Rating: 
Summary: VERY TOUCHING, VERY WELL DONE
Review: "It is seven thirty on an August evening. The windows in the living room of the gray house are wide open patiently exchanging the tainted inner atmosphere of liquor and smoke for the fresh drowsiness of the late hot dusk. There are dying flower scents upon the air, so thin, so fragile, as to hint already of as summer laid away in time." This is the story of a young couple Anthony and Gloria Patch living out their days to the hilt in New York City as they await the death of Anthony's grandfather, Adam Patch from whom they expect to inherit his massive fortune. Gloria is a spoilt child from Kansas City turned into a sophisticated and most beautiful woman. Gloria does not intend to lift a finger to do any domestic work in the home, no matter how slight; while Anthony who considers himself an aesthete, finds it quite hard to get his act together and instead of buckling down to some work, prefers instead to hang with his wife and their friends on nightly binges. They drink and eat in the classiest restaurants and hotels, rent the most expensive apartments, travel out to the West in the spring time driving plush cars, wearing top-of-the-line clothing and just generally living it up high on the hog, as they wait. Meet Maury Noble who is Anthony best friend who spends his time between New York and Philadelphia; Richard Caramel who has just completed a writing a book and looking for new ideas for a second one. Joseph Bloeckman from Munich who started out small in America and is now a big shot in Show Biz. Also the quiet Jewess Rachael Barnes and Muriel Kane who is young, flirtatious and sometimes a bit too talkative and Tana the Japanese housekeeper of the Patches. We are shown the Patches at their very best as the novel starts, with the world at their feet and loaded with cash with which they make very expensive choices. But, as we get further in, we see things begin to change gradually and we realize that those very choices will be their very downfall. It was quite a good read but it could be very heartbreaking at times as we put ourselves into the shoes of the main characters. All lovers of F. Scott Fitzgerald should read this book if you haven't done so already, and those of you who like reading about the ultra rich in the Roaring Twenties this one is for you. It is the kind of book that you feel you will want to read again. It is that good and I shall miss it. Heather Marshall 10/04/04
Rating:
Summary: VERY TOUCHING, VERY WELL DONE
Review: "It is seven thirty on an August evening. The windows in the living room of the gray house are wide open patiently exchanging the tainted inner atmosphere of liquor and smoke for the fresh drowsiness of the late hot dusk. There are dying flower scents upon the air, so thin, so fragile, as to hint already of a summer laid away in time."
This is the story of a young couple Anthony and Gloria Patch living out their days to the hilt in New York City as they await the death of Anthony's grandfather, Adam Patch from whom they expect to inherit his massive fortune.
Gloria is a spoilt child from Kansas City turned into a sophisticated and most beautiful woman. Gloria does not intend to lift a finger to do any domestic work in the home, no matter how slight; while Anthony who considers himself an aesthete, finds it quite hard to get his act together and instead of buckling down to some work, prefers instead to hang with his wife and their friends on nightly binges. They drink and eat in the classiest restaurants and hotels, rent the most expensive apartments, travel out to the West in the spring time driving plush cars, wearing top-of-the-line clothing and just generally living it up high on the hog, as they wait.
Meet Maury Noble who is Anthony best friend who spends his time between New York and Philadelphia; Richard Caramel who has just completed a writing a book and looking for new ideas for a second one. Joseph Bloeckman from Munich who started out small in America and is now a big shot in Show Biz. Also the quiet Jewess Rachael Barnes and Muriel Kane who is young, flirtatious and sometimes a bit too talkative and Tana the Japanese housekeeper of the Patches.
We are shown the Patches at their very best as the novel starts, with the world at their feet and loaded with cash with which they make very expensive choices. But, as we get further in, we see things begin to change gradually and we realize that those very choices will be their very downfall. It was quite a good read but it could be very heartbreaking at times as we put ourselves into the shoes of the main characters. All lovers of F. Scott Fitzgerald should read this book if you haven't done so already, and those of you who like reading about the ultra rich in the Roaring Twenties this one is for you. It is the kind of book that you feel you will want to read again. It is that good and I shall miss it. Heather Marshall 10/04/04
Rating: 
Summary: Decent at best
Review: + It's well-written, well-paced and a fairly exciting read.
+ The atmosphere of a decadent upper class is captured quite well.
- The plot is familiar, and the characters are mostly unmemorable. The girl is probably the best of the lot, but she's over-drawn. The guy (Anthony Patch) is too bloodless to be sympathetic. Everyone else is a stick. So overall it's a good read, but not worth re-reading.
