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3.48 AVERAGE
3.48 AVERAGE
maybe I just don’t like coming-of-age stories? at least the ones that have boys as the main characters because picture of dorian grey/catcher in the rye/this side of paradise are all just men being toxic and never truly learning anything. there’s not really any character development except that the characters get more depressed. that’s great and valid and all but at least make it interesting!
Amory Blaine reminds me of a prototype of Holden Caulfield. Honestly the book seems unedited; I didn’t care for the philosophizing non sequiturs and unnecessary animal death, but his brilliance does shine through in moments. I feel that if he kept writing this book, he would have found the manuscript for the great gatsby in there.
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
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
The further I got the more I really read into it and began to appreciate the poetics. Very introspective read.
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
This book needed at least a few more editors. Or maybe fitzgerald should have asked his wife to write it, maybe then it would be any good
Glad I read it, but I didn't love it as I love the Great Gatsby.
2 stars for book 1, 3 stars for book 2
Book 2 at least was a little entertaining to me and had something of a plot. Otherwise, this book is literally about nothing. I loved Great Gatsby and this is the second book by Fitzgerald that I’ve read, so I had high expectations that were dashed to the ground. I couldn’t wait to finish this book and had to force myself to do so. Amory is SO pretentious, lazy, self-centered, and to emphasize again, pretentious. The book itself is dripping in it. Amory represents Fitzgerald and some of the book is based off his own life, and this is his first novel.
I just couldn’t enjoy a book where the main character clearly thought so highly of himself and who only seemed to think for others when it benefitted him the most. Maybe it’s an exaggerated version of how we all think and behave on some level, but I didn’t take much away from this book. If anyone has absolutely loved this book, please let me know why, I always wonder if I’m missing something or reading it wrong when I don’t enjoy a book considered to be a classic.
Book 2 at least was a little entertaining to me and had something of a plot. Otherwise, this book is literally about nothing. I loved Great Gatsby and this is the second book by Fitzgerald that I’ve read, so I had high expectations that were dashed to the ground. I couldn’t wait to finish this book and had to force myself to do so. Amory is SO pretentious, lazy, self-centered, and to emphasize again, pretentious. The book itself is dripping in it. Amory represents Fitzgerald and some of the book is based off his own life, and this is his first novel.
I just couldn’t enjoy a book where the main character clearly thought so highly of himself and who only seemed to think for others when it benefitted him the most. Maybe it’s an exaggerated version of how we all think and behave on some level, but I didn’t take much away from this book. If anyone has absolutely loved this book, please let me know why, I always wonder if I’m missing something or reading it wrong when I don’t enjoy a book considered to be a classic.
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
My daughter gave me this book and advised it was Fitzgerald's best book. I was skeptical as Gatsby is one of my favorites. She was right, I was wrong, and I fully grasp the notion that This Side of Paradise defines the lost generation. Further, it is to some extent autobiographical and highly personal. It introduces certain themes (e.g. loss, inaccessible or lost romance, and personal isolation) that would resonate throughout the Fitzgerald cannon, and his life. It is staggering to think he wrote this book when he was only 23, and then had to live the rest of his fairly short life living up to that standard.
I wanted to like this book on the simple basis that I loved The Great Gatsby (possibly my favorite novel). Unfortunately, unlike Gatsby, this novel never really grasps you. The prose is still beautifully constructed, but mostly the main character just meanders on with no real purpose. Characters come in and out that I never really care about. I heard the message loud and clear, but that's mostly because Fitzgerald drove it home bluntly with a 2x4 to the head at the end of the book.
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
F. Scott Fitzgerald's 'This Side of Paradise', despite being his first book, is his unequivocal masterpiece. Although often sidelined by 'The Great Gatsby', this book contains his most profound philosophical reflections. Notably, the development of the main character Amory Blaine mirrors the stages of the Ubermench as proposed in F. Neitzche's 'Thus Spake Zarathustra' which culminates in the final line 'I know myself and that is all' where Blaine is reborn as a child, free of his existing life of prejudices.
While This Side of Paradise may not have as extravagant a plot as 'The Great Gatsby' or 'The Beautiful and the Damned', the distinct stages of Blaine's life and the cast of characters along the way allow for exploration of themes pertinent to the rapidly changing contemporary America of
While This Side of Paradise may not have as extravagant a plot as 'The Great Gatsby' or 'The Beautiful and the Damned', the distinct stages of Blaine's life and the cast of characters along the way allow for exploration of themes pertinent to the rapidly changing contemporary America of
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Alcohol, Classism
Moderate: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, Toxic friendship
Minor: Violence, Death of parent, War, Injury/Injury detail