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This Side of Paradise
This Side of Paradise

F. Scott Fitzgerald's first novel

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Dated yet still current!

  • Aug 5, 2001
Rating:
+3
I missed this one back in college, where I became enamoured of much more sophisticated writers (Joyce and Hemingway, though some here may question this characterization of Hemingway at least). Indeed, I had liked THE GREAT GATSBY back then but was not overly fond of the Fitzgerald opus of short stories so, on balance, I never felt motivated to read any further into his works. And yet I recently found a copy of this one so, having a little time on my hands, set out to read it. At first it was slow going and very dated in its feel. Hard to relate to the early twentieth century upper class snobbery which seems to suffuse the book and, indeed, Fitzgerald's very sensibility. Hard, too, to relate to a bunch of sophomoric college boys roaming the streets, arm in arm, singing silly little college songs and angling to outshine one another by securing a better reputation among their peers and better connections with the "in groups." And yet, perhaps it was just a simpler time for, in truth, people are not entirely unlike that today though they are, I think, less transparent about it and more sophisticated in their areas of concern. Nevertheless, once past the first superficial ramblings of this book, I began to get sucked into the mind and world of Amory Blaine (presumably the alter ego of Fitzgerald himself). Although he remained a rather superficial and tiresome personality to the end, he was also an interesting soul and one whose travails, such as they were, could and did draw a reader in. I found Blaine's coming of age tale oddly enlightening, if only because I began to see the world as it was, roughly a hundred years ago, in a sharper, almost first-hand perspective. Blaine grows a bit though he never outgrows his essential self-absorption. But the loss of family and friends and lovers take their toll on his psyche and the Blaine we have at the end of the tale is a wiser and bigger boy than the one at the beginning. I think, in general, our serious writers in the twentieth century forgot about telling stories or creating worlds in favor of word-play and self-revelation and that this has done literature no service. Fitzgerald certainly was among those who took writing in that direction. But he sure could write and the fact that the very thin and sophomoric tale of Blaine's coming of age could hold me at the dawn of the twenty-first century is testimony to that. There are better and stronger books out there and some I much prefer. But the man could write. -- SWM

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More This Side of Paradise reviews
review by . June 16, 2010
posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More
F. Scott Fitzgerald spent his entire career in the same vein set forth in this debut novel, first published in 1920 when the author was 23. He was a master of capturing the essence of the era--the glamorous and privileged New English lifestyle and all its deliriously unbelievable characters. This Side of Paradise creates an environment for Fitzgerald to exist, and it is perfectly indispensable.      This Bildungsroman (or coming-of-age novel) concentrates on the young Amory …
Quick Tip by . July 06, 2010
posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More
all of Fitzgerald's novels have the same basic theme but if you enjoy that genre, this one is as good as the rest!
Quick Tip by . June 23, 2010
posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More
Loved The Great Gatsby but couldn't finish this one.
Quick Tip by . June 22, 2010
posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More
I normally love FSF, but this left me cold.
see all This Side of Paradise reviews (8)
About the reviewer
Stuart W. Mirsky ()
Ranked #261
I'm a retired bureaucrat (having served, most recently, as an Assistant Commissioner in amunicipal agency in a major Northeastern American city). In 2002 I took an early retirement to pursue a lifelong … more
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About this book

Wiki

Fitzgerald's first novel, reprinted in the handsome Everyman's Library series of literary classic, uses numerous formal experiments to tell the story of Amory Blaine, as he grows up during the crazy years following the First World War. It also contains a new introduction by Craig Raine that describes critical and popular reception of the book when it came out in 1920.--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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Details

ISBN-10: 0684843781
ISBN-13: 978-0684843780
Author: F. Scott Fitzgerald
Publisher: Scribner

Polls with this book
Tender is the Night [Paperback]

F. Scott Fitzgerald's Novels and Stories (Earn the Great Gatsby Badge in Cafe Libri!)

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