback to realize that I had very few expectations as I opened The Great Gatsby. Sure, I’ve heard of it many times over the years…but when I thought about it, I couldn’t recall exactly what I’ve heard of it.

The short length of this ‘classic novel’ surprised me–I was reading via the Kindle app on my phone and thus didn’t see the book’s ‘thickness’. This was a good surprise in that, at a certain point, when I could see the story winding to conclusion, I hoped there was no spinning the tale out to gain volume.

After finishing the book in one afternoon, I find that my instant reaction is that I wanted Gatsby to be more arrogant…lost and challenging to like, yet redeeming himself in the end. Instead, he seemed genuinely little boy lost and never found. A boy who wanted to be old money in order to find an identity he desired but instead found that nouveau riche gained him nothing of true value.

I know what it is: I wanted him to be roaringly wounded, much like Beast in Beauty and the Beast or some such.

All of that to say, good story…I am glad I read it and much of it will stay with me. What surprising finds have you read–do tell?