Gatsby is better. Neater. Smarter. Like a child who you know will never look more perfect. It's a perfect novel carved in alabaster. But if you want a view into the soul of Fitzgerald this is it. The writing is still sublime but the novel is more emotional and dishevelled. More real. Brutally real at times. You can feel Fitzgerald's raw pain as he struggles to make sense of his love for unreachable, uncontrollable Zelda. Consequently, there aren't many characters to like - there's no nice Nick or heroic Jay, just a bunch of egomaniacs, but you still love Dick, even in his descent. This is the "Lost Generation" heartbreakingly rendered, and, since most of us are still lost, a work that still resonates today.