Rating: 
Summary: Interesting read, good classic!
Review: I enjoyed this book immensely and wished it was required reading in high school. What originally attracted me to want to read this book was Fitzgerald's reputation as a talented author who wrote "The Great Gatsby." I didn't want to start of with his most recognizable title, because in my mind that may set the bar too high by the sensitive hype placed on the book. (Don't ask me to explain that last sentence if you don't understand it. I simply mean reading Gatsby first could place a judgement barrier for me on his other books.)The book was very well written, interesting, and very entertaining. It's difficult for me to read a large portion classic novels because of the older syntax, grammer, and slang used to write them, but with this book I could easily understand it and get involved with what's going on. As much as it can be said to be a love story it also, to me, is a life story. It's Anthony's life experience of finding love, not simply falling in love. I enjoyed this book very much, but must give it a 4/5 star rating. (You know the old grading technique - never give a perfect grade unless you know for sure it takes the cake and nothing can top it!)
Rating: 
Summary: A Lost Jewel
Review: i enjoyed this book much more than The Great Gatsby. I true masterpiece and a must-read for all thinking young people.
Rating: 
Summary: Major Improvement on 'This Side of Paradise'
Review: I quite liked this. His style is meant to be savoured - it's rich and magical and dense in imagery. There is a lyric quality in his descriptions now - he has a fine ear for language, for stringing words and ideas together to present beautiful and innovative images. It especially comes out in his descriptions of New York in the first section, where, instead of giving you an exact idea of what buildings there are and which people are walking past in concrete terms, he recreates a vivid mood and atmosphere that is sparkling with life. This is again about the rich and privileged, who have the double fortune of being beautiful and charismatic as well. Anthony Patch and Gloria Gilbert are quintessential Fitzgerald characters - the handsome and intelligent man who is undone by his weakness and apathy; the woman defined by her impossible beauty who is nevertheless childish and immature. It places them at the pinnacle of high society in 1920s New York, then charts the breakdown of their lives from a whirlwind of pointless pleasure and parties to poverty, alcoholism, despair and finally madness. The romance between Anthony and Gloria is finely detailed once they are married, but appears superficial till then. No compelling reason is given for Gloria's change of heart; it's a bit strange to believe that such an avowedly selfish creature would love Anthony so much. There is no climax, but perhaps that was Fitzgerald's intention; that their existences would simply sputter to a pathetic and unprepossessing halt, and therein lies the tragedy. One thing I find a bit iffy is how come Anthony managed fine all his life living as a gentleman of leisure who, surely, spent a lot; then fell apart once Gloria came along. Also, why exactly were they so bent on seeking pleasure at all costs? Fitzgerald speaks vaguely of finding an emptiness in their lives after they'd become accustomed to being married; and needing to fill that up with parties and invitations - but why? Were they simply such weak individuals that they could not restrain themselves? That isn't quite a satisfactory answer. The question is - could they have stopped this disaster from happening? Was it pre-determined or could they have turned things round for themselves? I think the answer would be yes. It seems impossible, reading about them in the first section, to imagine them in the state they were in by the book's ending; or vice versa. There were so many opportunities - Anthony getting jobs, becoming a war correspondent for instance; apologising to his grandfather, although that was tough; just plain bloody stopping the parties. But I think once Anthony became an adulterer, their fate was sealed. That was, in a way, his ultimate fall from grace; and it was a short way to disillusionment and alcoholism from there.
Rating:
Summary: If you want Fitzgerald's best, look elsewhere!
Review: I was first swept away by the writing of Fitzgerald, as I suppose most people were, in his classic text, The Great Gatsby. This book also chronicles romance and "the fast life," but is not nearly as captivating. For those who love Fitzgerald, this is still a good read. However, I would sooner recommend Gatsby, or This Side of Paradise.
