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danielshelsel's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
musicsaves's review against another edition
4.0
Utterly delightful! I ripped through this collection of short stories in 1 1/2 days. Funny, charming, catty, literary peeks into a very different world and life-style. Hard to believe that he published these AND the novel “The Beautiful and Damned” in the same year (1922).
This one contains “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” that was made into a movie starring Brad Pitt as the backwardly aging person, born as a fully grown old man. Funny, charming and heart-breaking. Many of these stories carried the same inventive spirit and deep probing into the human spirit during an age of excess! And, of course, they are also widely diverse in quality and style...as is so often the case in short story collections.
This one contains “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” that was made into a movie starring Brad Pitt as the backwardly aging person, born as a fully grown old man. Funny, charming and heart-breaking. Many of these stories carried the same inventive spirit and deep probing into the human spirit during an age of excess! And, of course, they are also widely diverse in quality and style...as is so often the case in short story collections.
pixette's review against another edition
3.0
I quite enjoyed it. You have to suspend a lot of disbelief but it was an easy quick read
ziagouel's review against another edition
5.0
I wasn't so impressed after reading The Great Gatsby but since I'm done with Tales of Jazz Age, I definitely need to read the Gatsby once more. Tales of the Jazz Age were as brilliant as they were inspirative and you simply can't close the book without wondering how virtuosly can F. S. Fitzgerald tell a story.
gothiclibrarian's review against another edition
This one was kind of a bummer for me. I didn't like it as much as I expected to and as The Great Gatsby is my favorite book, I had very high expectations.
Out of the nine short stories, I liked one. One. Porcelain and Pink; which appealed to me just because it had a few humorous moments. The other eight stories were either just okay, or a struggle to get through because they just felt so "blah" to me.
I really like Fitzgerald, but in my opinion, he is more of a novelist than a short story writer. I haven't disliked any of his novels that I've read (so far), but for some reason, his short stories don't have the same oomph. I was also expecting more of a Jazz theme, rather than a collection of stories that just happen to be set in the 20's when Jazz was the thing.
I'm sure there are many people who love his short stories, but were someone to ask me what they should read to start on Fitzgerald's cannon, I would definitely suggest his novels.
Out of the nine short stories, I liked one. One. Porcelain and Pink; which appealed to me just because it had a few humorous moments. The other eight stories were either just okay, or a struggle to get through because they just felt so "blah" to me.
I really like Fitzgerald, but in my opinion, he is more of a novelist than a short story writer. I haven't disliked any of his novels that I've read (so far), but for some reason, his short stories don't have the same oomph. I was also expecting more of a Jazz theme, rather than a collection of stories that just happen to be set in the 20's when Jazz was the thing.
I'm sure there are many people who love his short stories, but were someone to ask me what they should read to start on Fitzgerald's cannon, I would definitely suggest his novels.
riakul's review against another edition
4.75
One of the best short story collections I have read. Most of the stories were sad but some made you think.
O russet witch about lives never pursued
Crazy Sunday was okay. But read somewhere that Joel left Stella that night because he didn't want to be Miles surrogate. ( Joel did say he was er only connection to miles now)
The gut punch at the end of tha may day was unexpected. But it was mostly about there different stories mostly tied together by the events of Mayday. But it's written so well!
The four fists was in interesting concept. How he always realised after getting punched that he has strayed away from his values.
O russet witch about lives never pursued
Crazy Sunday was okay. But read somewhere that Joel left Stella that night because he didn't want to be Miles surrogate. ( Joel did say he was er only connection to miles now)
The gut punch at the end of tha may day was unexpected. But it was mostly about there different stories mostly tied together by the events of Mayday. But it's written so well!
The four fists was in interesting concept. How he always realised after getting punched that he has strayed away from his values.
kurtwombat's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I have often wondered what it must be like to sing—to let loose a voice that moves others. To not just sing along but cast your voice alone upon the air unsupported to fly and land on it’s own. Maybe it is like flying. Just you--clear of obstacles and free of weight, all directions and distances available and possible. Beautiful. That’s how I feel reading F. Scott Fitzgerald. He writes so beautifully, his sentences often sing and seem to fly. There are times where I have sat startled by his prose. He is often romanticized as a writer partly because of this skill, but also because of the flapper age he was immersed in and the age of his death—44. (And then there’s Zelda). More famous now for his novels, it was short stories that made his living. They aren’t as well remembered but still show that Fitzgerald could write but also write whatever he wanted. I started this thinking it would be one flapper tale after another. The ease and fashion of the roaring 20’s does permeate much of this collection, but there is more to see. He touches on fantasy (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), adventure (The Diamond as Big as the Ritz), mock playwriting (Mr. Icky), being Henry James (The Lees of Happiness) and fun with hillbillies (Jemina, the Mountain Girl) all with equal skill. Had he been able to fly in real life, free of money worries, worry over Zelda’s decline in health and the scourge of alcohol, who knows what he might have produced. But that always begs the question, how much did he produce because of enduring those liabilities. All that being said, this is obviously worth a look—not everything ages well (Mr Icky & Porcelain and Pink). My favorites are probably O Russet Witch & The Camel’s Back but there is plenty to enjoy.