erinfinn5's reviews
59 reviews

“‘I know myself,’ he cried, ‘but that is all’”.
If I stopped developing as a person at the age of 10, and went into this book with the mindset I once had, this would pry be my favorite novel. Within Amory I saw myself, though more in an abstract ideal way than anything concrete. Which is to say that within him I saw perhaps not my worst, but certainly some of my more infamous traits. He is practically a more grown version of that 10 year old self I mentioned, though perhaps in a whiter and richer way.
But enough about myself, and instead more of the novel. I much preferred this novel to The Beautiful and the Damned, which I read last year. Perhaps for this is more of a coming of age story, and ends on a much kinder note than the other did, this one of hope and potential instead of the other’s cynicism. Of course, Amory is identical in many ways to Anthony Patch, which should not surprise anyone even vaguely familiar with F. Scott Fitzgerald, as all that man could write were self-inserts. This book surprised me with its lack of a doomed, unhappy marriage, the type quite frequent in Fitzgerald’s other works. Perhaps that is because he was younger when he wrote this, and less absorbed by his own misery.
Which is not to say this novel is devoid of misery, in fact it has much. But it’s in a more immature, early life way, the type that you feel sure is close to its end. It’s easier to power through, especially because some of the misery is quite reasonable and unavoidable (see WW1). I don’t know. I think the easiest way to simplify it is to say that The Beautiful and the Damned is much more insufferable than this novel could ever be.
On a final note I want to discuss characters. I actually cared about the characters here, in contrast to BaD where I hated everyone. My favorite, to the shock of nobody, was Tom. I’m running out of room, so I will simply finish by saying Tom, you will always be famous.

Read for English class — A beautiful tale of the battle against grief, generational struggles, and political injustice. I was very moved by this one, as I related to the protagonist’s struggles with connecting to a culture he feels entirely separated from, living in America and being mixed. Ugly cried at the end. I love a good hopeful conclusion, and this book had just that.

I read this, shockingly, in a 10 minute interval at 5 Below. Certainly an intriguing setting, but even more intriguing was the story itself.
I read it, of course, for the title was familiar, which it was for obvious reasons: that one movie from 2008. I’ve never watched the movie, and from what I’ve heard it’s only a loose adaptation, but whatever.
This story finds charm in its brevity, had it gone on for even a smidge longer I’m not sure I would’ve liked it as much. It certainly made me consider things, if I can say anything about it. Yes. This definitely was a curious case.

See Goodreads for full review, let’s just say I love my dark modern classics.