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A society belle of earlier generations would never admit to having been kissed before marriage; the "popular daughter" of the 1910s was not only kissed, she actively connived at it, and she didn't mind talking about it afterward. Amory Blaine is among the first "anti-heroes" of the 20th Century, the opening salvo in a literary tradition that would eventually encompass everything from CATCHER IN THE RYE to ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST to CATCH-22. Certainly many writers, including numerous female authors, had written about women intelligently--but Fitzgerald stands astride the shift between what was and what is. I do recommend it, flawed though it is, but this is really a novel that for all its beauties is probably best left to hardcore fans. What is the point. At the time of its publication, THIS SIDE OF PARADISE was considered "an experimental novel," largely because Fitzgerald shifts between several different narrative styles as the book progresses. His later works would be planned, written and re-written, and polished to an almost superhuman degree. THIS SIDE OF PARADISE is not really much read these days, and on the occasions that is read, it is usually read by those who are already fans of later Fitzgerald works such as THE GREAT GATSBY and TENDER IS THE NIGHT.
Read today, it may be difficult to understand why; the story is a highly episodic "bildungroman" of a pampered, arrogant young man as he drifts with noticeable lack of appreciation through corridors of power and pleasure without absorbing much in the way of insight. Published in 1920, F. An arrogant slacker, he arrives at the end of the novel to find himself without any personal resources, either tangible or internal. Critics of the day hailed him as a major new talent, and his major works continue to stand the test of time. But although he rejects his mother's way of life, he is still very much her child; he is a superficial student at best, and he drifts through everything from superficial romances to philosophy class to The Great War without seeming to profit from the experience.
To say that the portrait horrified the parents of teenage girls from New York to California would be a significant understatement. In forcing the reader to that question, Fitzgerald effectively summed up the attitude of an entire generation. Fitzgerald never made the same mistake. Fitzgerald's portraits of these seemingly new creatures, who had money and social background, who stayed out late and necked in strange apartments, and who didn't seem to give a damn about what people of thought of them, is at once tender and icy cold. But it is precisely because of that THIS SIDE OF PARADISE was felt to be such a shocker in its era: the very notion that any one would write a novel about such a slacker was controversial and new.
The novel is particularly distinguished by a sense of irony. Why do we bother. What was it all for. At the time it seemed very fresh and new, but in truth the effect was not so much designed as accidental: the novel was cobbled together from Fitzgerald's earlier, unpublished writings, and the contrasts and shifts that seemed fresh and new in 1920 quickly came to feel uneven afterward. Like most of Fitzgerald's novels, PARADISE is distinctly autobiographical in nature. Amory may not be a likeable person, but the follies of youth--most particularly its pretensions--have not changed significantly over years, and Fitzgerald plays them out with a dry sense of humor that makes the careful reader wince time and again.
Scott Fitzgerald's first novel was wildly controversial, critically lauded, and an instant bestseller. It was an attitude that marked the beginning of the 1920s roar. Perhaps the best any of us can hope is a little comfort here and there and a good time along the way. Amory is indeed insufferable, but so have most of us been at one time or another, and the effect is comic, embarrasing, ridiculous, and at times down right painful.
It may well be that it is best left to such; I find it hard to believe that the typical reader, if there is such a thing, will be able to grasp what made it so unexpected in 1920. In a fit of social ambition, Amory decides to depart from his mother's pseudo-intellectualism and European pretensions and "go to school," enduring an unpleasant stint at an eastern prep school before entering Princeton. In addition to its unexpected apathy, PARADISE was also considered shocking for its portrait of women. It is, as Fitzgerald himself might have said, the curse of the mother visited on the son, a wallow in luxury without an appreciation for the hard work that supports it.
But in spite of the book's uneven narrative, it is very much what we think of when we think of Fitzgerald as a writer: sparks of poetry illuminating the psychology of slightly uncertain, often dubious characters, all interwoven with the hazards of careless wealth and incautious romance. The novel begins with a portrait Amory as a child, son of a non-descript father and the fabulously wealthy, wildly pretentious, and ridiculously eccentric Beatrice--whose influence is one of self-indulgent ennui. It is also particularly memorable, as many have pointed out, for its brilliant portrait of Princeton during the 1910s; indeed, the school becomes a major character in the novel, and while Amory develops a romantic appreciation of it, his great failure is that he never bothers to scratch the romantic surface in search of the core values that support it. GFT, Amazon Reviewer
This Side of Paradise is Fitzgerald's first novel and compared to most first novels, it is one of high quality. It is primarily a character study of Amory Blaine ,a young man of romantic temperament who lives off the inheritance form his wealthy mother. Blaine and his relationships with his male friends at Princeton both during and after college are one part of the book.His sense of purposelessness and his relationships with women are the other major themes of the book.Blaine is not a likable protagonist but Fitzgerald makes him compelling and his strong ear for dialogue and wonderful writing style plus some interesting secondary characters make the novel a winner
Beatrice is dear old mother with her delicacy and indulgences, and her personality makes Amory into the person he is because of her eccentricities and failures. Fitzgerald. We follow Amory through school and his younger years (where he's disliked by his classmates because they don't get him), through his college years (where he's liked by classmates because they don't get him), vaguely through World War I, and always through his women, until we meet Rosalind - the beginning, end, and in-between of everything Amory wanted and could never have.Amory is always looking for himself, and never finding the person he wants. How you woo me with your lyrical prose and bore me with your philosophical shpeel.There were times during This Side of Paradise where I was overcome by what I was reading because it was just that amazing. He's full of life but completely lost. The bits of genius were effortless and beautiful because they were the first of their kind, pure and innocent. Overly dramatic, lost, found, curious, lonely, broken, bruised.
