crufts's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Everyone has heard of The Great Gatsby. Fewer have heard of author F. Scott Fitzgerald's debut novel, This Side of Paradise.
Amory Blaine is a young man of great promise. Leaving his humdrum Midwestern origins to attend Princeton University, a world of excitement and adventure opens up before him. Parties, money, romance, prestige - it seems Amory is destined to enjoy it all. Or is he?
I was hopeful about this book. And I did enjoy quite a few aspects of it, such as the depiction of the hedonistic "Jazz Age" and what fortunate young people got up to in 1910-20s America.
The protagonist's obsession with social climbing was also an interesting topic. I liked how it was a double-edged sword that he wielded to achieve his ends, but he was just as often cut by it. Even so, he couldn't stop thinking about trying to attain the prize of a high social status that would separate him from the masses.
Finally, there are some great original poems in the book which added spice to the text.
All that was a solid start. It made me think the novel would be like The Picture of Dorian Gray, especially since it references Dorian Gray early on - that is, the story of a hedonist's downfall, or maybe his redemption. Unfortunately, this is where the novel's flaws appear.
In Dorian Gray, the protagonist is challenged by a number of different situations (romance, blackmail, murder, etc) which force him to take more and more extreme actions, resulting in a building tension that eventually explodes at the end of the novel.
There is no such variety in This Side of Paradise. Instead, Amory's challenges return repetitively to the same type: romance. He dates at least four different women in the novel (maybe five, if you squint), with each relationship ending due to his obsession with social status. Yet he never seems to learn his lesson for the next time, or even to slightly improve himself, until the very end of the book.
Similarly, there is some antagonism against Amory, such as financial pressure, but there is no building tension that gradually increases through the novel. It felt very samey every time Amory met yet another new girlfriend, until the major conflict at the end of the story.
Finally, Amory is not established as a likeable protagonist before he engages on his charge of egotism. This gave me little to care about when he went about his egotistic ways. In contrast, Dorian Gray is established as a delightful, naive youth before he hits his narrative downfall, so we are still intrigued even after he turns bad.
Overall, I would not recommend This Side of Paradise. However, you might like Fitzgerald's later (and more famous) book, The Great Gatsby.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexism
Minor: Death and War
Death: Occurs off-screen.War: The protagonist is briefly enlisted as a soldier in WWI.
Sexism: In the 1910-20s America setting, social roles and employment opportunities for women are extremely limited. This inequality is also discussed by the characters.
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