Rating:
Summary: His Best Roaring 20's Novel
Review: By no means his best novel (as others here suggest) but highly underrated. Often one hears of Great Gatsby as his best, Tender is the Night as his labored over lost classic, This Side of Paradise as his promising and famous debut, and The Love of the Last Tycoon as the classic that never was, but Beautiful and Damned is never mentioned. In my opinion this is the book that best describes the hedonistic society I have read of called the Roaring Twenties. As the reader watches all the characters lose their dreams and fall into a depraved, hollow existent based on alcohol I am reminded too fondly of my college years. If you are a Fitzgerald fan read this one after This Side of Paradise. If you are someone with a passing interest in the Twenties read this. If you are someone with just a passing interest in Fitzgerald then read this one last, after any of the other Fitzgerald novels.
Rating:
Summary: Abandoned People
Review: F. Scott Fitzgerald's second novel, The Beautiful and Damned is a tour-de-force of despair....but don't let that stop you from reading it.
What begins as a sweet and involving love story quickly spirals downward into the depths of alcoholic misery....
If ever there were two people in need of a good AA meeting, it's Anthony Patch and Gloria Gilbert. Meeting as teens by a mutual friend/cousin, Anthony is immediately taken, as are most boys who cross her path, with the beautiful Gloria. Fervently pursuing her, he becomes despondent when she eventually rebuffs his overtures, as she does with all her suitors. But Anthony perseveres, and discovers the truth, that Gloria is indeed in love with him. They marry, with all the best wishes of their friends and family.
Too tidy, of course, as this is where life takes some very unfortunate turns for the happy couple...
Anthony comes from a background of early 20th century privilege...having been raised by his wealthy Grandfather. Subsisting on a more than generous allotment while in school, Anthony receives one of the best educations that can be afforded to a person. Gloria, groomed and poised, is the perfect debutante....flirty, but never overly so...dignified, but not above an occasional drinking binge, and the object of many a boys' affections.
The ongoing party that envelopes the Patch's and their friends becomes a way of life for Anthony and Gloria, and their all-encompassing love becomes a nightmare of co-dependency and over-indulgence. Relying on Anthony's cache of bonds as income, when they continually overspend on their endless nightlife...neither ever engages in a worthwhile profession. Their love of one another turns bitter, resentful, passive-aggressive, and abusive, as they lavish affection on the bottle more and more.
Three quarters of this book reads like an AA sponsor testimonial for 'how not to live'....and is very engrossing. A hoped-for inheritance that meets with delay after delay; a stint in the service, as America enters World War 1; an affair to forget; and an aborted attempt at a movie career highlight the downhill run of Anthony and Gloria Patch.
An excellent read. Frequently humorous, though covering many dark topics, well-realized in regards to characterization and continuity....The Beautiful and Damned is an excellent portrait in black of what a 'privileged life' can also be like.
Rating:
Summary: When life takes a turn
Review: Fittingly, this was the last of Fitzgerald's novels that I read. And I apparently saved the best for last. In this enrapturing portrayl of young lovers who are attracted by their differences in the beggining yet destroyed by their similarities in the end (the need of wealth). I find this perhaps one of Fitzgerald's finest literary achievements. He has it all working for him in this novel, his character development is excellent, I feel as though I could recognize Anthony or Gloria on the street if they were to saunter my way. Fitzgerald truly breaks his own mold on this terrific literary achievement. He not only tells a wonderful story of two young lovers but he also parallels it with a very strong supporting cast of characters to Anthony and Gloria. Much can be understood of the lead characters by reading into the supporting characters, focus on Anthhony's grandfather for example. The rosy picture which is so commonly printed by the media of the rich has never been so wonderfully redone with vibrant color as Fitzgerald waves his "paint brush" through all the old misconceptions of the rich and into something truly brilliant: Real life. Fitzgerald was indeed touched with brilliance, and never has it ever been more evident than in his wonderful novel :The Beautiful and Damned." An absolute must read.
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: Damned average
Review: The Beautiful and Damned is a Naturalist novel that recounts the slow dissolution of Anthony Patch, heir to a large fortune, and his charmingly immature, hedonistic, and impulsive wife Gloria. There's something a little "off" in this novel--even saying the title out loud requires an odd caesura. The plot has a feeling of artificial inevitability. Early on, it's easy to sympathize with Patch, even to root for him, but at times his thought processes and actions are so maudlin that one wants him to just *fall* already. Gloria is a fine and interesting character, but by and large the peripheral characters are closer to caricatures. The book's strength is its prose, natural and authoritative, never self-consciously clever to an annoying extent. Fitzgerald's pacing is steady; occasional meandering narrative passages are fished quickly out of the water with dialog and plot events. All in all it's a fairly good book, worth a read if you're NOT looking for the near-great Gatsby.
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