Rating: 
Summary: the golden age revisited
Review: fitzerald once again entertains us with the same basic plot but with different characters. it's amazing that an author can continually draw the reader into a story that sounds vaguely familiar with characters that have similar weaknesses. his magic is in bringing that golden era to the present. it's like reading an autobiography of the author himself. the emotions, the enjoy life at all costs attitude, the failures and successes. it's all there as in his other works. in his day some of fitzeralds works where met with minimal praise. we love him more today because he is one of the only authors that have described that era so intricately.
Rating: 
Summary: Fitzgerald at his best
Review: Fitzgerald is a favorite of mine, and I think this to be his best work. His writing is always quiet, careful, and elegant, and in this book the story is equally so. The books I love are always those whose language I consider to be exquisite, and I count this among of the most beautifully written novels I have ever encountered.
Rating: 
Summary: soap opera 1920s style
Review: Fitzgerald is an excellent writer. I would need a couple of thesauruses handy to do what he does with the written word. I enjoyed this book, but it is not my favorite by Fitzgerald. I felt that the content of the story is still timely, but I also felt that it would have had more of an impact on the populace of America in the '20s. Today's men and women have changed from the attitudes projected in Beautiful and Damned. It is definitely interesting as a window to the past, but I didn't feel it speaks loudly to this generation of young lovers.
Rating:
Summary: Often Beautiful, If Ultimately Damned
Review: Fitzgerald's second novel shows a maturation rather than maturity. It is a no-frills, yet poignant and focused portrait of the profoundly amoral young aristocracy boozing up the 1920s, rather than a predictable rise-and-fall morality tale. Here, Fitzgerald holds the reins over his language; he is firmly in control, cutting down on some long-winded passages and verbosity seen in This Side of Paradise.B&D is true to the values of its hero, Anthony Patch, a superfluous and utterly indolent Harvard graduate who's far less sure of what he wants and likes than what he doesn't, except of course, for Gloria, a beautiful and narcissistic partner whose taste is compatible with his own. Awaiting his grandfather's demise, the young couple drinks away their days and nights because there is nothing else they can conceive of doing. Their friends are a philosopher whose fundamental maxim is that there is nothing worth doing and a writer whose early promise deteriorates into banal tripe - a tragic waste of talent he is blind to. Fitzgerald's prose and story are so deceptively fluid that the reader can miss many passive and active attitudes, bereft of any values or standards (other than aesthetic ones), towards life, family, fidelity, war, and death. In this world, marriage is a refuge from boredom (albeit a hopeless one), work is debasing, war is a decoration of the moneyed class, and wealth itself is a presumption. As, usual, Fitzgerald's strengths (reaching the acme in Gatsby) are in his ability to describe feelings and moments. From Anthony's courthship of Gloria to his military affair with Dot, FSF never loses the palpable understanding of his own characters to satisfy effect.
Rating:
Summary: Often Beautiful, If Ultimately Damned
Review: Fitzgerald's second novel shows a maturation rather than maturity. It is a no-frills, yet poignant and focused portrait of the profoundly amoral young aristocracy boozing up the 1920s, rather than a predictable rise-and-fall morality tale. Here, Fitzgerald holds the reins over his language; he is firmly in control, cutting down on some long-winded passages and verbosity seen in This Side of Paradise. B&D is true to the values of its hero, Anthony Patch, a superfluous and utterly indolent Harvard graduate who's far less sure of what he wants and likes than what he doesn't, except of course, for Gloria, a beautiful and narcissistic partner whose taste is compatible with his own. Awaiting his grandfather's demise, the young couple drinks away their days and nights because there is nothing else they can conceive of doing. Their friends are a philosopher whose fundamental maxim is that there is nothing worth doing and a writer whose early promise deteriorates into banal tripe - a tragic waste of talent he is blind to. Fitzgerald's prose and story are so deceptively fluid that the reader can miss many passive and active attitudes, bereft of any values or standards (other than aesthetic ones), towards life, family, fidelity, war, and death. In this world, marriage is a refuge from boredom (albeit a hopeless one), work is debasing, war is a decoration of the moneyed class, and wealth itself is a presumption. As, usual, Fitzgerald's strengths (reaching the acme in Gatsby) are in his ability to describe feelings and moments. From Anthony's courthship of Gloria to his military affair with Dot, FSF never loses the palpable understanding of his own characters to satisfy effect.
