The Beautiful and Damned F Scott Fitzgerald 9781503295353 Books Reviews :

The Beautiful and Damned F Scott Fitzgerald 9781503295353 Books Reviews

• Beautifully written tale of wealth, selfishness, addiction, and falling from society. Anthony Patch had no ambition to work for a living because he just knew he was going to inherit his grandfather's estate. Gloria Patch lived on her beauty. Nothing mattered to these two except having drunken parties and spending money they didn't have. Because they knew Grandfather Patch would leave everything to Anthony. When Grandfather Patch doesn't leave them anything they didn't stop spending. Eventually they had no money. Anthony became an alcoholic; Gloria' s beauty faded.
  This is the the story of a wealthy young man who had everything except ambition. He didn't want to work for his living. He wanted to play. He and his beautiful, spoiled, flirtatious wife lived life as if drinking and partying with friends was all that mattered. When the drinking took over Anthony's life and the money ran out the friends disappeared.
  The love of money is the root of evil.
• This book was one hell of an experience. When I started reading the book, well 50 pages down and I was EXHAUSTED! The book is overwhelming in every measure. It makes you feel varied emotions some too strong to even comprehend. By the time you're about 110 pages down, the book begins to make absolutely no sense and you begin to wonder whether the book has ever seen an editor. Following that the book has several ramblings, a real daily soap talking about two people who are completely screwed up in their heads. And then - tada - finally after 194 pages of you pushing yourself to read ahead - comes THE END which surprisingly makes you forget every bit of that pain that you went through trying to get past the last 80 pages of the book. Everything just suddenly makes sense and there goes Fitzgerald's brilliance!
  
  After reading The Great Gatsby, I was craving to read more of Fitzgerald's work. His language, writing style- almost everything - floored me. I was quite in awe for a week after I read the book still trying to fathom how this man managed to weave words in such an unordinary fashion. But this book is what reveals the true Fitzgerald. While he is definitely verbose, he understands the insides of a human being. Emotions which we ourselves don't understand in spite of going through them. He manages to actually make you empathise with both the characters in different ways.
  
  Though I will still hold that this book needed a lot and lot of editing, I'm actually glad I had the patience and somehow managed to get through till the end. Because the one sentence that closes the book really sums up the petty things one lives for and speaks of the real nature of humanity.
  
  Probably my interpretation of this book goes on a complete tangent to what the book really is about but this was an experience I ought to share. I've never taken this long to finish a book because I usually leave a book midway if I don't like it. But this book made me stay and that in itself I consider an absolute power that the book possesses.
• Great book. I am writing about this particular printing, from CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (November 29, 2014), The covers were so thin they curled up immediately, making it difficult to hold the book. This edition looks like it was scanned. There are spaces and gaps in the printing. I recommend not buying this edition.
• I'm giving this five stars because I'm a Fitzgerald zealot and anything he wrote is five stars compared to the vast majority of fiction. But this is IMO one of his lesser works. I much prefer most of his short stories and the novels Gatsby (of course) and This Side of Paradise. Even Last Tycoon in spite of being unfinished is IMO better. Actually I think Last Tycoon could have been another masterpiece, it's too bad Fitzgerald was so depressed by that time and unable to finish it. But this novel is quite good also. I always thought Hemingway's complaint that it was based on actual people Fitzgerald knew was rubbish. IMO all good authors do that, we use people we know as starting points for a character but then if the work is any good those characters take on a life of their own as these definitely do.
• One of the best of Fitzgerald's works. The idle son of a wealthy family meets an equally idle woman and they party their years away in anticipation of his inheritance. Of course, the inheritance ends-up going elsewhere instead of to the self-absorbed young man. Will the lazy bugger win his case in court? What happens to him if he wins?
  
  I swear, F. Scott Fitzgerald could have been a shrink!
  
  I ordered the free e-book on . The only problem I had with this version was the sloppy formatting and the fact that some of the text was missing in places. Still a good read - and what the heck - it was free. However, if you are a true Fitzgerald fan, find a hard cover copy.
• I enjoyed this book although it was a little depressing. I loved "The Great Gatsby" so I knew I would enjoy this book. It pretty much chronologized the demise of a couple consumed with addiction, greed, vanity and selfishness. I thought it was well written, and the author created a very vivid and detailed depiction of their life. I especially enjoyed being transported to New York City during the 1910's-1920's. I also enjoyed being introduced to the lifestyle of the wealthy during this time period. I will be honest, I was repulsed by Anthony and Gloria's behaviors, but somehow I did enjoy this book. Depending on how you view life will dictate whether or not you feel this had a good ending. In a twisted way, I think it did because they both essentially got what they deserved.