最全的《The Great Gatsby》小说书摘
1、For a moment I thought I loved her. But I said nothing. I knew that first I had to get myself out of that connection back home. For me, it had never been more than friendship, but there was a sort of understanding between us, and that had to be gently broken off before I was free. ----F· Scott Fitzgerald
2、Gatsby, his hands still in his pockets, was standing in front of the fireplace. The back of his head was touching a clock on a shelf, but he was trying to look perfectly comfortable and even a little bored. His miserable eyes stared down at Daisy, who was sitting, frightened but beautiful, on the edge of a stiff chair. ----F· Scott Fitzgerald
3、Gatsby believed in the green light, the future that year by year moves further away from us. It escaped us then, but that doesn't matter – tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms further … And one fine morning …So we beat on, boats against the current, carried back ceaselessly into the past. ----F· Scott Fitzgerald
4、You see, I think everything's terrible anyway. Everybody thinks so. And I know. I've been everywhere and seen everything and done everything. Nothing's new to me!' She laughed scornfully.The moment her voice stopped, her power over me died away. I felt the basic insincerity of what she had said, and it made me uneasy. ----F· Scott Fitzgerald
5、We shook hands and I started to walk away. A little way down the path, I remembered something and turned around.
'They're a rotten crowd,' I shouted across the lawn. 'You're worth the whole damned lot of them.'
I've always been glad I said that. It was the only nice thing I ever said to him. ----F· Scott Fitzgerald
6、The loneliest moment in someone’s life is when they are watching their whole world fall apart, and all they can do is stare blankly. ----F. Scott Fitzgerald
7、Perhaps his presence gave the evening its peculiarly threatening quality – it stands out in my memory from Gatsby's other parties that summer. ----F· Scott Fitzgerald
8、Most of the big houses along the shore were closed now for the winter, and were in darkness; there was only the shadowy, moving light of a ferryboat across the water. And as the moon rose higher, the houses slowly began to melt away, until I became aware of the old island underneath. ----F· Scott Fitzgerald
9、She looked away from me and up to the top of the steps. We could hear Three o'clock in the Morning, a neat, sad little dance song, coming from the open door. What was it in the song that seemed to be calling her back inside? What would happen now in the soft hours of darkness? ----F· Scott Fitzgerald
10、I see now that this has been a story of the West, after all. Tom and Gatsby, Daisy and Jordan and I, were all Westerners, and perhaps there was something missing in every one of us, so that we were never able to get used to Eastern life. ----F· Scott Fitzgerald
11、As Gatsby closed the door of the library, I was almost sure I heard the owl-eyed man break into ghostly laughter.Upstairs, we saw luxuriously furnished bedrooms with fresh flowers on the tables, dressing rooms, and bathrooms. ----F· Scott Fitzgerald
12、'Here, my dear.' She felt drunkenly around on the floor, and picked up the necklace. 'Give it back to whoever it belongs to. And tell them all, Daisy's changed her mind!'She began to cry – she cried and cried. I rushed out and found her mother's servant girl. We locked the door and got Daisy into a cold bath. ----F· Scott Fitzgerald
13、There was something truly wonderful about him, a heightened sensitivity to the promises of life – he was like one of those complicated machines that show the presence of an earthquake ten thousand miles away. ----F· Scott Fitzgerald
14、He talked a lot about the past, and I understood that he wanted to rediscover something, some idea of himself perhaps, that had gone into loving Daisy. His life had been confused and meaningless since then, but if he could only return to a certain starting place and go over it all slowly ----F· Scott Fitzgerald
15、While I watched him, his hand took hold of hers, and as she said something low in his ear, he turned toward her with a sudden rush of feeling. I think that feverish, exciting voice of hers held him most, because it couldn't be dreamed – that voice was a deathless song. ----F· Scott Fitzgerald
16、Suddenly Daisy bent her head into the shirts and began to cry stormily.'They're such beautiful shirts,' she sobbed. 'It makes me sad because I've never seen such – such beautiful shirts before.'Outside Gatsby's window it began to rain again, and we stood in a row looking out at the sea beyond the lawn.' ----F· Scott Fitzgerald
17、IN THE MORNING, IN THE EVENING, AIN'T WE GOT FUN—
Outside the wind was loud. All the lights were going on in West Egg now; the electric trains were carrying men home from New York, and there was excitement in the air. ONE THING'S SURE AND NOTHING'S SURER THE RICH GET RICHER AND THE POOR GET-CHILDREN. ----F· Scott Fitzgerald
18、When I came home to West Egg that night, I was afraid for a moment that my house was on fire. Two o'clock in the morning, and the whole of the coastline seemed to be in flames. Turning a corner, I saw that it was Gatsby's house, lit from tower to cellar.At first I thought it was another party. ----F· Scott Fitzgerald
19、Daisy disappeared into her rich house, into her rich, full life, leaving Gatsby – nothing. He felt married to her, that was all
When they met again, two days later, it was Gatsby who was unsure of himself, who would do anything to see her again. ----F· Scott Fitzgerald
20、Instead of taking the short cut across the lawn, we walked down to the road and entered through the main gates. With murmurs of delight Daisy admired the flowers, the gardens, and the way the mansion stood out against the sky. ----F· Scott Fitzgerald
21、He knew that when he kissed this girl, he would never dream his wild dreams again. So he waited, listening for a moment longer to the music of the stars.Then he kissed her. At the touch of his lips, love opened like a flower and his new life was born. ----F· Scott Fitzgerald
22、But with every word of his, she was drawing further and further into herself, so he stopped that, and only the dead dream fought on as the afternoon slipped away, trying unhappily to reach that lost voice across the room. ----F· Scott Fitzgerald
23、The sun had risen now on Long Island, and we went round the house, opening the rest of the downstairs windows. Ghostly birds began to sing among the blue leaves. There was a slow, pleasant movement in the air, promising a cool, lovely day. ----F· Scott Fitzgerald
24、A moment later she rushed out into the darkness, waving her hands and shouting. Before he could move, it was all over. ----F· Scott Fitzgerald
25、Already it was deep summer, and when I reached my house, I put the car away and sat for a while out in my small garden. It was a loud, bright night, with wings beating in the trees and insects flying above my head. A cat moved across the grass in the moonlight, and, turning my head to watch it, I saw that I was not alone. ----F· Scott Fitzgerald
26、There was dancing now on the lawn, the orchestra was playing jazz, and champagne was being served in glasses bigger than finger bowls. The moon had risen higher, and floating in the ocean was a silver triangle, trembling a little in the night air. ----F· Scott Fitzgerald
27、By seven o'clock every Saturday night, the orchestra has arrived. The last swimmers have come in from the beach and are dressing upstairs; there are at least five rows of cars from New York parked in front of the house, and already the halls and rooms are full of colorful dresses and the latest, strangest haircuts. ----F· Scott Fitzgerald
28、IN THE MEANTIME, IN BETWEEN TIME—As I went over to say goodbye, I saw the dazed look on Gatsby's face again. Was he doubting the quality of his happiness? Almost five years! ----F· Scott Fitzgerald
29、He stayed there a week, revisiting the places where he and Daisy had been together. He left the town feeling that if he had searched harder, he could have found her. On the train out of town he stretched his arms out of the window, trying to catch a handful of the air that she had breathed. ----F· Scott Fitzgerald
30、When I came back from the East last autumn, I felt I wanted the whole world to be in moral uniform, all living a highly moral life for ever. I wanted no more wildness, no more secrets of the human heart. ----F· Scott Fitzgerald