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claireclements 's review for:
The Diamond as Big as the Ritz
by F. Scott Fitzgerald
My first short story from Fitzgerald!
This follows a wealthy young boy, John Unger, who attends a preparatory academy full of fellow wealthy students. John ends up agreeing to spend the summer at a fellow peer's house in Montana. This is, at its core, a satirical tale of the wealthy and the bloated, insensitive ideals that seem to come along with such power and privilege. I never thought that I would meet a character that exceeded Tom and Daisy Buchanan's sheer entitlement, however this went far beyond The Great Gatsby in such a sense...
"It's absurd...Think of the millions and millions of people in the world, laborers and all, who get along with only two maids."
(After Kismine tells John that he is probably going to die) "Oh, why did I tell you? I've probably spoiled your whole good time now, and we were really enjoying things when you didn't know it. I knew it would make things sort of depressing for you."
There are many more examples I could pull from this, but nearly every one of them made me laugh. This is simply a bloated, ironic portrayal of the indifference and entitlement of the extremely wealthy during the Jazz Age. The Washington family live within the bounds of something completely beyond luxury, hold those who find their residence hostage in an adorned hole in the ground, and literally keep slaves, because they have not told them that slavery was abolished decades previous to the 1920s. All of this they do with objectivity, ignorant to struggles of the world beyond their wealth. The Washington's home is constructed to be fundamentally perfect, including the girls. However as time goes on there is an overwhelming sense of peril, which ultimately destroys (physically and conceptually) the Washington Residence.
As always, Fitzgerald wrote this with such compelling descriptions, particularly of the Washington's residence in Montana..."Full in the light of the stars, an exquisite chateau rose form the borders of the lake, climbed in marble radiance half the height of an adjoining mountain, then melted in grace, in perfect symmetry, in translucent feminine languor, into the massed darkness of a forest of pine." The estate very much reminded me of the Emerald City, largely because of its profound beauty, yet luring oddities. The mountain is often compared to El Dorado, which I believe was a fitting analysis, especially after reading Voltaire's Candide. In Candide, it is a portrayal of the continuous discontent of humans, and how it is banal to live a perfect life. Even at the end of this story, after nearly everything and everyone is destroyed, Kismine and Jasmine are delighted to abandon their luxurious life and live among average people.
This was crafted so incredibly well, and I cannot wait to read more of his short stories!
This follows a wealthy young boy, John Unger, who attends a preparatory academy full of fellow wealthy students. John ends up agreeing to spend the summer at a fellow peer's house in Montana. This is, at its core, a satirical tale of the wealthy and the bloated, insensitive ideals that seem to come along with such power and privilege. I never thought that I would meet a character that exceeded Tom and Daisy Buchanan's sheer entitlement, however this went far beyond The Great Gatsby in such a sense...
"It's absurd...Think of the millions and millions of people in the world, laborers and all, who get along with only two maids."
(After Kismine tells John that he is probably going to die) "Oh, why did I tell you? I've probably spoiled your whole good time now, and we were really enjoying things when you didn't know it. I knew it would make things sort of depressing for you."
There are many more examples I could pull from this, but nearly every one of them made me laugh. This is simply a bloated, ironic portrayal of the indifference and entitlement of the extremely wealthy during the Jazz Age. The Washington family live within the bounds of something completely beyond luxury, hold those who find their residence hostage in an adorned hole in the ground, and literally keep slaves, because they have not told them that slavery was abolished decades previous to the 1920s. All of this they do with objectivity, ignorant to struggles of the world beyond their wealth. The Washington's home is constructed to be fundamentally perfect, including the girls. However as time goes on there is an overwhelming sense of peril, which ultimately destroys (physically and conceptually) the Washington Residence.
As always, Fitzgerald wrote this with such compelling descriptions, particularly of the Washington's residence in Montana..."Full in the light of the stars, an exquisite chateau rose form the borders of the lake, climbed in marble radiance half the height of an adjoining mountain, then melted in grace, in perfect symmetry, in translucent feminine languor, into the massed darkness of a forest of pine." The estate very much reminded me of the Emerald City, largely because of its profound beauty, yet luring oddities. The mountain is often compared to El Dorado, which I believe was a fitting analysis, especially after reading Voltaire's Candide. In Candide, it is a portrayal of the continuous discontent of humans, and how it is banal to live a perfect life. Even at the end of this story, after nearly everything and everyone is destroyed, Kismine and Jasmine are delighted to abandon their luxurious life and live among average people.
This was crafted so incredibly well, and I cannot wait to read more of his short stories!