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A review by jessica_flower
This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald
1.0
"Amory wondered how people could fail to notice that he was a boy marked for glory, and when faces of the throng turned towards him and ambiguous eyes stared into his, he assumed the most romantic of expressions and walked on the air cushions that lie on the asphalts of fourteen."
"It was always the becoming he dreamt of, never the being. This too was quite characteristic of Amory."
Here we have, in two quotes, the summary of Amory Blaine, as I've come to know him.
What a self-obsessed, narcissistic dandy. I could only read 90 pages - about a third of the book - before I just couldn't take it anymore. Amory is born into wealth, high status, and like what seems to be most of these inherited-rich types, he can't seem to muster up the effort for anything more substantial than how to dress nicely, talk as if he knows a whole lot more about the world than he actually does, and try to make everyone think that he is the most glorious, most romantic, most cultured man they'd ever seen.
Amory puts up this glamour over himself, and believes it to be fact.
That could be just enough to say about this book. But I'm feeling bitter, so here's more.
He goes to Princeton not because he thinks it is a good school, not because he thinks it will help him learn more and get a better career, but because of "its atmosphere of bright colours and its alluring reputation as the pleasantest country club in America."
He essentially treats university like a country club, focusing on the social scene, and when he's given a chance for a makeup exam for a course he didn't pass, he doesn't study, subsequently fails it and subsequently doesn't seem to care about the rest of it anymore too. I feel personally offended by this; education has always been really important to me, and to see someone use it so callously, lazily all the way through, makes my blood simmer with anger.
I'm bitter, because I wanted to like it. I wanted to admire the atmosphere, the writing, the storyline the way I did with The Great Gatsby. The Great Gatsby is one of my favourite books, and I'm sorry to say, that This Side of Paradise is going on the other end of the spectrum: one of the books whose main characters I can't stand.
"It was always the becoming he dreamt of, never the being. This too was quite characteristic of Amory."
Here we have, in two quotes, the summary of Amory Blaine, as I've come to know him.
What a self-obsessed, narcissistic dandy. I could only read 90 pages - about a third of the book - before I just couldn't take it anymore. Amory is born into wealth, high status, and like what seems to be most of these inherited-rich types, he can't seem to muster up the effort for anything more substantial than how to dress nicely, talk as if he knows a whole lot more about the world than he actually does, and try to make everyone think that he is the most glorious, most romantic, most cultured man they'd ever seen.
Amory puts up this glamour over himself, and believes it to be fact.
That could be just enough to say about this book. But I'm feeling bitter, so here's more.
He goes to Princeton not because he thinks it is a good school, not because he thinks it will help him learn more and get a better career, but because of "its atmosphere of bright colours and its alluring reputation as the pleasantest country club in America."
He essentially treats university like a country club, focusing on the social scene, and when he's given a chance for a makeup exam for a course he didn't pass, he doesn't study, subsequently fails it and subsequently doesn't seem to care about the rest of it anymore too. I feel personally offended by this; education has always been really important to me, and to see someone use it so callously, lazily all the way through, makes my blood simmer with anger.
I'm bitter, because I wanted to like it. I wanted to admire the atmosphere, the writing, the storyline the way I did with The Great Gatsby. The Great Gatsby is one of my favourite books, and I'm sorry to say, that This Side of Paradise is going on the other end of the spectrum: one of the books whose main characters I can't stand.