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3.48 AVERAGE
3.48 AVERAGE
This Side of Paradise reads as a practice piece for Fitzgerald's Great Gatsby as he makes light social commentary that doesn't quite pull through. Many literary references to great classics were lost on me, and I would have enjoyed the novel much more were I privy to the jokes and general air of aristocracy and fine breeding associated with them. Knowledge of the time period and inner workings of the social elite in the 1920's feels necessary to understand Amory's rise and fall through the classes. The work reaches a decided lull at the midpoint that would have made me put the book down were Fitzgerald not my favorite author. Overall, I felt the author missed the mark in making his point, though a thorough read through with a literary guide or discussion by a knowledgable party might make this literature worthwhile.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Тихая грусть...Размышления. Боязнь стать одним из тех "поверхностных", глупых людей, о которых с таким презрением говорит Эмори. Не смогла до конца понять, кто же такой Эмори Блейн, но во многом мне очень близки его метания и мысли, особенно про университет, поиск смысла, преодоления полосы апатии. Удивительно, как точно он описывает университетские годы и влияние университета на душевное состояние вообще. Поняла, что не умею читать стихи.
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
“ i know myself,” he cried, “but that is all.”
this book is male white privelege personified, but it manages to convince you as you turn the pages that it means something more than just drugs, alcohol, and rich white men (and rather well i might add). a coming of age filled with love and a man’s honest portrayal of himself as he learns the true turmoil of life beyond the gates of his filtered perception of the world as his oyster, this novel was a spectacular debut for fitzgerald
this book is male white privelege personified, but it manages to convince you as you turn the pages that it means something more than just drugs, alcohol, and rich white men (and rather well i might add). a coming of age filled with love and a man’s honest portrayal of himself as he learns the true turmoil of life beyond the gates of his filtered perception of the world as his oyster, this novel was a spectacular debut for fitzgerald
Interessante eu ter pegado esse livro que tem um tema tão forte nas desilusões que dá quando você acaba de formar e vê como são as coisas, sem fazer a menor ideia que era sobre isso que falava. This side of paradise segue a vida de um rapaz enquanto ele amadurece e passa pelas experiencias pessoais e acadêmicas, e ele vai se encontrando e se desenvolvendo a partir disso (como todos nós). O meu problema com esse livro foi que ele pareceu ser muito experimental, as vezes ele tem prosa tradicional, ai muda pra poemas ou passa pra descrições quase de textos como teatro. Não atrapalhou tanto a leitura mas pra mim ficou parecendo mal finalizado em algumas partes.
O Amory, o principal, também foi um ponto negativo! O personagem principal é péssimo, e ele parece saber disso, apesar de se achar a pessoa mais incrível do mundo ao mesmo tempo.
Dois pontos positivos que eu não posso deixar de citar:
1- independente de toda a confusão eu gosto MUITO do jeito que o Fitzgerald escreve, ele tem muita habilidade com as palavras e considerando que esse foi o primeiro livro dele, já da pra ver claramente o talento
2- pontos pras personagens femininas!!! eu tenho uma ranço com clássicos normalmente pela forma que eles descrevem as personagens (Hemingway estou olhando para vc rs), as personagens do livro são romantizadas por serem vistas pelo olhar do Amory mas não deixam de ter dimensão e características próprias.
O Amory, o principal, também foi um ponto negativo! O personagem principal é péssimo, e ele parece saber disso, apesar de se achar a pessoa mais incrível do mundo ao mesmo tempo.
Dois pontos positivos que eu não posso deixar de citar:
1- independente de toda a confusão eu gosto MUITO do jeito que o Fitzgerald escreve, ele tem muita habilidade com as palavras e considerando que esse foi o primeiro livro dele, já da pra ver claramente o talento
2- pontos pras personagens femininas!!! eu tenho uma ranço com clássicos normalmente pela forma que eles descrevem as personagens (Hemingway estou olhando para vc rs), as personagens do livro são romantizadas por serem vistas pelo olhar do Amory mas não deixam de ter dimensão e características próprias.
4 stars? Maybe? I have a lot of conflicted feelings about this book. There were parts that I really enjoyed and others that I found very useless but in the end, I did have fun with it.
I couldn't care less about Amory Blaine. Fitzgerald's debut is simply old. This should not be the first Fitzgerald novel for anybody to read because it pales and wrinkles in comparison to The Beautiful and Damned and The Great Gatsby.
"I'm a product of a versatile mind in a restless generation."
This sums up the transient and often unfocused mosaic of poems, letters, anecdotes, short stories and one-act plays that is This Side of Paradise. There is nothing of value in the meandering ramblings of Fitzgerald by conventional literary standards. It's often thought of as a deeply flawed piece due to its varying inconsistencies. But I find this to be the novel's greatest success. It won't hook you with plot or protagonists or with any other customary feature of literature. It's compelling in its movement of thought, often changing and contradictory.
Fitzgerald makes the reader abundantly clear of the boundless reaches of his mind and education, often with shameless narcissism. It also becomes clear that Amory Blaine is not solely the voice of Fitzgerald but the voice of the Lost Generation who, in spite of moneyed privilege, understood its limitations and "in spite of going to college, managed to pick up a good education." They felt the shifting of times but found themselves trapped by the accepted traditions of present society. They had the minds of philosophers and the carelessness of children. They were consumingly obsessed with the relationship of past and future. Much of this was to their detriment as a generation but greatly profitable to the progress of time.
I can't give this book 5 stars because, despite the brilliance, it is rather hard to follow or absorb in anything but short bursts. If you read more than 25 pages at a time you can't fully understand the attitude, concept or feeling that Fitzgerald was trying to express. It's a read/reflect sort of experience if you want to interpret the novel properly. But a great deal of the time I had just wanted to read.
This sums up the transient and often unfocused mosaic of poems, letters, anecdotes, short stories and one-act plays that is This Side of Paradise. There is nothing of value in the meandering ramblings of Fitzgerald by conventional literary standards. It's often thought of as a deeply flawed piece due to its varying inconsistencies. But I find this to be the novel's greatest success. It won't hook you with plot or protagonists or with any other customary feature of literature. It's compelling in its movement of thought, often changing and contradictory.
Fitzgerald makes the reader abundantly clear of the boundless reaches of his mind and education, often with shameless narcissism. It also becomes clear that Amory Blaine is not solely the voice of Fitzgerald but the voice of the Lost Generation who, in spite of moneyed privilege, understood its limitations and "in spite of going to college, managed to pick up a good education." They felt the shifting of times but found themselves trapped by the accepted traditions of present society. They had the minds of philosophers and the carelessness of children. They were consumingly obsessed with the relationship of past and future. Much of this was to their detriment as a generation but greatly profitable to the progress of time.
I can't give this book 5 stars because, despite the brilliance, it is rather hard to follow or absorb in anything but short bursts. If you read more than 25 pages at a time you can't fully understand the attitude, concept or feeling that Fitzgerald was trying to express. It's a read/reflect sort of experience if you want to interpret the novel properly. But a great deal of the time I had just wanted to read.