Rating:
Summary: An authentic tragedy
Review: Highly recommended. Extremely compelling. Still relevant today although first published 80 years ago. A truly remarkable and memorable book.
For me reading great fiction is a bit like holding a mirror up to life. In some characters I see parts of myself and in other characters I see parts of other people in my life. With good fiction the characters are so vividly drawn that they seem real. You get to know them and sometimes you like them and sometimes you don't, but they're always believable and you can identify with their emotions and choices in life. For me that's the sort of book this is - and much much more.
The Beautiful and Damned is a tragic portrayal of a 1920s society enamored with beauty and wealth (I told you it was still relevant today). The novel traces the gradual downfall of Anthony Patch and his wife Gloria. When we first meet Anthony he is young, well educated and wealthy. Thanks to the generous allowance he receives from his wealthy Grandfather he doesn't have to work and instead spends his days lunching, philosophizing and drinking with his friends while he plans his entry into working life - perhaps as a statesman; perhaps as a writer. Life is a series of Broadway plays and extravagant meals. Nice for some.
When Anthony meets the beautiful, flirty and narcissistic Gloria he falls hopelessly in love. After a wonderful courtship they marry and the party really begins. While they wait for Anthony's Grandfather to die and pass his millions on to them, the young couple enjoy an endless string of parties, traveling and extravagance.
It is at about this point in the book that you begin to see a change. Up until now Fitzgerald portrays Anthony as pretentious and lazy, but generally a nice enough guy. Gloria is undoubtedly vain and selfish, but is also bubbly, fun and honest. Initially their life together is filled with optimism and breezy cheerfulness and they are undoubtedly a fun couple to be around. However, as they drink more (in particular Anthony) life begins to lose its rosy glow and we begin to see different, less pleasant parts of their personalities. Gradually at first and then faster and faster their downfall accelerates until they each face personal humiliation and suffer pathetic debacle. Believe it or not, it is actually quiet a heartbreaking story.
What makes this book so good for me is that it seems real. Anthony and Gloria (or parts of them) are people that you probably know. It all seems very believable. They make bad choices and they pay the consequences - just like real life. The supporting cast of characters that live on the edge of Anthony and Gloria's world also add a huge amount to the story. While flawed in their own ways they generally make a success of their lives.
Essentially a chronicle of alcoholic ruin, wasted opportunities and squandered talent, The Beautiful and Damned is a very compelling story. To my mind it's a first-class example of what a novel should be. A book to be savoured and enjoyed.
Rating:
Summary: How does he do it?
Review: Hmmm, just finished The Beautiful and the Damned and was sad to do so. It is the last of His novels for me - until I reread them ofcourse. Yes, F. Scott did it again in this novel - he wowed me - I am utterly amazed at Fitzgeralds use of language!Every other line is brilliant, or near enough. I feel silly "reviewing" this novel - it suffices to say that this is yet another fantastic story wrapped up in a glorious package of ingenious prose and crystalline images - topped off with the big velvet bow that are Anthony Patch and Gloria Gilbert. Glorious!
Rating:
Summary: wonderful wonderful
Review: how trite of me to review F. Scott Fitzgerald but i just had to have my say - this book is so wonderful, and the irony involved at the end is so satisfying and yet disturbing.... i rec this one to anyone!
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding!
Review: I believe this to be Fitzgerald's second best novel, behind "The Great Gatsby" It took me just a few days to read because it was so captivating. For anyone who romanticizes about a fairy-tale relationship, the one between Anthony and Gloria was just that, in the beginning. Although they waste a good portion of their youth waiting for Anthony's grandfather's fortune, it's still a very romantic book. This was thoroughly entertaining.
Rating: 
Summary: ughh
Review: I can ever remember which fitzgerald book they forced us to read. I hated it anyway. I know it wasn't great gatsby. It was one of the lesser know ones.
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