Reviews

All the Sad Young Men (Works of F. Scott Fitzgerald) by F. Scott Fitzgerald, James L.W. West III

bbgx's review against another edition

2.5

I don’t usually care about short story collections but this started very strong and was entertaining, however I found the theme quite repetitive by the final few stories 

niionatan01's review against another edition

very similar to my latest read so i found it difficult to try connect to the stories. gonna try again at some other stage 

valeatsbooks's review against another edition

funny lighthearted reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

by far the strongest stories in this are The Bridal Party and Three Hours between Planes while Two Wrongs is the weakest

joubaa's review against another edition

fast-paced

5.0

priyansha_s's review against another edition

4.0

If you love Fitzgerald, you will enjoy this book immensely because you wouldn’t want to leave any of his writing unread. I did not expect much when I started reading this collection of short stories. Multiple accounts of the lives of men in their twenties and thirties set in 1920s New York, mostly rich or wanting to be rich, should have tired me out after a few stories but I was entertained right through the end. These stories are like little treats you will want to spread out over several days.

sarasofraz's review against another edition

2.0

I liked it. This is the second Fitzgerald i've read and as a compilation of novellas it is good but not mind-blowing or anything. He has a very distinct writing style which became a lot more apparent after reading this. I don't know if this is written before or after The Great Gatsby but I felt like this was a pre-written and that it lead on to become that great novel.

It's all about men's success and stuff like that, so there's no female characters really, and it wasn't very keen on women when there were female characters. But I liked it quite well anyhow.

Honestly it was a bit repetitive and I mostly only finished it because I was travelling and only had this with me at the time. If you have read The Great Gatsby or are planning to read it, don't bother with this one.

yapxinyi's review against another edition

4.0

Today's novels definitely don't write like him anymore! It was really fascinating to read how he was able to capture these young men's psyche, I enjoyed reading the part about heartbreak in "The Rich Boy", "Winter Dreams", and ""The Sensible Thing"". I particularly liked "Winter Dreams" – oh, the heartache he managed to convey in realising the magic is disappearing from the one you once loved and thought the world of!

He had thought that having nothing else to lose he was invulnerable at last - but he knew that he had just lost something more, as surely as if he had married Judy Jones and seen her fade away before his eyes.

The dream was gone. Something had been taken from him.

Ah, that feeling...

For the first time in years the tears were streaming down his face. But they were for himself now. He did not care about mouth and eyes and moving hands. He wanted to care and he could not care. For he had gone away and he could never go back any more. The gates were closed, the sun was gone down and there was no beauty but the grey beauty of steel that withstands all time. Even the grief he could have borne was left behind in the country of illusion, of youth, of the richness of life, where his winter dreams had flourished.

I found it really intriguing you were pulled into these characters' worlds even for a few pages...

"Yes," he whispered into her lips. "There's all the time in the world..."

All the time in the world - his life and hers. But for an instant as he kissed her he knew that though he search through eternity he could never recapture those lost April hours. He might press her close now till the muscles knotted on his arms - she was something desirable and rare that he had fought for and made his own - but never again an intangible whisper in the dusk or on the breeze of night...

Well, let it pass, he thought; April is over, April is over. There are all kinds of love in the world, but never the same love twice.

Funnily enough, the last story about "Gretchen's Forty Winks" reminded me Roald Dahl in the way the protagonist is able to get away with misdeeds and appear like the hero, with no repercussions.

batbones's review against another edition

4.0

Sparkling short stories, brilliantly furnished, with subtle undertones of despair and boredom just lurking behind the splendid wallpaper. A few border more dangerously upon the melodramatic ("Gretchen's Forty Winks" and "Rags Martin-Jones"), but vague melodrama being Fitzgerald's flavour of work, this is forgiven. My favourites were "The Rich Boy" and "Absolution", and "The Adjuster", which is the most heartening and optimistic story of the entire collection.

stoola_pz's review against another edition

reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

f.scott fitzgerald's books make me feel like i'm a rich white man living in the upper east side that has everything in the world except for the woman that he loves so even if he has all the riches in the world he cant fill that empty void in his life because it can only be filled by the singular thing that he cant obtain
👍 

ishpreet404's review against another edition

funny lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.25