Великий Гэтсби / The Great Gatsby

Фрэнсис Скотт Кэй Фицджеральд

Легко читаем по-английски

«Великий Гэтсби» – вершина творчества американского писателя Ф. С. Фицджеральда. Поразительное умение автора видеть вечное в сиюминутном, романтическое восприятие жизни, стиль сродни джазовой импровизации – все это делает роман, написанный в 1925 г., интересным и сегодня. Текст произведения сокращен и незначительно адаптирован для уровня Upper-Intermediate (для продолжающих учить английский язык верхней ступени), а также снабжен комментариями. В конце книги – словарь и замечательный очерк Г. Г. Генниса «О Фицджеральде и его романе».

Фрэнсис Скотт Фицджеральд / Francis Scott Fitzgerald

Великий Гэтсби / The Great Gatsby

© Матвеев С. А., адаптация текста, комментарии, словарь

© ООО «Издательство АСТ»

Chapter 1

In my younger years my father gave me some advice. “Whenever you feel like criticizing any one[1 - Whenever you feel like criticizing any one – Если тебе вдруг захочется осудить кого-то],” he told me, “just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.”

A habit to reserve all judgments has opened up many curious natures to me. In college I was privy to the secret griefs[2 - secret griefs – горести] of wild, unknown men.

When I came back from the East last autumn I felt that I wanted the world to be in uniform. I wanted no more riotous excursions with privileged glimpses into the human heart[3 - riotous excursions with privileged glimpses into the human heart – увлекательные вылазки с привилегией заглядывать в человеческие души]. Only Gatsby, the man who gives his name to this book, was exempt from my reaction – Gatsby who represented everything for which I have an unaffected scorn[4 - which I have an unaffected scorn – всё, что я искренне презирал и презираю].

There was something gorgeous about him, some heightened sensitivity to the promises of life[5 - promises of life – посулы жизни], as if he were related to[6 - as if he were related to – словно он был частью] one of those intricate machines that register earthquakes ten thousand miles away. It was an extraordinary gift for hope, a romantic readiness such as I have never found in any other person.

My family have been prominent, well-to-do people for three generations. The Carraways[7 - Carraways – Каррауэи] are something of a clan. I graduated from New Haven[8 - New Haven – имеется в виду Йельский университет (который находится в городе Нью-Хейвен)] in 1915, then I decided to go east and learn the bond business[9 - bond business – кредитное дело]. Father agreed to finance me for a year and after various delays I came east, permanently, I thought, in the spring of twenty-two[10 - in the spring of twenty-two – весной 1922 года].

I had an old Dodge[11 - Dodge – «додж», марка автомобиля] and a Finnish woman who made my bed and cooked breakfast.

I bought a dozen volumes on banking and credit and investment securities and they stood on my shelf in red and gold.

I lived at West Egg[12 - West Egg – Уэст-Эгг]. My house was between two huge places that rented for twelve or fifteen thousand a season. The one on my right was Gatsby’s mansion.

Across the bay the white palaces of fashionable East Egg glittered along the water, and the history of the summer really begins on the evening I drove over there to have dinner with the Buchanans[13 - Buchanan – Бьюкенен]. Daisy[14 - Daisy – Дэзи] was my second cousin[15 - second cousin – троюродная сестра]. Her husband’s family was enormously wealthy – even in college his freedom with money was a matter for reproach[16 - was a matter for reproach – вызывала нарекания]. Why they came east I don’t know. They had spent a year in France, for no particular reason, and then drifted here and there.

Their house was even more elaborate than I expected. The lawn started at the beach and ran toward the front door for a quarter of a mile. Tom had changed since his New Haven years. Now he was a sturdy, straw haired man of thirty with a rather hard mouth[17 - a rather hard mouth – твёрдо очерченный рот]