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3.47 AVERAGE
3.47 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
sad
slow-paced
This is the second Fitzgerald book I've read, after The Beautiful and the Damned. The first half was good enough, though not as good as TBATD. It suddenly became rather disjointed in the second half, and I had to fight my way through it.
That being said, as this was Fitzgerald's first book, I can see why he was such a sensation. I don't imagine anyone else was writing like this in 1920. But if you are new to his work, I would skip over this one.
That being said, as this was Fitzgerald's first book, I can see why he was such a sensation. I don't imagine anyone else was writing like this in 1920. But if you are new to his work, I would skip over this one.
My favorite quotes from the book:
He asked her if she thought he was conceited. She said there was a difference between conceit and self-confidence. She adored self-confidence in men.
(p.63)
"Sometimes," he said slowly, "I think you're my bad angel. I might have been a pretty fair poet."
"come on, that's rather hard. you chose to come to an Eastern college. Either your eyes were opened to the mean scrambling quality of people, or you'd have gone through blind, and you'd hate to have done that--been like Marty Kaye."
"Yes," he agreed, "you're right. I wouldn't have liked it. Still, it's hard to be made a cynic at twenty."
"I was born one," Armory murmured. "I'm a cynical idealist." He paused and wondered if that meant anything.
(p. 78)
Tom, I hope something happens. I'm restless as the devil and have a horror of getting fat or falling in love and growing domestic.
(p. 151)
Her fresh enthusiasm, her will to grow and learn, her endless faith in the inexhaustability of romance, her courage and fundamental honest--these things are not spoiled.
There are long periods when she cordially loathes her whole family. She is quite unprincipled; her philosophy is carpe diem for herself and laissez faire for others. She loves shocking stories; she has that coarse streak that usually goes with nature both fine and big.
She wants people to like her; but if they do not it never worries her or changes her.
She is by no means a model character.
The education of all beautiful women is the knowledge of men.
(p. 159)
There used to be two kinds of kisses: First when girls were kissed and deserted; second, when they were engaged. Now there's a third kind, where the man is kissed and deserted. If Mr. Jones of the nineties bragged he'd kissed a girl, every one knew he was through with her. If Mr. Jones of 1919 brags the same every one knows it's because he can't kiss her any more. Given a decent start any girl can beat a man nowadays.
(p. 171)
He asked her if she thought he was conceited. She said there was a difference between conceit and self-confidence. She adored self-confidence in men.
(p.63)
"Sometimes," he said slowly, "I think you're my bad angel. I might have been a pretty fair poet."
"come on, that's rather hard. you chose to come to an Eastern college. Either your eyes were opened to the mean scrambling quality of people, or you'd have gone through blind, and you'd hate to have done that--been like Marty Kaye."
"Yes," he agreed, "you're right. I wouldn't have liked it. Still, it's hard to be made a cynic at twenty."
"I was born one," Armory murmured. "I'm a cynical idealist." He paused and wondered if that meant anything.
(p. 78)
Tom, I hope something happens. I'm restless as the devil and have a horror of getting fat or falling in love and growing domestic.
(p. 151)
Her fresh enthusiasm, her will to grow and learn, her endless faith in the inexhaustability of romance, her courage and fundamental honest--these things are not spoiled.
There are long periods when she cordially loathes her whole family. She is quite unprincipled; her philosophy is carpe diem for herself and laissez faire for others. She loves shocking stories; she has that coarse streak that usually goes with nature both fine and big.
She wants people to like her; but if they do not it never worries her or changes her.
She is by no means a model character.
The education of all beautiful women is the knowledge of men.
(p. 159)
There used to be two kinds of kisses: First when girls were kissed and deserted; second, when they were engaged. Now there's a third kind, where the man is kissed and deserted. If Mr. Jones of the nineties bragged he'd kissed a girl, every one knew he was through with her. If Mr. Jones of 1919 brags the same every one knows it's because he can't kiss her any more. Given a decent start any girl can beat a man nowadays.
(p. 171)
reflective
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 can value this book as Fitzgerald’s first novel - there is promise of a great genius, not quite there yet but you can catch certain glimpses of the author that later wrote some of my favourite books.
I’m not a big fan of books that have multiple short stories mashed up in one big novel and I took long to finish it because of that. I couldn’t keep track of the characters or the storylines because most of them weren’t interesting enough for me to remember. But Art is about how it made me feel more than what details I can retain.
I’m not a big fan of books that have multiple short stories mashed up in one big novel and I took long to finish it because of that. I couldn’t keep track of the characters or the storylines because most of them weren’t interesting enough for me to remember. But Art is about how it made me feel more than what details I can retain.
I had to slog through this entire book, and the only reason I tried was because this was the first novel of the great and mighty F. Scott Fitzgerald. This book certainly had bored flappers and aimless young men, scarred by the Great War, but it didn't have any emotion that I could really see. All of the young women were indistinguishable, and Amory was so inscrutable that it drove me crazy. I can't connect with a character if I can't understand them or even picture them. What kind of a man was Amory and all his Princeton friends? This novel just left me feeling distant and bored.
I've read both short story collections and The Beautiful and Damned before, so This Side of Paradise was the only thing in this collection new to me. I've gotten on well with most of Fitzgerald's short stories (especially those in Tales of the Jazz Age), but wasn't overly fond of The Beautiful and Damned. This Side of Paradise was not perfect, but I did enjoy it. Amory Blaine was an interesting character to sink into. As in The Beautiful and Damned about half-way through there was a section written as a script. I'm not sure why. To capture something about the nature of Amory's relationship with Rosalind perhaps? - But I'm not convinced it really did anything for the narrative. The writing is pretty, though it lost me in places - not because it was hard to understand, but because it gave the impression that it was trying to say more than it actually was, so I spent time an energy feeling compelled to 'figure it out' when I should have just been reading.
ughhhhhhh this book was so annoying and self-indulgent I hated amory and wanted him to shut up. idk this just took forever to get through I honestly hated most of it... the best parts of this were the debutante chapter, eleanor savage, and the end when he goes on that socialist rant \m/
F.Scott Fitzgerald's first novel
A sincere mashup of everything that this author had to write in his very first book. Even this is his first, we can see how he started to build himself as a writer. The story itself is ok but not his best.
A sincere mashup of everything that this author had to write in his very first book. Even this is his first, we can see how he started to build himself as a writer. The story itself is ok but not his best.
This book is more interesting when viewed as a semi-autobiographical sketch than a novel, but I found the description of Princeton circa 1917 really fascinating.
Sometimes I forget what Fitzgerald does to me, especially halfway through one of his novels. Luckily, I have the sense to keep reading. I haven't found many authors who can capture what it feels like to be a human quite like Fitzgerald does, and he does it in a very creeping manner so that you don't realize how much the character and the world has changed until you look back from the end.
Anyway, if you enjoyed Fitzgerald's other novels, you'll like this one. Even though this is his first, it contains all of the elements for which he is known.
Anyway, if you enjoyed Fitzgerald's other novels, you'll like this one. Even though this is his first, it contains all of the elements for which he is known.