Rating:
Summary: A Chronicle of Alcoholic Ruin
Review: If, like me, you are driven by an inscrutable urge to pigeonhole artists by categorizing them into genres and stylistic schools, then Fitzgerald can prove frustrating because he's something of a literary anomaly. Modern in his attitude toward the frank depiction of that which Victorian novelists considered unsuitable for representation, yet somewhat old-fashioned in the elegant rhythms of his prose (as opposed to the clipped, laconic style of a Hemingway), he seems to have one foot in the nineteenth century and one foot in the twentieth. More than anything else, though, Fitzgerald is first and foremost a Naturalist in the mode of Frank Norris or Theodore Dreiser. He is a writer who obviously learned much from both of his predecessors and yet far surpassed them as a stylist and craftsman. _The Beautiful and Damned_ is, without question, Fitzgerald's most Naturalistic work. One of the major thematic concerns of Naturalists like the Frenchman Emile Zola and his American disciples (Dreiser, Norris, and other minor writers like Stephen French Whitman) revolved around the subject of the individual's rapid decline: moral, physical, spiritual. In these novels, the protagonist, goaded by a combination of circumstances, falls into an inescapable pattern of self-destructive habits, and this eventually leads to utter ruin. Zola's _Nana_, Norris's _McTeague_, and Dreiser's _Sister Carrie_ are all examples of this type of novel. A variety of environmental and genetic factors are the villains hovering in the background of these novels, but the most powerful and destructive of them, alchohol, usually stands in the foreground. _The Beautiful and Damned_ is probably, next to Jack London's _John Barleycorn_, the most emotionally powerful chronicle of alcoholic ruin in all of American literature. It shows us, in merciless detail, the real havoc that alcohol brings to its victims as well as those around them. We watch the protagonist, after a night of carousal, waking up late in a weekday morning on his own floor with his furniture ruined and trash spread everywhere by his "friends." We watch his wife, Gloria, as she looks with terror at the signs of age creeping over her once-beautiful face. We watch the protagonist make a drunken fool of himself in a public place and suffer the humiliation of having his teeth knocked out. The novel chronicles the gradual downfall of a spoiled Eastern-establishment rich kid (Anthony Patch) who hangs with the smart set: Dick Caramel, the novelist, and Maury Noble, the brilliant cynic; both of whom are vividly rendered by Fitzgerald. Dick begins his career as a champion of an effete aestheticiscm only to sacrifice his ideals for commerical success later on. Maury professes nihilism and claims that there is nothing worth doing, only to become a successful businessman by middle age. Anthony, who has neither self-discipline nor real creative talent, continually postpones his grand entrance into the world as either a writer or statesman. He bides his time, not working but doing a lot of drinking and partying, courtesy of his grandfather's allowance. He marries the beautiful, high-maintenance Gloria (Dick's cousin), and for a while this fills the void. But the years go by, Anthony keeps drinking, getting softer and ruining his health, never working, waiting for his grandfather to die so that he can get the inheritance and be set for the rest of his life. Things take a turn for the worse, however, when grandfather dies and Anthony gets a most rude awakening. I won't tell you the ending; read it for yourself. This IS a powerful and disturbing portrait of the destructive effects of alcohol, yet at the same time it is no simplistic temperance-tract. The strange (and perhaps frustrating) ending complicates the reader's reaction to the whole of Anthony's life up to that point. A great reading experience--fiction of real substance, yet at the same time a compulsive page-turner that is an effortless read. Other novels in the same vein: Jack London's _Martin Eden_, Frank Norris' _Vandover and the Brute_, Arthur Machen's _The Hill of Dreams_, and Stephen French Whitman's _Predestined_.
Rating:
Summary: Those rich kids are the victims of their education
Review: In this novel, F. Scott Fitzgerald is extremely cruel with his characters and society. A young couple of the generation that came of age just before the First World War, were both born in extremely rich families and were educated for the vainest of all lives, high life and no work. They only knew the value of money for what its possession could provide them with : luxury, parties, alcohol, shows, etc. But they did not know at all what working to earn it could mean. Fitzgerald explores in the tiniest details the descent to hell for these two young people and what they considered as their final salvation (the inheritance from the grandfather was finally given back to them by courts). But they have been dragged so low in their vain attempt at surviving without doing anything while waiting for the court decision, that they are plain misfits in society. They have a lot of money and can be wooed and courted by other members of the aristocratic class, but they are despised and they despise all the others. No moral or even social salvation, just a golden version of hell on earth. This novel is a masterpiece in explaining and showing how the education of a young man or a young girl is entirely responsible for the personalities and behaviors these young people will develop later on in life. Hence it is a deep book on education, the education of the children of the rich. They have to conquer their inheritance through their own achievements and efforts or work. This book by Fitzgerald is definitely the best I have read, so far, because it shows these simple truths in the cruellest and most unadorned painting...
