This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald December 2017 2,5/5 Français: L’envers du paradis Summary This Side of Paradise, F. Scott Fitzgerald's romantic and witty first novel, was written when the author was only twenty-three years old. This semiautobiographical story of the handsome, indulged, and idealistic Princeton student Amory Blaine received critical raves and catapulted Fitzgerald to instant fame. In this definitive text, This Side of Paradise captures the rhythms and romance of Fitzgerald's youth and offers a poignant portrait of the "Lost Generation." – Goodreads My review I bought This Side of Paradise at the same time as Teffi’s short stories collection Tolstoy, Rasputin, Others, and Me. I asked the bookseller from Hullaballoo Books (Brooklyn, NYC) what was the most “New York” book he could think of. He suggested anything from F. Scott Fitzgerald. Having already read The Great Gatsby like every 14-year-old, I picked up his other novel on the shelf which happened to be This Side of Paradise. It was one of those old 1940s’ Charles Scribner’s & sons edition with no jacket and no summary. Honestly, I never would have picked this one up for myself had I read the synopsis. Although the story is not based in NYC (for the most part), it captures the glitz and glam on the Roaring 20s. The rise of capitalism and of the individual over the whole of society. The characters are all selfish and self-centered to the point where they are no longer witty but just mean. There is always a fine line between being sarcastic and grotesque which This Side of Paradise definitely crosses. Armory Blaine is funny (and punny) but lacks in any emotional depth which either represents the superficiality of the 1920s or is just representative of a badly writing character. His act is entertaining for about 50 pages, then it gets redundant. He does grow a little bit through the novel, but Armory still acts like a whiny child even in his darkest moments. This Side of Paradise is divided into two parts. The first part, “The Romantic Egotist”, was entertaining. It focuses on Armory’s childhood and his time at Princeton. Already he presents himself as above everyone else considering his advanced education. He wants to succeed, but he does not put the effort. I can forgive some of his immaturity since he is so young and has had an unconventional childhood. He has a weird way of conceptualizing love and friendship, kind of expecting everything to go his way just because he is Armory Blaine. Part of Armory’s charm in this section is that he is just a simple boy. He has normal boy problems with a normal entourage yet he wants to believe that he is so important. Armory Blaine is not special, but he desperately tries to be which makes him endearing regardless of his lack maturity. “The Romantic Egotist” is full of irony. It is enjoyable, but nothing commendable. Everything starts to go badly with the second part, “The Education of a Personage”. First, why is there a short play in the middle of the novel? The second part starts off with a play in which Armory thinks he has fallen in love. It is way overdramatic and exaggerated. At this point, Armory must be in his mid-twenties, but he sounds just like a child. His “girlfriend” is not much better. The whole thing comes off as awkward and overly-sensational. The rest of the second part returns to the normal structure of a novel. Armory goes from being in love to being overwhelmed by sadness to being in love again. It is borderline pathetic. The plot starts to go haywire. The irony and sarcasm of the first part no longer is comical. It is good to see Armory eventually get a hold of his life, but by then it is too late and I had lost most of my interest in this book. I was not that much of a fan of The Great Gatsby either so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that I did not particularly enjoy This Side of Paradise. F. Scott Fitzgerald is undoubtedly one of the most important American writers. However, I can’t seem to relate to the struggles of his characters or understand the full depth of his humor. It is a shame, but it seems like Fitzgerald is just not my cup of tea. If you liked This Side of Paradise, you will love… Only Dull People are Brilliant at Breakfast by Oscar Wilde The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
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