The Great Fitzgerald

The Great Gatsby
by F. Scott Fitzgerald

After reading This Side of Paradise I thought I wouldn't read more Fitzgerald. I know his works are huge and maybe it was just because Paradise was an early book but I just didn't enjoy it.  However, I did sit down and read Gatsby which is probably his best known work for it's exploration of the Jazz Age.

As always I found that I couldn't really like any of the characters; when I read This Side of Paradise there were no characters I could love; in fact I downright disliked some.  In the case of The Great Gatsby I found that I didn't hate anyone but I didn't love them either.
I thought this book was about the American Dream, but when I discussed it with others they said no, it is about the Jazz Age and having a roaring good time. 
I think it's both.

"Americans, while occasionally willing to be serfs, have always been obstinate about being peasantry."

Gatsby is the mysterious and very wealthy neighbor of the narrator, Nick Carraway. They live on Long Island, Nick commutes into New York City to sell bonds. Gatsby is famous for having wild, turbulent parties. As stated by Nick in the book, "People were not invited- they went there."
Nick has a beautiful and shallow cousin named Daisy, she is married to Tom who is an arrogant block. Nick is introduced to Daisy's friend Jordan, a pro woman golfer whom Nick starts dating. When Nick is finally invited to one of Gatsby's roaring parties, Nick actually does wait to be invited, he finally meets the mystical Gatsby about whom swarm many rumors about his past and his current business connections. As is typical of Fitzgerald the Great War is discussed, both Nick and Gatsby fought in it. 
Soon, Nick discovers one of Gatsby's great secrets: he is in love with Daisy. He first fell in love with her when he was an officer. The past history between Gatsby, Daisy, and Tom is reminiscent of Fitzgerald's own personal life. 

I know this is the Great American Novel, I also think it could be about the American Dream.  Jay Gatsby is a self-made man. He goes from being simply James Gatz from Minnesota to becoming the wealthy and influential Jay Gatsby. Gatsby is thought to be a bootlegger which is what gave him his enormous fortune and brilliant mansion.   
"His parents were shiftless and unsuccessful farm people--his imagination had never really accepted them as his parents at all. The truth was that Jay Gatsby of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic conception of himself. He was a son of God... and he must be about His Father's business, the service of a vast, vulgar, and meretricious beauty. So he invented just the sort of Jay Gatsby that a seventeen year old boy would be likely to invent, and to this conception he was faithful to the end."

I actually did enjoy reading this, it was definitely quicker than Paradise and the story felt more solid and real. Fitzgerald has his typical vague metaphors in describing aspects of people and ideas but maybe that is what makes him so popular. I suppose it is the Great American Novel.

"So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past."



 

The Other Side of Egoism

This Side of Paradise
by F.Scott Fitzgerald

What can you really say about Fitzgerald that hasn't already been said? Not much, but then again maybe something new. His characters are not necessarily likable or identifiable but maybe that's OK.

The story follows Amory Blaine, a self-proclaimed egotist. He considers himself more intelligent and better looking than everyone around him, but sees nothing wrong with that. He spends his boyhood in Minneapolis and goes to finishing school at fifteen. Amory develops a close friendship with Catholic Church official Monsignor Darcy, a former lover of Amory's eccentric mother. But as Amory would later say, "It's just that religion doesn't seem to have the slightest bearing on life at my age."

Amory's greatest goal in life is to go to Princeton University, which he does. There he falls for his first love, Isabelle. Isabelle's rejection will be the first of several heartbreaks. After Amory and Isabelle break up, Amory goes overseas to fight in WWI. When the war ends Amory takes a job and apartment in New York City where he falls in love with the beautiful Rosalind. Rosalind is his most passionate relationship, they discuss marriage and a future together. But, Amory's lack of money works against him, Rosalind decides to marry a wealthy suitor whom her parents have been urging her to consider. Amory's heartbreak after their broken relationship is referenced to throughout the rest of the story. Amory enters a depression after the death of his mentor and friend Monsignor Darcy and goes on a binge drinking bout with friends, that is until Prohibition takes effect.

Eleanor is Amory's last relationship mentioned in the story, their time together lasts for a summer only. Eleanor is odd and different and their conflicting opinions of religion end their relationship. Even though Amory consistently claims aloud that religion is not for him, he has ties to it and constantly regards it. The story ends with Amory returning to Princeton and ending with his famous line, "I know myself, but that is all."

Honestly, this story is very slow and dull at times. While it's a great representation of the early 20th century and the thoughts of an egotist turned "personage", it's not an easy read. But, I'm glad I did read it because it shows what happens when life does not go as expected when you consider yourself above others. A main theme throughout the book is snobbery and class relations. Amory is perfectly open with his disdain of the poor and Princeton is shown as an endless round of social clubs and social status. But, at the end of the story Amory only has twenty-four dollars to his name so irony is a constant concept.