rai_con 's review for:

This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald
4.75
emotional reflective relaxing 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

For a novel written over a century ago, This Side of Paradise feels surprisingly modern in its emotions and outlook. Like many young people, Amory Blaine longs to be something great but doesn’t know how. Fitzgerald crafts a fascinating case study of an aimless yet privileged young man navigating life, loss, and love. Semi-autobiographical in nature, the novel offers intriguing parallels between Amory and Fitzgerald himself.


Amory can come off as sophomoric and entitled, which may alienate some readers, but his romantic and aesthetic sensibilities make him compelling, so much so that I named my cat after him. The prose is lush and quotable, a true testament to Fitzgerald’s lyrical style and introspection. Some of the most memorable lines include:

“It was always the becoming he dreamed of, never the being.”
 “I know myself... but that is all.”
 “I don't want to repeat my innocence. I want the pleasure of losing it again.”
 “I'm a cynical idealist.”
 “Beauty means the scent of roses and then the death of roses.”
 “I'm not sentimental—I'm as romantic as you are. The idea, you know, is that the sentimental person thinks things will last—the romantic person has a desperate confidence that they won't.”
“It is not life that's complicated, it's the struggle to guide and control life.”
“Youth is like having a big plate of candy. Sentimentalists think they want to be in the pure, simple state they were in before they ate the candy. They don't. They just want the fun of eating it all over again.” 
A timeless reflection on youth, ambition, and self-discovery — This Side of Paradise captures the restless beauty of growing up and realizing who you are.
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