Weekend Writing: Reviewing F. Scott Fitzgerald's "This Side of Paradise"

"It is not life that's complicated, it's the struggle to guide and control life." - F. Scott Fitzgerald, "This Side of Paradise" 

F. Scott Fitzgerald (photo/Wikipedia)

On March 26, 1920, F. Scott Fitzgerald published his first novel when he was only 23 years old. The book was written to convince his girlfriend at the time, Zelda Sayre, to marry him. If he could become a successful author, he would be able to provide for her. Luckily for him, his plan worked.

Declared the most autobiographical of his works, This Side of Paradise examines the lives and society during World War I from the perspective of the book's protagonist, Amory Blaine. Amory is an attractive Princeton man, and he continually dabbles in literature and poetry to help make sense of the world around him.

Amory is a character who observes others and makes assumptions about their lives. He floats about society--not exactly fitting in, but he's not an outsider. Amory reminds me of Nick Carraway from Fitzgerald's most well-known novel, The Great Gatsby. The only exception being that I enjoy Nick's perceptions of society more than I enjoyed reading Amory's take on the world around him.

Amory is a Midwestern boy who is told from a young age that he is destined for greatness. During his studies at Princeton, he has multiple relationships. He meets Isabelle Borge, a girl he remembered meeting when he was younger, when he travels home to Minneapolis. However, their long-distance relationship doesn't last when he's away at school, and their relationship ends shortly after it was just beginning.

'This Side of Paradise" (photo/goodreads.com)

Following their break-up, Amory is shipped overseas to fight in the army during World War I. We don't really get much narration about his experience serving in the war (maybe because Fitzgerald himself was never stationed overseas during the war). There were many times as I was reading the book when I would forget that Amory was a military man, and this is most likely from the lack of detail on Amory's experience.

After the war, Amory returns home to New York and begins working for an advertising agency. He meets the great love of his life, Rosaline Connage--a rich, society woman. However, Amory is too poor for her and she breaks up with him to marry a wealthy man, leaving Amory devastated and depressed. He never recovers from her.

The book ends abruptly without a clear conclusion--maybe because Fitzgerald was still attempting to figure out his life when he was writing the book. Amory comments about society and recognizes that he is a cynical idealist. In the end, he realizes he doesn't know anything about life, saying, "I know myself, but that is all."

I had a lot of high hopes for This Side of Paradise because The Great Gatsby is one of my favorite books of all time. I call Fitzgerald my literary boyfriend, but his first book isn't my favorite. It was an easy, quick read (with the book being only about 200 pages long). However, we are introduced to a lot of characters that, unfortunately, didn't stay in Amory's life. They would leave just when I was beginning to like them, which I found to be disappointing.

A quote from "This Side of Paradise" (photo/Amazon.com).

In Fitzgerald's favor, Amory is written to be a convincing version of an adolescent boy during World War I. Amory never had to work a day in his life. Everything was handed to him. When his life doesn't turn out the way he anticipated, he doesn't know what to do. There are a lot of people who grow up just like Amory Blaine, only never to reach success. This is the "big picture" Fitzgerald is getting at, which I enjoyed reading. You need to make a name for yourself and find your own success.

If I had my choice between This Side of Paradise and The Great Gatsby, I would gladly re-read the latter literary option. We need to remember that This Side of Paradise was Fitzgerald's first book and written when he was a young man in a changing country. He learned, evolved and grew as a writer before publishing The Great Gatsby five years later. This Side of Paradise was a good first attempt.

And if I had my choice of having a dinner party with either Amory Blaine or Jay Gatsby, I think you know who I would choose.

Read on.

-KJL-