This Side of Paradise

"I know myself," he cried, "but that is all."

-This Side of Paradise 

So today I finished reading F. Scott Fitzgerald's first novel - This Side of Paradise. I have to admit that at first I was really looking forward to this novel - Gatsby is probably one of my favourite books ever, and since it was by the same author I had high expectations for it.

So - did it live up to them? I certainly didn't like it as much as Gatsby, it was hard to understand at parts, but yet some parts were so well-written and philosophical that it made up for over-descriptive parts that I really couldn't understand at all. But there were so many beautiful quotes and dialogues between characters. I could also relate to the main character in a variety of ways.

In the most general terms, the novel tells the story of Amory Blaine, and is basically the same type of a novel as Catcher in the Rye - one about self discovery, finding one self's and learning about how society really is. It reminded me of the Bell Jar in a way too as Amory constantly is defying societal norms and what's expected of him. So...for a quick plot summary:

Amory Blaine starts off as an egotistic boy in high school. He has the idea that he is already quite successful, and can go onto do anything that he wants. His ego is only inflated by the fact that he gets into Princeton University where he is able associate with the rich/snobby upper class kids. At first, he aspires to be like those kids in Princeton and tries very hard to be conform and accepted. In fact, he tries so hard that he realizes he loses the "fundamental Amory"/who he really is and the whole novel is basically a quest for him to find out who he really is.

During this time at Princeton, Amory realizes that he can't conform because it ultimately has no meaning. This because apparent when one of his friends dies in a car accident on the way back from a party. This "friend" was someone very successful and popular whom Amory looked up to. However, as Sparknotes states:

"This seems to signal to Amory that he must live his own life and not try to become something else, since everybody ends up as an unattractive, dead mass at some point. Dick's death drives Amory sharply back toward the "fundamental Amory." "


So the first half of the novel is basically all about Amory's time at Princeton and a few failed romances that he has. After realizing that there is no point in conforming Amory eventually gets lazy and stops trying in school. As a result, he fails a geometry exam and is almost kicked out of Princeton. He eventually decides to forgo getting his degree as he feels Princeton has nothing left to offer him and leaves to fight in World War I.

Up until this point, all his relationships fail because women cannot hold his interest for longer than a couple of days. The second half of novel (after WWI) opens with Amory truly falling in love with a girl known as Rosalind. As irony would have it, Rosalind is just as egotistical as Amory and he truly falls in love with a women for the first time. However, because Amory decided to give up his education he has little money and Rosalind refuses to marry a poor man because she comes from a wealthy family (in fact, she is the sister of one of his bff's at Princeton). This causes her to break up with Amory and sends him into a state of chaos. He turns to alcohol as a refuge, loses his job. In fact, Amory's romance with Rosalind is probably my favourite point of the novel as its really beautiful and....pretty tragic as well. Its interesting to note the idea of social class plays a big role here - just like how Gatsby couldn't marry Daisy at first because he was poor. Its a common theme throughout all of Fitzgerald's novels, I'm starting to notice....

Eventually, Amory has another love affair with a women known as Isabelle during the summer, but he realizes he can never truly love someone again after Rosalind had left him. However, she's a complete psycho and decides to kill herself. In addition, Amory's mentor dies around this time and he hears the news that Rosalind is finally getting married to a far richer man. Penniless and heartbroken Amory decides to return to Princeton for one final reflection on his life, as that's basically where it all started.

Back at Princeton, Amory realizes that his character is inherently selfish. He realizes that his selfish-ness is what motivates his actions and will drive him along. He accepts the fact that had to lose both his education/wealth/romance in order to realize this. But this realization of himself is what he has been searching for all along, and is the point of the novel. He has finally found the fundamental Amory and no longer has to pretend to be a romantic/scholar or anything else he isn't. He does not regret losing his youth but simply wishes that he could experience losing it again. And so the novel ends with Amory's final, supposedly happy, words outside the towers of Princeton:

"I know myself," he cried, "but that is all."

So...my thoughts on the novel. As I said before, it was hard to understand at times. But I really liked it...Amory is a character to whom I can really to in his ambition and his romantic ideals. There are moments of sheer brilliance - like when Amory falls in love with Rosalind and when he first arrives in Princeton. The ending, of course, is bittersweet. It's ironic that all Amory's relationships/romances and his education were simply catalysts to making him understand his own character. But there are a lot more philosophical themes in the novel that I didn't discuss that include things like poverty, sexist and just how every character is very unique in their own way. It just goes to show that though the boys at Princeton are all putting up this facade, when Amory actually gets to know them they are all unique.

Overall, I just really enjoyed this novel and I felt it was the right time to read it as I too am leaving for university and getting a little more education when it comes to discovering myself. I would rate it 8/10. In comparison, Gatsby is a 9.5/10.