Rating:
Summary: The Beautiful and Damned: A Look into the Elite
Review: Katie Bass
English 11, 2nd
Fason
10-10-03
The Beautiful and Damned:
A Look into the Elite
"As you first see him he wonders frequently, whether he is not without honor and slightly mad." This type of confusion is typical when following the characters through their whirlwind lifestyles in F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel, the Beautiful and Damned. Fitzgerald portrays the rich and shameful through the eyes of one of New England's socialites. Fitzgerald holds nothing back when his characters come in contact with alcohol, nightlife, and women in 1910's New York. Having wealth doesn't always bring the happiness and comfort that every human needs and wants.
The action begins by trailing Anthony Patch and his friends fresh out of Harvard. His social status comes from his grandfather, who was a big reformer back in the late 1850's. Anthony and his friends, Maury Nobel and Richard Caramel maintain a lifestyle of extravagant meals and lavish Broadway plays. Anthony's life suddenly takes a turn when he meets Gloria Gilbert. Soon after meeting her, he falls head over heels in love, then beginning a romantic journey with Gloria. Anthony and Gloria finalize their love with marriage. The story unfolds through the trials and tribulations of marriage life for the two.
The realistic setting of 1913's New York City and the Boston area is one of the most important elements of the book. The events that occur could only happen in the New York night life. Each character slowly realizes that they would never live anywhere else in world. Through the book, Anthony "found himself thoroughly enjoying New York." Fitzgerald drew from his own experiences in New York, one of the most influential cities of the 1920's and 1930's. Some other major U.S. cities came into play for the happy couple on their honeymoon. They travel to places like "Chicago, Hot Springs and the West." Without the setting the story would never work out the same.
The protagonist, Anthony Patch is a tall and thin, 25 year old, meek and simple man, who aspires to be an aesthete. He also looks for love in the big city. Sure enough he finds it with Gloria Gilbert. After the honeymoon, he soon realizes that his new wife becomes dependent on material things. Anthony soon finds his life falling into a financial downward spiral. Gilbert, the antagonist, is a 22 year old free spirit coming from the mid-west. After marriage her true colors bleed through, making Anthony realize that she is not the woman he thought. Gloria realizes that he becomes boring to her and she doesn't love him, but she stays for the financial security. Maury Nobel and Richard Caramel are long time friends of Anthony. Richard, a best-selling author, feels much older than the others. He is a short, bald man. Maury, tall and thin, nervous man, meets his best friend at Harvard.
The pace of the plot starts out slow, but then picks up. All the elements of the book come together very well. Fitzgerald takes the reader to 1913's New York to the life of Anthony Patch. His fast pace lifestyle reflects into his marriage, which is run by greed and alcohol. The plot moves smoothly and is simple to understand, which makes it easier to have fun reading this book. Fitzgerald's rendition of a new couple in a big city relates too much of the population.
The type of language Fitzgerald use is sophisticated yet casual English. The diction shows the readers that both Fitzgerald and the characters of the novel have high levels of education. The language explains one of the most important factors in the book: money. "A classic is a successful book that has survived the reaction of the next period or generation," this quote is classic for some of the conversations between Maury and Anthony. The chance of higher education gives the characters multiple opportunities for a better life.
The Beautiful and Damned depicts the stereotypical views of the wealthy not having problems when in fact they have many of the same problems as everyday, ordinary people. When all the events of the book join together, it becomes a wonderful piece of literature. Some of other Fitzgerald's novels in include The Great Gatsby and This Side of Paradise. This book is beautifully written and very entertaining to read.
