“Every author ought to write every book as if he were going to be beheaded the day he finished it.”

This Side of Paradise certainly adheres to this theme. Fitzgerald puts all of himself in it, whether or not everything fit. There were some passages so beautiful that my jaw dropped open--which almost never happens to me. I love reading debut novels, in part because I believe that they capture the novel at his most giving and ambitious. This book certainly has many structural flaws, and Amory's loss of innocence doesn't feel quite earned. However Fitzgerald is such a genius and this book is so earnest that I'm giving it five stars in any case.

I couldn't read this book in public due to people thinking I'm having a seizure because I rolled my eyes so often at how exceedingly boring this book got. I have always loved F. Scott's writing style, but my god, are his subjects dull! I'm not kidding when I say, I couldn't even get through the Sparknotes.

Similarly to when I look back on my past, I found this book much more enjoyable once I stopped taking the main character so seriously. Then, instead of only cringing, I could also laugh as Amory continuously makes an ass of himself. F. Scott's beautiful turns of phrase lighten the blow as you push through the coming-of-age story of another young white male who desperately needs a therapist and a hug.

The story itself was quintessentially Fitzgerald as the writer floated in and around the plot in a dreamlike manner that could both entrance and confuse. Essentially it told the story of an egotistical Ivy League drop-out who gets humbled until his disillusionment with himself and the world starts to disappear. Saying the book didn't have a linear storyline would probably be kind, but again, Fitzgerald's dreamy prose would often make you forget you were lost in the first place.

It would be easy to say Amory sucked and deserved all that came to him, b/c honestly that's the truth. However, by the end, I looked back at his immature missteps with the hope that his character could finally learn and maybe laugh at his mistakes too. And if that isn't you're early 20's, I don't know what is.

I really disliked this book because of the plot. Though I understand the time period at which this book was written and I did enjoy Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, this story was confusing and boring. I did not like the main character and he didn't even seem to be doing anything that interesting. *SPOILERS* It was just about a man who went to college and fell in love a couple of times and went to war. The character wasn't very interesting and the plot wasn't very interesting to me.

I'm not sure why it took me so long to read this book. It's good but in small doses. Fitzgerald is known to be "the" representation of his generation - which is good in understanding the angst of the early 1900's but is bad in the sense that he references a lot of slang used at that time or products that were popular at that time. So it took me a while to wade through that and determine what he was referring to or how it tied into the story. I know a more sophisticated reader will be able to tell me the true meaning of the story (such as The Great Gatsby partially being about the American dream? Really?! Unbeknownst to me). I like how Amory wades through popularity, women, wealth, politics, etc, in his search for himself and when it's all said and done, that's what he's got, himself and nothing else. DRAMA!

“I'm a romantic; a sentimental person thinks things will last, a romantic person hopes against hope that they won't.”

This book is so important to me for so many reasons, and I'm really glad that I'm still enchanted by it now.
I love seeing Amory's personality and values solidify throughout his life, and felt like despite living very differently, I can relate to the way he looks back on things according to what stage of personality he was going through at the time. I was amazed to realize this is my first time reading this while being older than Amory is at the end of the novel; it's so fascinating to me that Fitzgerald published this at 24 while writing about a character getting to that age and looking back as though there weren't several lifetimes ahead of him.
As always, I am obsessed with Fitzgerald's writing style. He writes so beautifully and romantically and I just completely adore the lyrical style of his novels.
If you're a Fitzgerald or American lit fan, this is a must read. I don't think there's a single other books among my favorites that I think my friends would hate though; so much of this book is spent discussing philosophies and that's definitely not for everyone.

I'd so much as sworn off F. Scott Fitzgerald after a reading of The Great Gatsby several years ago that left me disgusted with the characters, but then over the weekend I met someone with a line from This Side of Paradise tattooed across her shoulder blade. I figured that if it was that important for someone there must be something to it! Truth be told, there were moments that were really beautiful; and overall it's an honest and accessible study on the struggles of youth that are so often treated with dismissal or melodrama. I enjoyed it, and find hope in the fact that Amory has much more life ahead of him even on the last page. I'm hoping to continue to find that there's more to FSF than first met the eye.