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Title: BEAUTIFUL AND DAMNED by F. Scott Fitzgerald ISBN: 0684801558 Publisher: Scribner Pub. Date: 04 May, 1995 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.18
Rating: 5
Summary: When life takes a turn
Comment: Fittingly, this was the last of Fitzgerald's novels that I read. And I apparently saved the best for last. In this enrapturing portrayl of young lovers who are attracted by their differences in the beggining yet destroyed by their similarities in the end (the need of wealth). I find this perhaps one of Fitzgerald's finest literary achievements. He has it all working for him in this novel, his character development is excellent, I feel as though I could recognize Anthony or Gloria on the street if they were to saunter my way. Fitzgerald truly breaks his own mold on this terrific literary achievement. He not only tells a wonderful story of two young lovers but he also parallels it with a very strong supporting cast of characters to Anthony and Gloria. Much can be understood of the lead characters by reading into the supporting characters, focus on Anthhony's grandfather for example. The rosy picture which is so commonly printed by the media of the rich has never been so wonderfully redone with vibrant color as Fitzgerald waves his "paint brush" through all the old misconceptions of the rich and into something truly brilliant: Real life. Fitzgerald was indeed touched with brilliance, and never has it ever been more evident than in his wonderful novel :The Beautiful and Damned." An absolute must read.
Rating: 3
Summary: Damned average
Comment: The Beautiful and Damned is a Naturalist novel that recounts the slow dissolution of Anthony Patch, heir to a large fortune, and his charmingly immature, hedonistic, and impulsive wife Gloria.
There's something a little "off" in this novel--even saying the title out loud requires an odd caesura. The plot has a feeling of artificial inevitability. Early on, it's easy to sympathize with Patch, even to root for him, but at times his thought processes and actions are so maudlin that one wants him to just *fall* already. Gloria is a fine and interesting character, but by and large the peripheral characters are closer to caricatures.
The book's strength is its prose, natural and authoritative, never self-consciously clever to an annoying extent. Fitzgerald's pacing is steady; occasional meandering narrative passages are fished quickly out of the water with dialog and plot events.
All in all it's a fairly good book, worth a read if you're NOT looking for the near-great Gatsby.
Rating: 3
Summary: My Thoughts of the Beautiful and the Damned
Comment: My thoughts of: The Beautiful and the Damned
The Beautiful and the Damned, by F.Scott Fitzgerald, is an exciting novel that brings friendship. Love, and confusion of young life all together. "here eyes were gleaming ripples in the white lake of her face; the shadows of her hair bordered the brow with a persuasive unintimate dusk." The author clearly tries to describe the joy and sorrow of finding a new love throughout this novel. Fitzgerald shows the ups, downs, confusions, and oddness of how love begins, lingers, and in some cases, ends.
Anthony Patch begins as a young, well educated, and wealthy man. He acts like a regular young man, engaging in drinking, associating with peers, and finding love. He stumbles upon love through a friend, Richard Caramel, an interesting author. Richard's cousin, Gloria, is an attractive young lady who sparks a flame in Anthony's eyes almost instantly. They create what may be love but gradually realize that alcohol and greed soon replaces it all.
The setting of this novel seems perfectly fit for the story. It switches from one impressive city to the next, Boston and New York City. A big city naturally puts these characters into play. The activities they persue, and every young person dreams of, fall snuggly into Boston Massachusetts and New York City. Dancing, dining out, and drinking, done so often they become almost as natural as breathing, all activate their fancy high life.
The characters in this novel bring back the old fashioned yet, somehow, modern ways of the young. The protagonist, Anthony Patch, signifies a highly opinionated person which shows throughout the story as he places himself in deep discussions with Gloria, the antagonist. The deep discussions also occur with Maury and Richard, some of their closest companions. Maury and Richard both get along great, but they characterize very different people. For instance, Richard loves writing. Writing almost addictively, searching for a new character to create always stays on his mind. Maury, a lot like Anthony, stands as an opinionated person who gives the two much to talk about, which only adds more interest to the story. Gloria conversates as well, but mostly about things only appealing to her. Gloria presents what Anthony and Maury call a "childish" kind of glow. Though she seems childish, this feature actually attracts people to her the most. All the characters play an interesting and important role in this book.
The Beautiful and the Damned, definitely worth reading, shows the realism of everyday life in the 1920's. F.Scott Fitzgerald portrays the life of the young and how easily it might self destruct through greed, material wants, and alcoholism. Fitzgerald proves that the fairytale of married life among the wealthy rarely happens. Money, though abundant, possibly means a lack of love and other ingredients that fuel a healthy life. Money turns into the only reason Gloria stays with Anthony. Though this book may seem fantasy-like at first, it breaks through the candy coated appearance of wealthy life in the early 1920's
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Title: This Side Of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald, James L. W. West ISBN: 0684843781 Publisher: Scribner Pub. Date: July, 1998 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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Title: TENDER IS THE NIGHT by F. Scott Fitzgerald ISBN: 068480154X Publisher: Scribner Pub. Date: 01 July, 1995 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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Title: LOVE OF THE LAST TYCOON by F. Scott Fitzgerald ISBN: 0020199856 Publisher: Scribner Pub. Date: 14 April, 1995 List Price(USD): $11.00 |
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Title: SHORT STORIES OF F. SCOTT FITZGERALD : A New Collection by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Matthew J. Bruccoli ISBN: 068480445X Publisher: Scribner Pub. Date: 20 September, 1995 List Price(USD): $18.00 |
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Title: The Crack-Up by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Edmund Wilson ISBN: 0811212475 Publisher: New Directions Publishing Pub. Date: September, 1993 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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