　　《字里行间英文经典：了不起的盖茨比》是一阕华丽的“爵士时代”的挽歌，也是一部饱含韵味、极富美感的“最为动人的美国悲剧”，被视为探索个人自由的主题和拷问“美国梦”承诺的小说。
　　《字里行间英文经典：了不起的盖茨比》主要讲述了茨比为了久久地抱着的一个梦而付出了很高的代价。他死后，尼克发觉是汤姆暗中挑拨威尔逊去杀死盖茨比。他感到东部鬼影幢幢，世态炎凉，便决定回中西部老家去。这是一个简单的故事，却有着极悲凉的人生况味。

作者简介

　　F.S.菲茨杰拉德（Francis Scott Fitzgerald，1896-1940） was an American author of novels and short stories, whose works are the paradigm writings of the Jazz Age. He finished four novels: This Side of Paradise, The Beautiful and Damned, Tender is the Night, and his most famous, The Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald is widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century.

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精彩书摘

　　'My house looks well, doesn't it?' he demanded. 'See how the whole front of it eatehes the light.'
　　I agreed that it was splendid.
　　'Yes.' His eyes went over it, every arched door and square tower. 'It took me just three years to earn the money that bought it.'
　　'I thought you inherited your money.'
　　'I did, old sport,' he said automatically, 'but I lost most of it in the big panic - the panic of the war.'
　　I think he hardly knew what he was saying, for when I asked him what business he was in he answered: 'That's my affair,' before he realised that it wasn't an appropriate reply.
　　'Oh, I've been in several things,' he corrected himself. 'I was in the drug business and then I was in the oil business. But I'm not in either one now.' He looked at me with more attention. 'Do you mean you've been thinking over what I proposed the other night?'
　　Before I could answer, Daisy came out of the house and two rows of brass buttons on her dress gleamed in the sunlight.
　　'That huge place there?' she cried pointing.
　　'Do you like it?'
　　'I love it, but I don't see how you live there all alone.'
　　'I keep it always full of interesting people, night and day. People who do interesting things. Celebrated people.'
　　Instead of taking the short cut along the Sound we went down to the road and entered by the big postern. With enchanting murmurs, Daisy admired this aspect or that of the feudal silhouette against the sky, admired the gardens, the sparking odour of jonquils and the frothy odour of hawthorn and plum blossoms and the pale gold odour of kiss-me-at-the-gate. It was strange to reach the marble steps and find no stir of bright dresses in and out of the door, and hear no sound but bird voices in the trees.
　　And inside, as we wandered through Marie Antoinette music-rooms and Restoration salons, I felt that there were guests concealed behind every couch and table, under orders to be breathlessly silent until we had passed through. As Gatsby dosed the door of'the Merton College Library' I could have sworn I heard the owleyed man break into ghostly laughter.
　　……