Tender is the Night

"You never know just how much space you occupy in other people's lives"

- Tender is the Night


So, first of all, the book I was reading for my ISU is Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I think I kind of regret taking so long to read this book - I think spreading out my reading so much made me lose interest in it for a while. The book is divided up into three parts - book I, book II, and book III. The first thing I noticed when reading this book was Fitzgerald's powerful writing style - his uses very "big" (what a crappy adjective) words and shapes them into elaborate sentences. However, his words definetly have a beauty to them. This is not always good, however, because sometimes its hard to find the point of the sentence or what he's really trying to say when its marred by such poetic sentences. But yet, there is a real sense of beauty to his writing - as me and Z both agreed on, even if it does tend to distract you from the plot.

When I first starting reading I didn't think the first "part" was anything spectacular - until the end, where the plot finally started to pick up. That's not to say it was boring - but it just seemed somewhat typical of a plot line. However, I had no clue where it was going to go next. So then I moved onto the second part. The beginning of the second part was pretty interesting (however the book doesn't go in chronological order...which was kinda weird) as it revealed a lot about the back story of the characters and how they...fell in love. Another thing I liked about Fitzgerald was how he can describe like being in love really nicely - even taking a paragraph to explain how these two people made out or had sex. But its not vulgar or anything...its just significant. You just have to really go "wow" and read some of his sentences again.

The last part was when it really started to pick up though. If you have the patience to get there, I think its well worth it. By this time you know about how all the main characters are and what they've been doing. In fact, even the end of the second part is very interesting and sad...as many important events start to occur. But yeah, the final part was really interesting to me. Not only was it depressing as hell it made me really reflect on like...all the themes of the novel and what everything meant.

So lets talk about what I can relate this book to. Its obviously related to Gatsby as it has MANY of the same themes. In fact, its almost a more...elaborate/darker/more realistic version of Gatsby. Gatsby was very short and sweet to read...this book requires patience as it spends alot of time introducing and developing characters. Even though I kind of found it hard to keep track of all the characters and names...but that's a problem I always have. But it definitely has the themes of like...social status and people hiding behind their "money" (like Tom and Daisy) and the whole upper class society being corrupt. I think its also similar to Cuckoo's Nest and even Bell Jar (Desda!) as it deals with metal disorders and mental institutions and all that stuff.

In fact, one of the things I really loved about this book was how much it DID have in it. Sometimes when a book has too many themes, it seems like not of them are well done or thoroughly explored. But in this book, Fitzgergald did an excellent job of really incorporating all these themes into one novel. So...what is the plot, really? I think to put it briefly: high class society, mental institutions, relationships, deteriorating marriages, and affairs. It's definitely a romance novel - but a dark one that really makes you think about what it means to care about someone. But a very important theme of the book is based around how like...in order for one person in a relationship/situation to get better, the other person must get worse. Which is kinda sad, but could be true.

One of the main themes in the novel I liked was about balance in a relationship. It basically throws the idea out there that in order for one partner in a relationship to get better (in this case, quite literally) the other one has to get worse. It also explores themes like what it really means to fall in love for the moment, and what its like when you know you're not in love with a person anymore. But it also explores obligations, affairs, and freedom in a relationship kinda sense too. I don't know...there's just really so much to talk about. I also liked how the ending wasn't as crazy as Gatsby - no one gets shot in their pool and there's no huge car crash at the end. Instead...its just very sombre. Its what you knew was going to happen all along, but when it does happen you end up just thinking...."wow isn't that sad and realistic?" "Was that really the right choice?". You can't help feeling simultaneously happy, sad and contemplative. And I just really liked the book because in the main relationship throughout the novel can be related to so many situations that we all have in life - staying in a relationship because you care and want to help someone, what do you do when you know there's nothing between you two anymore, what happens when you find you're interested in someone else. I know I'm really focusing on the relationship part but there's a lot of other themes too - freedom, whats wrong in society eyes or not, the importance of money and status etc etc. Its definitely a novel that made me think though. And I like that. Though the only thing I disliked was that there were some parts were it got kind of bland for about 20 pages or so.

Desda was talking a while ago about what makes things "literature". I would definetly say that this book is - its one of those books that really made me reflect and think back on the message that it sent out. Even if it was a depressing one, it was very realistically and poetically delivered. I really love how the characters truly changed through the course of the novel - and at the end, you can't really be sure if you're happy or sad with how things have changed in their lives. I think that this is really similar to real life - there's not really a definitive feeling of like happiness or sadness when a major change in a relationship occurs - there's just this shade of gray in between them both. And you aren't sure whether things are better or worse when its over but you know you have to move on because it was coming to that all along. I'll say it again - this book really makes you question what it means to care about someone, what being "needed" in a relationship means and what...having freedom and being your own person means in the context of a relationship.

I think the last positive influence the book has had on me was that it made me actually want to read literature again. I just spent like 20 mins making a list of books I want to try reading. Maybe I"ll get around to it...one day....