What an odd novel this was. F. Scott Fitzgerald in This Side of Paradise, his first novel, throws everything including the kitchen sink and the dishwasher, into this effort that proves ultimately slight and wearily cobbled together. And yet, at the same time, I could not seem to stop myself from further reading and finishing this merry mess. This book has been my toilet reading for the past two months — meaning of course that every time I do my toilet, umm, business, I get to read it, section by section. It was an easy feat to accomplish, given the episodic nature of the book, which is about Amory Blaine, a young “egotist” who becomes a “personage,” whatever that means. Today, I finally finished reading this, and I’m glad. What this endeavor ultimately proves to me is this: that even literary giants can start so awfully and then get better. From this to the fantastic The Great Gatsby — that’s quite a jump.
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What an odd novel this was. F. Scott Fitzgerald in This Side of Paradise, his first novel, throws everything including the kitchen sink and the dishwasher, into this effort that proves ultimately slight and wearily cobbled together. And yet, at the same time, I could not seem to stop myself from further reading and finishing this merry mess. This book has been my toilet reading for the past two months — meaning of course that every time I do my toilet, umm, business, I get to read it, section by section. It was an easy feat to accomplish, given the episodic nature of the book, which is about Amory Blaine, a young “egotist” who becomes a “personage,” whatever that means. Today, I finally finished reading this, and I’m glad. What this endeavor ultimately proves to me is this: that even literary giants can start so awfully and then get better. From this to the fantastic The Great Gatsby — that’s quite a jump.