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3.85 AVERAGE
3.85 AVERAGE
While interesting, I must say that I wish there was more backstory to this tale. We don't know much about the characters, other than scants hints of what may have or may have not happened. That, and the inconclusive ending made me like this story less than I might have.
Amazing... Each story was unique in subject matter, yet, they all maintain Fitzgerald's charming voice. Some stories were much more melancholy than Fitzgerald's usual 1920s atmosphere, but they offered a new (although sad) glimpse into his consciousness, especially "The Long Way Out."
A good set of Fitzgerald's short stories. I enjoyed a lot of them, my favorites probably being The Diamond as Big as the Ritz and Babylon Revisited. The stories are in chronological order from when he wrote them and you can see more and more of his life and troubles being put in them. Babylon Revisited is almost word-for-word about what was happening in his life with his daughter Scottie (but Zelda wasn't dead). The newer stories are definitely better but the latter stories are still great to read.
To believe that this is the same author who wrote the Great Gatspy is just... Wow!
Like I kept checking the cover to make sure that he's the same author and not his secret twin or something
Like I kept checking the cover to make sure that he's the same author and not his secret twin or something
I just do not care for F. Scott Fitzgerald.
I do not like the opening. I feel like we are starting in the middle of a conversation and I cannot make heads or tails of the part we do catch.
Even though we do not hear him order a drink, when he says "No, no more." and the bartender replies, "You were going pretty strong a couple of years ago." Fitzgerald is implying that Charlie was a big drinker back in the day. We also get the impression that this bar used to be the place to be for ex-pats, but it has now "gone back to the French" and is pretty much a dead zone.
The line about people in Prague not knowing him there, is implying that since he was last in Paris he has settled down quite a bit.
A little bit of sarcasm here, I love how we are supposed to differentiate between a room being American or the bar being French. Are the French so different that just by saying a room is French or American the general reader will be able to picture it perfectly? Do the French make different noises in the kitchen than Americans do? I understand languages are different, but that still does not tell me what "French noises from the kitchen," means.
Why do we only get half of the conversation instead of the full thing?
If he is at his brother-in-laws house, why is Marion standoffish? She would be his sister. Why would he not say, he is going to bring "our" sister over from America?
I do not like the opening. I feel like we are starting in the middle of a conversation and I cannot make heads or tails of the part we do catch.
Even though we do not hear him order a drink, when he says "No, no more." and the bartender replies, "You were going pretty strong a couple of years ago." Fitzgerald is implying that Charlie was a big drinker back in the day. We also get the impression that this bar used to be the place to be for ex-pats, but it has now "gone back to the French" and is pretty much a dead zone.
The line about people in Prague not knowing him there, is implying that since he was last in Paris he has settled down quite a bit.
A little bit of sarcasm here, I love how we are supposed to differentiate between a room being American or the bar being French. Are the French so different that just by saying a room is French or American the general reader will be able to picture it perfectly? Do the French make different noises in the kitchen than Americans do? I understand languages are different, but that still does not tell me what "French noises from the kitchen," means.
Why do we only get half of the conversation instead of the full thing?
If he is at his brother-in-laws house, why is Marion standoffish? She would be his sister. Why would he not say, he is going to bring "our" sister over from America?
WTF! I mean... I was reading Babylon Revisited and it was getting interesting and the BOOM! it ends!
Reading Fitzgerald is my favourite thing ever. There's this very naked and very stark beauty to Fitzgerald's writing that I haven't found in any other writer. I hadn't read a lot of his short stories before this, and I'm really glad I picked this up. Loved every story (except The Diamond as Big as the Ritz, which despite hearing good things about it I thought was just okay) in this particular collection, my favourite being The Rich Boy and Babylon Revisited. I'm starting to pick up that a few themes are common to most of Fitzgerald's work which bring to fore the ugly underbelly of the Jazz Age, and most of them also seem to have some semblance of an autobiographical element to them. Reading these stories reminded me a lot of Gatsby (one of my all time favourites) and I'm eager to finally read my next Fitzgerald novel although I'm not sure which one I'll pick up first.
adventurous
emotional
sad
fast-paced
This curation of stories highlights Fitzgerald's talented prose, and reinforces his discontent with modern America, and his struggle to reconcile himself within it.
Many of these short stories were absolutely superb. It's been 7+ years since I read The Great Gatsby (which I didn't particularly enjoy as a high schooler), but I was blown away by the way Fitzgerald was able to construct imagery and describe the complicated inner life of his characters in such short bits. I likely missed out on a lot of the cultural references (and I think I would enjoy this less if I had to ~analyze~ it for a class), but there are strong themes of love, loss, and self-discovery throughout
I love F Scott Fitzgerald and always have. His books speak to a glamour that I can’t help but adore and he sparked my love of the 1920s.
That said, these stories have the darkness that is throughout his stories and make me love him more. The glitz mixed in with shadows is so amazing.
Favorites were: Babylon Revisited (of course), A Diamond as Big as the Ritz, The Freshest Boy, and The Ice Palace. I loved most of these, but a few really fell flat. Hence the 4 stars.
That said, these stories have the darkness that is throughout his stories and make me love him more. The glitz mixed in with shadows is so amazing.
Favorites were: Babylon Revisited (of course), A Diamond as Big as the Ritz, The Freshest Boy, and The Ice Palace. I loved most of these, but a few really fell flat. Hence the 4 stars.