Reviews - The Beautiful and the Damned (Annotated)

1.3k reviews for:

The Beautiful and the Damned (Annotated)

F. Scott Fitzgerald

3.56 AVERAGE

sjpils's review against another edition

4.5

emotional tense medium-paced

tianna_staten's review against another edition

5.0

I love the style that FSF writes in. It’s whimsical and descriptively vague leaving room for humanity to project into interpretations. This book left me eager to commune with other readers over their interpretations and understandings, especially of the ending.

alisoniris's review against another edition

4.0

It was a beautiful + tragic love story, but you have to be into that notion of the bad romance. It is a highly quotable book with some gorgeous prose, but yes, it certainly could have done with another round or two of editing. It was a great summer read though that was light and decadent without being trashy.

rutherford's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional funny reflective sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Love fitzgerald’s prose. There’s more thoughts in my journal I think

graceevalyn's review against another edition

3.0

The writing is beautiful, obvi, and for that reason alone (and the atmosphere it created) this was an enjoyable book. It always tickles my brain in a different way to read older books and I was craving that. That said, I don't think I really took much away from this story - it was one more story of people who pursue pleasure above all and then (surprise!) discover that it isn't enough. Didn't feel like it was saying anything too original but it sure did say it beautifully.

stelnickic's review against another edition

2.5

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Tense and tragic, F. Scott Fitzgerald fails the Bechdel test, hard. Grading him on a scale, that's not too surprising for his era. There are turns of phrase in here that kept me going, otherwise, it was an altogether slow and yawning tale

caffeine_books's review against another edition

2.5

slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I'll freely admit I haven't read a Fitzgerald book for many years....I loved "Great Gatsby" and enjoyed "Curious Case of Benjamin Button" but had a hard time slogging through this novel. I believe he got his point across of the 20's being a lost generation, what selfishness in a marriage results in, and what greed can do to a person and their partner. I believe the novel can be summed up when Anthony states, "Things are sweeter when they're lost. I know --because once I wanted something and got it. It was the only thing I ever wanted badly, Dot. And when I got it it turned to dust in my hands" (287).