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ronronia's review against another edition
2.0
¿Habrá habido en la historia de la literatura alguien que haya escrito más bellamente, más magistralmente, sobre una gente más GILIPOLLAS? Lo he acabado porque lo he oído limpiando, si llego a leerlo lo clavo en la pared. Unos niñatos clasistas, pedantes y lelos perdidos mantienen conversaciones que dan ganas de enderezarlos a collejas y se comportan de la forma más imbécil que se les ocurre. Y cuando se enamoran y hablan en pareja es aún peor. Te quedas por el lenguaje, sales corriendo sin mirar atrás por el contenido. Quería que me gustará, eh, pero lo odio, qué horas perdidas de mi vida que no volverán.
red1176's review against another edition
2.0
As much as I loved The Great Gatsby, I just couldn't get into this book. I understand the themes and appreciated the character development, but I kept waiting for the story to get better and eventually just saw it to the end. But had it been a book, I probably would have abandoned it.
10501's review against another edition
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
2.0
The poetry in this book is sooooo bad. Fitzgerald himself notes that Shakespeare’s sonnets to the Dark Lady wouldn’t have lasted if they were overly contrived, so I guess he didn’t want his sonnets to survive. All of the characters in this book are really terribly written and the dialogue is god-awful. Everytime Amory meets another woman, you have to get ready for a character that feels like the author has never actually seen a woman. It’s an experimental book, which means that there’s random dialogue in the form of a play, a random Q and A session, and what feels like an unending slog of Amory complaining about his life and lambasting poor people before reciting terrible poetry and philosophizing from a soapbox. This box really felt like getting yelled at from a corner preacher. Only, in that case, I would actually have been able to run away. Never again.
isgalis's review against another edition
4.0
A remarkably quotable book that tells the life of a very relatable main character. While I admit Amory didn't strike me as a good person at first, I began to like him as he grew older and wiser, specially during his years in Princeton. While there isn't exactly a plot to work with other than Amory's growth and development, I felt compelled to continue reading about him (though I do wonder if I was biased by the fact that apparently this story is losely based on that of Fitzgerald himself). Either way, I liked it very much and am very eager to continue reading more of Fitzgerald's works.
jiscoo's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
5.0
a little bit bizarre and wholly inexplicable, how much this imperfect, over-earnest first novel of fitzgerald's means to me. it moves me despite everything. rip scott u wouldve loved "what was i made for" by billie eilish
larryebonilla's review against another edition
5.0
“Well, this side of Paradise! ....
There’s little comfort in the wise.”
— Rupert Brooke in “Tiare Tahiti”
This Side of Paradise was a book a friend recommended to me. He told me it was a book that was there for him in his low points in life. I didn’t get to know this friend for long, but in sharing this book, I got to know a lot of about him. I am happy to have met him, and I am happy to have read this amazing recommendation.
I know many in the room are not fans of The Great Gatsby, and you might even say F. Scott Fitzgerald didn’t even write it; however, This Side of Paradise is an charmingly amateurish experimental novel. It was Fitzgerald’s first novel, and I think it may surpass The Great Gatsby. Don’t get me wrong: this Side of Paradise isn’t a higher form of literature compared to Fitzgerald’s work, but it is the most adolescent-connected novel.
In This Side of Paradise, you will not find a logical, planned-out novel. After all, F. Scott Fitzgerald began writing drafts of this novel when he was 21 years old because he didn’t think he’d return from the war. He finished the novel a few short years later, and he tried submitting it to Scribner’s and was rejected. The issue was that it wasn’t ‘complete.’ This is a glaring issue as—clearly—Fitzgerald wasn’t mature at that point in his life.
In many ways, this works to the detriment of the writer. Ostensibly, this is an inconsistent, sporadic, incomplete novel. Despite this, one should be reminded this isn’t just any novel. It is a part of the bildungsroman literary genre (ie. the German term for coming-of-age novels or novels of psychological/moral development). In this regard, Fitzgerald created a fantastic, radiant example of the adolescent experience.
In Part 1, the story is set in the confines of the university and about the ‘Lost Generation’ before the war, before they were ‘lost’. It is about student organizations, great and optimistic expectations, friendships, and generally youthful radiance. In Part 2, the story is out of the university and offers a perspective of life after the war and the loss of life. This part of the story is about losing, failure, feeling lost. Romantic failure, career failure, friendship failure, and self-failure.
Fitzgerald purposefully writes appropriate for each part. He makes use of fragmentation and vignettes. He shares scenes of Amory’s development. He switches the format whenever needed. The novel is about failure, nostalgia, self-awareness, and relationships (platonic or romantic). It’s hard not to feel Amory’s distant longing for Rosalind and his loneliness when his friends have either passed away or moved on to real life.
Amory can only return to his adolescence, in his mental image and physical, but he has to recognize he cannot return. All the dreams and passions he has had drifted into the vortex of growing up. He can only admit one thing: “I know myself” “but that is all.” There is nothing else one might know, and one may hope that we may be better or become our best.
flonew's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
nattjs's review against another edition
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
nicklovinbooks's review against another edition
3.0
My New Year’s resolution is to review every book I read in 2023 so here: not our boy Fitzgeralds best but also not his worst.