My Pleasure Reading. Summary (pages 1-60)

    The beginning of the novel is marked by the narrator's (Nick Carraway) comment on himself : he said that he was very tolerant, and had a tendency to reserve judgment. Nick lived  in New York  in a part of Long Island known as West Egg. West Egg was home to the nouveau rich, while neighbouring East Egg was home to the representatives of the old aristocracy. Nick's house was next door to Gatsby's enormous,  Gothic mansion. One night, Nick attended a dinner party in East Egg; the party was given by Tom Buchanan and his wife, Daisy. Daisy was Nick's cousin, while Tom had been Nick's classmate at Yale. Tom came from an enormously wealthy family, and had been one of the best football players  at Yale. There was also Daisy's friend  Jordan Baker who made her living as a professional golfer. During the party Nick learned from Jordan that Tom had a mistress. After that visit, on his way home Nick saw a handsome young man, Jay Gatsby,for the first time,  standing on his wide lawn, with his arms stretched out to the sea. 

    Some time later, Tom took Nick to the city to show off his mistress, a married woman named Myrtle Wilson. Myrtle’s husband, George, was a passive, working class man who owned an auto garage and was oblivious to his wife’s extramarital activities. Nick was none too impressed by Tom.

    Back on West Egg, one day Gatsby  invited Nick to one of his amazing parties, where everyone  could come and spend great time and try to figure out how Gatsby got so rich. Nick met and became friends with Jay Gatsby at one of his huge Saturday night affairs. He also began to spend time with Jordan who seemed to fall in love with him.