Rating:
Summary: My Thoughts of the Beautiful and the Damned
Review: My thoughts of: The Beautiful and the Damned The Beautiful and the Damned, by F.Scott Fitzgerald, is an exciting novel that brings friendship. Love, and confusion of young life all together. "here eyes were gleaming ripples in the white lake of her face; the shadows of her hair bordered the brow with a persuasive unintimate dusk." The author clearly tries to describe the joy and sorrow of finding a new love throughout this novel. Fitzgerald shows the ups, downs, confusions, and oddness of how love begins, lingers, and in some cases, ends.
Anthony Patch begins as a young, well educated, and wealthy man. He acts like a regular young man, engaging in drinking, associating with peers, and finding love. He stumbles upon love through a friend, Richard Caramel, an interesting author. Richard's cousin, Gloria, is an attractive young lady who sparks a flame in Anthony's eyes almost instantly. They create what may be love but gradually realize that alcohol and greed soon replaces it all.
The setting of this novel seems perfectly fit for the story. It switches from one impressive city to the next, Boston and New York City. A big city naturally puts these characters into play. The activities they persue, and every young person dreams of, fall snuggly into Boston Massachusetts and New York City. Dancing, dining out, and drinking, done so often they become almost as natural as breathing, all activate their fancy high life.
The characters in this novel bring back the old fashioned yet, somehow, modern ways of the young. The protagonist, Anthony Patch, signifies a highly opinionated person which shows throughout the story as he places himself in deep discussions with Gloria, the antagonist. The deep discussions also occur with Maury and Richard, some of their closest companions. Maury and Richard both get along great, but they characterize very different people. For instance, Richard loves writing. Writing almost addictively, searching for a new character to create always stays on his mind. Maury, a lot like Anthony, stands as an opinionated person who gives the two much to talk about, which only adds more interest to the story. Gloria conversates as well, but mostly about things only appealing to her. Gloria presents what Anthony and Maury call a "childish" kind of glow. Though she seems childish, this feature actually attracts people to her the most. All the characters play an interesting and important role in this book.
The Beautiful and the Damned, definitely worth reading, shows the realism of everyday life in the 1920's. F.Scott Fitzgerald portrays the life of the young and how easily it might self destruct through greed, material wants, and alcoholism. Fitzgerald proves that the fairytale of married life among the wealthy rarely happens. Money, though abundant, possibly means a lack of love and other ingredients that fuel a healthy life. Money turns into the only reason Gloria stays with Anthony. Though this book may seem fantasy-like at first, it breaks through the candy coated appearance of wealthy life in the early 1920's
Rating:
Summary: An underrated classic
Review: Originally I had intended to compose an essay of sorts, but I no longer wish to devote too much of my time on this endeavor, so I will simply type here extempore. Fitzgerald was, in my subservient opinion, one of the greatest novelists of the last century. I think he holds his own against the mightiest of authors: Joyce, Steinbeck, Faulkner, and even Henry James. The Beautiful and Damned is a tragic and even, dare I say, realistic portrayal of the society so enamored with, and so madly ascetic to, aestheticism and wealth. It's a tale of a young couple: a Harvard graduate who ( spoiler! ) eventually amounts to nothing despite his pedagogical superiority, and a beauteous but fallible woman whose beauty disintegrates like so many mortals before us. It's an account of perfidy and defiance, obstinacy towards time and the havoc that she wrecks upon all lovely and ripe wights, be it organic like Gloria or inanimate like metal. While the story itself is not as captivating as The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald's brilliant pen is ostensibly evident in commanding the text. I would venture to say that the composition is equivalent and even superlative to his most renowned tome - that is, at moments it can be. The problem with this novel is that it's simply too lengthy. Were it one hundred pages shorter, I feel that Fitzgerald could have made a sharper impact on the reader, but too many pages are slathered on repeated episodes of the same events. The Beautiful and Damned is still a fine book and easily considered a "classic" and a definite read for those who enjoyed Gatsby, but it's not the work that catapulted its writer to world notoriety.
Rating: 
Summary: Annotation
Review: Originally published in 1922, this Replica Classic is one of F. Scott Fitzgerald's best-known novels. Both hilarious and heartbreaking, The Beautiful and Damned is the scathing tale of a fictional couple said to parallel the real-life relationship of Fitzgerald and his wife, from its romantic beginning to its tragic end.,,
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