Literary fiction · Jazz Age
The Great Gatsby
Reading level: we suggest CEFR C1 for reading The Great Gatsby. Length: about 47,000 words.
- Suggested levelC1
- Lengthabout 47,000 words
- Original languageEnglish
The story
Nick Carraway rents a small house on Long Island next to the mansion of Jay Gatsby, a mysterious millionaire who throws enormous parties every weekend.
Slowly Nick learns that the parties have one purpose: to attract Daisy Buchanan, Nick's cousin, whom Gatsby loved five years earlier. What follows is one hot summer of reunions, lies and a drive back from the city that changes everything.
Themes: the American Dream, wealth and class, love and illusion, 1920s New York.
Why it's a good book for language learners
Fitzgerald's prose is short in length but rich in style: long, rhythmic sentences, striking images and a lot of meaning between the lines. It is a rewarding challenge for advanced learners who want to move from understanding words to understanding tone.
How hard is the English in The Great Gatsby?
- Flesch Reading Ease77.5
- Flesch–Kincaid grade5.9
- Words per sentence13.7
Measured by PageWalker on the full English text of the book. Flesch Reading Ease runs from 0 to 100 (higher is easier; 60–70 is plain English) and the Flesch–Kincaid grade is a US school grade. These formulas only count sentence and word length, so they miss old-fashioned vocabulary, wordplay and style. That is why our CEFR level, which takes those into account, can be higher than the formula suggests.
What you'll practise
- Figurative language and imagery
- Describing people, parties and wealth
- Narrative distance and irony
- American English of the 1920s
Reading tip
Read the last page aloud. It is one of the most quoted passages in American literature, and it rewards slow reading.
Did you know?
The novel sold poorly when it appeared; it became an American classic only after Fitzgerald's death in 1940.
The PageWalker adventure
In the adventure you move through Gatsby's summer as a guest whose choices can change how the story ends. You can try the first page in your browser, and the adventure is available in 13 languages with click-to-translate.
The Great Gatsby in other languages
- EnglishThe Great Gatsby
- العربيةغاتسبي العظيم
- DeutschDer große Gatsby
- EspañolEl Gran Gatsby
- FrançaisGatsby le Magnifique
- हिन्दीद ग्रेट गैट्सबी
- ItalianoIl grande Gatsby
- 日本語グレート・ギャツビー
- 한국어위대한 개츠비
- PortuguêsO Grande Gatsby
- РусскийВеликий Гэтсби
- TürkçeMuhteşem Gatsby
- 简体中文了不起的盖茨比
Questions about The Great Gatsby
What reading level is The Great Gatsby?
We suggest CEFR C1 for reading The Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald's prose is short in length but rich in style: long, rhythmic sentences, striking images and a lot of meaning between the lines. On readability formulas the English text scores a Flesch Reading Ease of 77.5 and a Flesch–Kincaid grade of 5.9, with an average of 13.7 words per sentence.
How long is The Great Gatsby?
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (1925) is about 47,000 words.
Can I play The Great Gatsby as an interactive adventure?
Yes. In the adventure you move through Gatsby's summer as a guest whose choices can change how the story ends. You can try the first page in your browser, in 13 languages.
Updated 16 October 2026