Paradise seems like it was easy for Fitz. But looking beyond those parts, I have to acknowledge Paradise as Fitz's first novel, and therefore the good parts were made that much better since he had nothing Gatsby-like to live up to. Fun. He's lost, and I feel sad for him.
Ahhhh Mr. Affected. Amory is a character. He's a dreamer and an idealist and a realist all at the same time; he is one big hypocritical oxymoron, and he's completely overwhelmingly tragic.We begin Amory's life from whence all his issues started: Beatrice. For that reason, I enjoyed this novel tremendously.This Side of Paradise revolves around Amory Blaine. He wants to be remembered, but never sticks to anything long enough to be cause for remembrance. And then there were times where I glazed over the philosophy with dry eyes and an annoying buzz in my ears. He loses himself in whatever he likes at the time, whether it be school, an idea, a place, or a person.
I feel like I can tell this is his first novel because it wouldn't be until later that the pressure of being a "good writer" would hit him. There are many words to describe Amory: self-involved, self-indulgent, self-conscious. He's never happy and never content for long. He never quite finds what he's looking for.The best description of Amory can be found on the twelfth page of the book:"It was always the becoming he dreamed of, never the being."
The first thing I discovered was that F. He is a child of privilege and thus has a condescending attitude toward most others, particularly women. It is largely biographical. Amory has several girlfriends during the course of the novel and it is through these foils that we see what makes Amory tick and how he grows. Maybe that's well known but that particular piece of knowledge had somehow escaped me all these years. This book itself, was Fitzgerald's first published novel, and in fact, became a best seller and put him on the map. I always like to do a little research on books I read as well as their authors, particularly the classics. He is very introspective and Fitzgerald spends a lot of time having Amory try to meld together the idealistic concepts of a Princeton student with the realities of early 20th century American life.
There are numerous similarities with the characterizations and style of The Great Gatsby and most people agree the later work is superior. He suffers from low self esteem but covers it up with glibness and sometimes arrogance but depite all of that, he is still a likeable character. It has been so long between experiencing the two novels that I can't say which I prefer. She agreed only on the condition that he finish the novel, publish it and become successful. Scott Fitzgerald's full name is Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald and in fact, he was a distant relative of the author of the poem that became America's national anthem. The story is written in several different forms, through prose, poetry, letters, and stage direction.
The story goes that he began writing the novel in Army training camp during WWI, but afterwards had to beg his lady friend, Zelda to come back to him. This he did and the rest is history.The novel itself is a coming of age novel wherein the protagonist, Amory Blaine never really does come of age. That can be somewhat confusing when done in the audio format as I experienced this novel but I don't suspect it would be a problem in normal book form.In many ways this could be considered a romantic tragedy. Both are classics and worthy novels to read.
However, this book is also plagued by narcissism and an overabundance of crazy women with an affinity for poetry, which could prove too much for the reader taking Fitzgerald for a test drive. Scott Fitzgerald left Princeton and joined the military, his belief that he would die at war led him to begin writing the autobiographical "This Side of Paradise." Written rather schizophrenically - alternating between prose, verse, letters, and stage direction - readers are given a unique and multifaceted introduction to Amory Blaine, the intellectual, perpetually disillusioned youth. When F. "The Great Gatsby" or "Tender is the Night" would make much better introductions that the majority would argue are simply better pieces of literature. As he stumbles through life attempting to figure out what he believes in, who he loves, and how he comes to terms with personal losses, it is impossible not to feel a little closer to the iconic author and his own internal struggles. Amory winds his way through the Midwest, Princeton, Europe, and New York, morphing his perspectives on everything from romanticism to socialism based on his experiences and especially his failures.Fans of Fitzgerald will appreciate the beautiful writing of this work; his word choice and turn of phrase make him remarkably quotable. While admitting to myself that this book was a bit bizarre and will never make it onto my "books I would take with me on a deserted island" list, I could not help enjoying it. This book may have revealed to me just how highly Fitzgerald thought of himself, but I tend to think pretty highly of him, too.
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