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yecatherine 's review for:
The Beautiful and Damned
by F. Scott Fitzgerald
While novels focussed on character-development are quite common, this is the first book I've read centred around characters' decay.
Anthony Patch, a grandson of a wealthy businessman, lacks ambition and meaning in life. Throughout the book he tries to become a historian, a fiction writer, a bond salesman, yet he is missing the fundamental drive and resilience to put effort and withstand failures as he awaits for a hefty inheritance. Anthony has a taste for extravagant lifestyle, an unapologetic sense of entitlement, yet at his core he is an unremarkable and uninteresting man.
Gloria Gilbert is a self-obsessed narcissist and a heartbreaker, trading beauty as her only currency. An entertainer at heart, Gloria is utterly bored when alone and therefore always wants company around her, be it friends or former love interests. She's fussy and peculiar about everything including small details such as her tomato sandwich that she would send back to the kitchen if it's not cooked the right way. A few times in the novel Gloria had a desire to become an actress, yet when she finally went for an audition, it was too late to play the roles she wanted.
The two meet and - surprise surprise - fall in love, forming a doomed marriage that will soon become toxic. The plot of this book is somewhat weak and not much is going on at the start - apart from the flamboyant parties with rivers of champagne and jazz. Yet as the financial pressures mount - the Patches live off Anthony's limited allowance while they wait for inheritance - the couple's relationship starts to disintegrate turning into a love-hate hell of jealousy, disrespect and even abuse (that disturbing scene on the platform) with the downs of their marriage swinging lower each time. And this is where the book gets really good.
As Fitzgerald had famously used his own marriage with Zelda for this book's inspiration, and some of these scenes may have happened in real life – in one form or another, the writer masters the portrayal of Anthony and Gloria's fights - demeaning, cruel and bitter.
Yet apart from gradually destroying each other, Anthony and Gloria are also destroying themselves. By the end of the novel Anthony turns into a gruesome alcoholic and Gloria loses her charm and vitality as her beauty starts fading with age.
Overall, this is a book about very unlikable people, the 1% of American elite, who didn't lift a finger to justify their lifestyle and wealth. Protagonists at first, they soon turn into antiheroes, and it becomes hard to root for them.
Despite its drawbacks, I rated this book 4/5 for its eloquent prose in drawing a sociological portrait of the Jazz Age generation: the extravagant parties of the roaring twenties, the Prohibition period and the flapper culture are all there, described to the finest detail. The novel also touches on the WW1 - although at first it's only mentioned in the context of Anthony and Gloria's disappointment as they cannot travel to Europe for their honeymoon. Later in the story Anthony is also sent to a military camp with the intention to go to France later, yet the war is won right before their regiment's departure date.
The bottom line...
Read this book if you are interested in Jazz Age, roaring twenties and the lost generation and enjoy eloquent prose.
Do not read this book if you can't stand unlikable characters and weak plots.
Anthony Patch, a grandson of a wealthy businessman, lacks ambition and meaning in life. Throughout the book he tries to become a historian, a fiction writer, a bond salesman, yet he is missing the fundamental drive and resilience to put effort and withstand failures as he awaits for a hefty inheritance. Anthony has a taste for extravagant lifestyle, an unapologetic sense of entitlement, yet at his core he is an unremarkable and uninteresting man.
Gloria Gilbert is a self-obsessed narcissist and a heartbreaker, trading beauty as her only currency. An entertainer at heart, Gloria is utterly bored when alone and therefore always wants company around her, be it friends or former love interests. She's fussy and peculiar about everything including small details such as her tomato sandwich that she would send back to the kitchen if it's not cooked the right way. A few times in the novel Gloria had a desire to become an actress, yet when she finally went for an audition, it was too late to play the roles she wanted.
The two meet and - surprise surprise - fall in love, forming a doomed marriage that will soon become toxic. The plot of this book is somewhat weak and not much is going on at the start - apart from the flamboyant parties with rivers of champagne and jazz. Yet as the financial pressures mount - the Patches live off Anthony's limited allowance while they wait for inheritance - the couple's relationship starts to disintegrate turning into a love-hate hell of jealousy, disrespect and even abuse (that disturbing scene on the platform) with the downs of their marriage swinging lower each time. And this is where the book gets really good.
As Fitzgerald had famously used his own marriage with Zelda for this book's inspiration, and some of these scenes may have happened in real life – in one form or another, the writer masters the portrayal of Anthony and Gloria's fights - demeaning, cruel and bitter.
Yet apart from gradually destroying each other, Anthony and Gloria are also destroying themselves. By the end of the novel Anthony turns into a gruesome alcoholic and Gloria loses her charm and vitality as her beauty starts fading with age.
Overall, this is a book about very unlikable people, the 1% of American elite, who didn't lift a finger to justify their lifestyle and wealth. Protagonists at first, they soon turn into antiheroes, and it becomes hard to root for them.
Despite its drawbacks, I rated this book 4/5 for its eloquent prose in drawing a sociological portrait of the Jazz Age generation: the extravagant parties of the roaring twenties, the Prohibition period and the flapper culture are all there, described to the finest detail. The novel also touches on the WW1 - although at first it's only mentioned in the context of Anthony and Gloria's disappointment as they cannot travel to Europe for their honeymoon. Later in the story Anthony is also sent to a military camp with the intention to go to France later, yet the war is won right before their regiment's departure date.
The bottom line...
Read this book if you are interested in Jazz Age, roaring twenties and the lost generation and enjoy eloquent prose.
Do not read this book if you can't stand unlikable characters and weak plots.