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nonabgo 's review for:
The Beautiful and Damned
by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The 20s and 30s did great things for music, architecture and fashion. I'm a die-hard Art Deco fan and have always looked at the 20s as a sort of lost age of chivalry and taste. Everything after that, with the increase of industrialization and the need to recover after the war, feels dull to me. So I see that era as the last breath of aristocracy.
With this in mind and after a lot of time waiting on my shelf, I finally decided to tackle [a:F. Scott Fitzgerald|3190|F. Scott Fitzgerald|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1517864008p2/3190.jpg]. He's the ultimate storyteller of the Jazz Age, or so we're told. He's a classic.
I honestly don't know how to feel about this book. It's such a love-hate relationship. It's definitely brilliantly written (though unevenly paced to the point of confusion and annoyance, towards the end) and perfectly accurate in describing the Jazz Age. It's great in portraying the life of the protagonists in such a raw way that it easily draws the reader in and doesn't allow them to get out. After the first chapter, which felt slow and tedious (more so because English is not my first language and it took me a while to get into the slang of those times), the novel drew me in rapidly. Dazzling, I think that's the best word I can find to express my feelings towards it.
The society, one that does not exist anymore, is described with such accuracy that it feels alive. I have always had a fascination for times long past and for writings that pull me in completely. From this point of view, [b:The Beautiful and Damned|4708|The Beautiful and Damned|F. Scott Fitzgerald|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1347567298l/4708._SY75_.jpg|2432116] is a masterpiece.
However, as much as I raveled in the atmosphere of the book, I hated the characters. Take it all out of the era and you have a bland story with unlikable characters. As much as I don't like it, I could not help but feel glad for their unhappiness. Mean, yes, but when you place at the center of a novel two people who lack ambition and live for pleasure only, you cannot expect the readers to feel sympathy for them. Had they lived 100 years later, they would have been in therapy and most likely divorced. (It took me a while to grasp that Gloria could not really divorce Anthony, because she had no money of her own and no skills. 21st century feminist me judged her quite hard.)
As I said, I did enjoy to see them unravel and auto-destroy. In this, Fitzgerald is brilliant. He managed to capture the character's involution with absolute talent. The journey is not one of growth, it's one of destruction. And mean little me wanted a more bitter ending than the one we were given. However, I feel some justice has been served, in the end, as there cannot be absolute happiness.
I try (and not always manage) not to judge a book written in a different time by comparing it to current mores and philosophies. It's pointless to call it unfeminist, misogynistic and classist. Yes, it doesn't fit into this century and we would most likely judge people like Gloria and Anthony very roughly by today's standards. Just look at it as a great portrayal of times long past and a lesson of what not to revive ever again (the clothes and the etiquette, though, can come back, thank you!).
With this in mind and after a lot of time waiting on my shelf, I finally decided to tackle [a:F. Scott Fitzgerald|3190|F. Scott Fitzgerald|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1517864008p2/3190.jpg]. He's the ultimate storyteller of the Jazz Age, or so we're told. He's a classic.
I honestly don't know how to feel about this book. It's such a love-hate relationship. It's definitely brilliantly written (though unevenly paced to the point of confusion and annoyance, towards the end) and perfectly accurate in describing the Jazz Age. It's great in portraying the life of the protagonists in such a raw way that it easily draws the reader in and doesn't allow them to get out. After the first chapter, which felt slow and tedious (more so because English is not my first language and it took me a while to get into the slang of those times), the novel drew me in rapidly. Dazzling, I think that's the best word I can find to express my feelings towards it.
The society, one that does not exist anymore, is described with such accuracy that it feels alive. I have always had a fascination for times long past and for writings that pull me in completely. From this point of view, [b:The Beautiful and Damned|4708|The Beautiful and Damned|F. Scott Fitzgerald|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1347567298l/4708._SY75_.jpg|2432116] is a masterpiece.
However, as much as I raveled in the atmosphere of the book, I hated the characters. Take it all out of the era and you have a bland story with unlikable characters. As much as I don't like it, I could not help but feel glad for their unhappiness. Mean, yes, but when you place at the center of a novel two people who lack ambition and live for pleasure only, you cannot expect the readers to feel sympathy for them. Had they lived 100 years later, they would have been in therapy and most likely divorced. (It took me a while to grasp that Gloria could not really divorce Anthony, because she had no money of her own and no skills. 21st century feminist me judged her quite hard.)
As I said, I did enjoy to see them unravel and auto-destroy. In this, Fitzgerald is brilliant. He managed to capture the character's involution with absolute talent. The journey is not one of growth, it's one of destruction. And mean little me wanted a more bitter ending than the one we were given. However, I feel some justice has been served, in the end, as there cannot be absolute happiness.
I try (and not always manage) not to judge a book written in a different time by comparing it to current mores and philosophies. It's pointless to call it unfeminist, misogynistic and classist. Yes, it doesn't fit into this century and we would most likely judge people like Gloria and Anthony very roughly by today's standards. Just look at it as a great portrayal of times long past and a lesson of what not to revive ever again (the clothes and the etiquette, though, can come back, thank you!).