“The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald has fascinated readers for years. A lavish 1920s American book about money, love, and the American Dream. Literature has been forever changed by the protagonists’ pursuit of the American Dream. If you like “The Great Gatsby” and want more works about the Roaring Twenties, decadence, ambition, and the human condition, you’re in luck. We’ll examine eight extraordinary literature that resemble “The Great Gatsby.”
Tender Is the Night
Starting with “The Great Gatsby” author F. Scott Fitzgerald’s other masterwork is suitable. “Tender Is the Night” follows the 1920s American expatriate community in France, reminiscent of Gatsby’s opulent parties. The plot centers on charming but unstable Dick Diver and his wife Nicole. Fitzgerald addresses riches, love, and the death of the American Dream via their tangled relationship and the luxurious French Riviera. Dick Diver, like Gatsby, is sad, and his story is a compelling investigation of humanity.
The Beautiful and Damned
In keeping with Fitzgerald, “The Beautiful and Damned” explores luxury and disappointment like “The Great Gatsby.” Anthony Patch and Gloria, a Jazz Age couple living off an inheritance, enjoy a lavish lifestyle. Fitzgerald depicts the destructive effects of consumerism and pleasure as their fortunes and relationship erode. This novel shows the hollowness underlying the Roaring Twenties’ flash and splendor.
Babbitt
Sinclair Lewis’s “Babbitt” skewers 1920s American conformity and materialism. Though less dazzling than “The Great Gatsby,” it criticizes the American Dream and the pursuit of success and fortune. George F. Babbitt, the real estate agent, represents middle-class conformity. After becoming disillusioned with his existence, he questions society’s superficial morals. “Babbitt” analyzes the emptiness of a life lived for monetary gain and conformity, like Fitzgerald’s characters.
The Sun Also Rises
Ernest Hemingway’s “The Sun Also Rises” evokes the Lost Generation and post-World War I pessimism, like “The Great Gatsby.” In 1920s Paris and Spain, a gang of expatriates party, travel, and fall in love. Jake Barnes, the protagonist, is a military veteran grieving his lost love. Hemingway’s plain, clear style eloquently captures the era’s aimlessness and pessimism.
The Age of Innocence
Wharton’s “The Age of Innocence” is set in the Gilded Age of the 1870s, not the Roaring Twenties, yet it has thematic connections to “The Great Gatsby.” Like Gatsby, it examines social standards and forbidden love. Newland Archer, the novel’s protagonist, is engaged to May Welland, but he meets her unorthodox cousin Ellen Olenska, changing his life. Wharton’s story explores the struggle between individual desire and cultural standards, like Gatsby’s love for Daisy Buchanan.
An American Tragedy
Like Jay Gatsby, Theodore Dreiser’s “An American Tragedy” explores the evil side of the American Dream. The tale follows young Clyde Griffiths, who wants success and fortune. He falls into a labyrinth of dishonesty and moral compromises as he rises in society, resulting in a startling catastrophe. Dreiser’s investigation of ambition, moral difficulties, and behavior makes “An American Tragedy” a strong and thought-provoking read for “The Great Gatsby.”
Less Than Zero
Bret Easton Ellis’ “Less Than Zero” is a great contemporary novel that exposes the decadence and emptiness of a materialistic culture. Clay, a young college student, goes home for the holidays and becomes involved in his rich and morally corrupt friends’ lifestyle in 1980s Los Angeles. Similar to Gatsby’s parties, the story depicts a world of excess and luxury with a hollowness and sorrow. “Less Than Zero” depicts a generation consumed by consumerism and pleasure.
Bright Lights, Big City
In “Bright Lights, Big City” by Jay McInerney, 1980s New York City nightlife is explored and compared to “The Great Gatsby.” An unidentified fact-checker for a famous magazine becomes lured to the fast-paced world of parties, drugs, and glamour in the novel. McInerney’s work conveys metropolitan life’s thrill and disillusionment, as well as the search for identity and meaning in a shallow society.
Conclusion
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” explores the American Dream, riches, and the human condition and remains a classic. These eight classics, like “The Great Gatsby,” explore the desire of achievement, materialism’s emptiness, and human disillusionment. These works explore the difficulties of the American Dream and the repercussions of persistent ambition, whether set in the Roaring Twenties or now.