October 2011 Guest Editor Philippa Gregory on F. Scott Fitzgerald...
I have just re-read this and constantly admired the economy of Fitzgerald. He can write poignant paragraphs that come out of almost nothing, as a reader you can hardly tell what he is doing, but you emerge from the novel feeling emotionally wrung. It’s the story of the most glamorous couple on the French Riviera, and slowly you understand that much of their beauty is a façade, and that even their passion is something that will pass.
It is loosely based on Fitzgerald’s own marriage to Zelda who is an interesting character in her own right and too often “written off” by biographers as the unstable wife to a genius. As this novel hints, perhaps it was far more complicated and interesting than that.
First published 1922, "The Beautiful and Damned" is F. Scott Fitzgerald's second novel, which follows upon many of the same themes of his first novel, "This Side of Paradise." It is the story of Anthony Patch who because of the expectation of inheriting a large fortune from his grandfather is unmotivated to work and floats through various vocations. Anthony seeks escape from his unmotivated life through socializing and an increasing alcoholism. He is in love with Gloria Gilbert, a beautiful young socialite and aspiring actress. The novel addresses a theme common to Fitzgerald's work, that being the moral decline and directionless lethargy that had consumed the American upper class during the early part of the 20th century. Set during the Jazz Age before and after the First World War, "The Beautiful and Damned" is a brilliant and tragic character study that explores the intricacies of married life and intimacy. Believed to have been based on Fitzgerald's own relationship with his wife Zelda, the characters of the novel are complex figures that are disproportionately consumed with their pasts unable to act as agents for their own well-being in the present. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper.
| Primary Genre | Modern and Contemporary Fiction |
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First published 1922, "The Beautiful and Damned" is F. Scott Fitzgerald's second novel, which follows upon many of the same themes of his first novel, "This Side of Paradise." It is the story of Anthony Patch who because of the expectation of inheriting a large fortune from his grandfather is unmotivated to work and floats through various vocations.
The Beautiful and Damned features in the following genres: Modern and Contemporary Fiction, Historical Fiction, eBooks of the Month, General Fiction, Fiction, Recommendations
Paperback, Hardback. Not Available.
The Beautiful and Damned was written by F. Scott Fitzgerald and published by Digireads.com an imprint of Neeland Media
The Beautiful and Damned has 286 pages
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