Zum Inhalt springen
The Library
of Alexandria
5 h 33 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
The Great Gatsby, the audiobook coverAudiobook edition · 5 h 33 min
StandardLarge printLarge print · bigger, clearer type
The Great Gatsby, paperbackPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soon
The Great Gatsby, hardcoverHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soon
About this book

His mansion fills with strangers, but Jay Gatsby wants only one woman to return.

On Long Island in the summer of 1922, Nick Carraway rents a cottage beside a mansion alive with music and lavish parties. Its owner, Jay Gatsby, has money, mystery, and a dream. As Nick draws closer, the glitter gives way to a longing that wealth alone cannot satisfy.

Gatsby hopes to win back Daisy Buchanan, Nick’s charming cousin and the wife of wealthy, domineering Tom. In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald brings their desires into a world divided by old money and new. Beneath the bright surface lies a troubling question: what happens when a dream depends on bringing back the past?

What you’ll discover

  • A mansion full of longing Step into extravagant parties where crowds gather around a host they barely know.
  • Love tied to yesterday Follow Gatsby’s pursuit of Daisy and his fierce hope of recovering their lost past.
  • The shelter of wealth Explore how inherited money protects Tom and Daisy from the consequences of their carelessness.
  • A witness with doubts See this glittering world through Nick, whose wish to judge fairly meets difficult tests.
  • Images that hold meaning Look beyond the green light and gray ashes to the desires and divisions they reveal.

Who will love it

This is for readers who love a story about longing, glamorous parties, and the cost of a dream. It suits anyone drawn to the Roaring Twenties and to narrators who watch closely.

What’s inside

The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary

  1. Nick Carraway moves next door to a mystery
  2. A dinner in East Egg shows cracks
  3. The valley of ashes shows the cost
  4. Gatsby's parties draw everyone and know no one
  5. A gambler and a golfer open Gatsby's secret
  6. Tea in the rain brings the lovers together
  7. Summer heat drives the quarrel into the open
  8. Gatsby's dream is built on a past he invented
  9. Money makes some people careless and others pay
  10. Nick tells the story through images and a moral eye

Who’s who

  • Nick CarrawayA young bond salesman from the Midwest who rents next to Gatsby and tells the story, trying to keep judgment in check.
  • Jay GatsbyA mysterious millionaire who throws grand parties on Long Island and wants only to win back Daisy, the woman he loved before the war.
  • Daisy BuchananNick's charming cousin in East Egg, married to Tom, with a voice that draws everyone close and a hidden restlessness.
  • Tom BuchananDaisy's wealthy, domineering husband, a former football star who keeps a mistress and clings to his sense of superiority.
  • Jordan BakerA professional golfer and friend of Daisy, cool and quick-witted, who draws Nick into the circle and keeps secrets of her own.
  • Myrtle WilsonTom's mistress, full of vitality, who lives above her husband's garage and longs for a grander life.
  • George WilsonMyrtle's worn-out husband, a mechanic in the valley of ashes who wants to take his wife away and start over out West.
  • Meyer WolfshiemA sentimental gambler and Gatsby's associate, said to have fixed the 1919 World Series, who guards his own interests.

Read the first key idea free

Formats and delivery
eBook
On your phone, tablet or computer, once the book texts are online.
Large-print eBook
The same book in bigger, clearer type, once the book texts are online.
Audiobook
Read by Lucas Linden, complete. It opens once the recording is online.
15-minute summary
The key ideas in about 14 minutes, to read today.
Paperback
6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
Hardcover
6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
Large print paperback
8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
Large print hardcover
8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.

Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout. The eBook and the audiobook open when the book texts go online.

How it works
  1. Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
  2. Read, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, 5 accounts for the price of one.
  3. We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then 0,14 USD a day in your first year on the yearly plan and 0,27 USD a day after, or 0,66 USD a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.

Bought on its own? Every eBook, audiobook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.

Start the yearly plan free · Start the monthly plan free

Classic & Literary

The Great Gatsby

by F. Scott Fitzgerald · 1925

A mysterious millionaire throws lavish parties on Long Island, all to win back one woman across the bay.

Medium level2–5 hours to readDeutsch

Format: eBook
Type size: Standard

Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device

Read free3 months free · cancel anytime

Free for 3 months, then 0,14 USD a dayCancel anytimeHow it works

We accept Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Shop Pay.
  • Read or listen
  • Print and large print at cost
  • 5 accounts for the price of one
Give this book as a gift

In short

What would you do to win back someone you loved five years ago? Jay Gatsby buys a mansion on Long Island, fills it with strangers every Saturday night, and waits for one face to walk through his gate.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the cover

From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1

Nick Carraway moves next door to a mystery

Nick Carraway, a young man from a well-off Midwestern family, comes east in the spring of 1922 to learn the bond business. He rents a weather-beaten bungalow in West Egg, a Long Island village of new money. Beside it stands a huge mansion copied from a French town hall, with a marble pool and more than forty acres of lawn and garden. It belongs to a man named Gatsby, whom Nick has never met.

Read every key idea free

Free for 3 months · Cancel anytime

Which edition is right for me
15-minute summary
The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
First published
1925
Language
Deutsch
Reading time
3 h 35 min
Level
Medium level

Cite this edition

Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-great-gatsby.

Free gifts

580 USD in free gifts when you start

Every book in every format and in 25 languages, 5 accounts for the price of one. Nothing to pay today.

Try 3 months freeFree for 3 months · Renews every year · Cancel anytime
  • 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side170 USDFREE
  • Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device120 USDFREE
  • 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages60 USDFREE
  • Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print60 USDFREE
  • 5 accounts for the price of oneA shelf for everyone at home170 USDFREE
  • A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for allFREE

Questions about The Great Gatsby

Can I read it free?

Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.

Can I buy the printed book?

Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.

How many accounts do I get?

Five, for the price of one: you and 4 more people, each with their own login, shelf and their own place in every book.

Can I cancel anytime?

Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. Nothing is charged in your first 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment.

What is The Great Gatsby about?

It follows Nick Carraway, who moves to Long Island in 1922 and befriends his mysterious neighbor Jay Gatsby. Gatsby throws lavish parties in hopes of winning back Daisy Buchanan, the woman he loved before the war.

What does the green light mean in The Great Gatsby?

The green light burns at the end of Daisy's dock, across the bay from Gatsby's house. It stands for his hope and longing, and for a future that always seems just out of reach.

Is The Great Gatsby a true story?

No, it is a novel, published in 1925. Fitzgerald drew on the world he knew, the parties, money, and Long Island society of the early 1920s, but the characters and events are invented.

The author

F. Scott Fitzgerald

1896–1940 · American novelist

F. Scott Fitzgerald was an American novelist and short-story writer, born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in 1896. He lived in the United States and France. He published This Side of Paradise in 1920, The Beautiful and Damned in 1922, and The Great Gatsby in 1925. He died in Hollywood in 1940.

More by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Alle Bücher des Autors ansehen

More like this

Our mission

The library burned once. We are building it back.

Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.

Read our story
  • Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
  • No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
  • For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing

Popular in classics

See all
The Great GatsbyFree for 3 months · nothing to pay today
Read free