NOTICE: (Updated March 5, 2010)

Beginning December 19, 2009, Books 'N Border Collies will be posting but only intermittently while I pursue personal goals. I plan to share some reading I'm doing, but there will be no reviews. I will, however, be sharing my exploration of vegetarian cooking and the cookbooks and websites I use to educate myself. I hope you enjoy it!

Lezlie



Friday, February 6, 2009

THIS SIDE OF PARADISE

by F. Scott Fitzgerald



"I know myself, but that is all." Amory Blaine in This Side Of Paradise

There is a saying my friends and I use when one of us is being hopelessly self-centered -- "Enough about me. Let's talk about you. What do you think of me?" The main character of this novel, Amory Blaine, reminded me a lot of that quote. Actually, most of the characters in this novel reminded me of that quote. Despite the self-absorption, I liked listening to the book. Fitzgerald paints such a vivid portrait of the Roaring Twenties that it's almost like watching a movie. I nearly forgot I was listening to a book.

I didn't find any of the characters terribly sympathetic, but I enjoyed the debates about love and politics, religion and literature. Especially the literature. It's fun to listen to intellectuals, or even pseudo-intellectuals, expound on their theories. Just as when I read The Great Gatsby, I can't seem to put my finger on what I felt this book was about without reading it again, but I find myself thinking about Amory in an abstract form and comparing his ideas and experiences to my own. I look forward to revisiting him in the future in printed form rather than audio and taking a closer look at this work.



11 comments:

bermudaonion said...

Listening to a book about the Roaring Twenties sounds great!

Lezlie said...

Bermudaonion ~ It was! I have a book of his short stories at home, too, and I really want to read some of those soon.

Lezlie

Pabast said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Pabast said...

Lezlie,

I hope you don't mind but I tagged you for a photo meme. Looking forward to seeing your picture.
I hope you participate.

Pabast

http://readingmama.blogspot.com/2009/02/tag-youre-it.html

Lezlie said...

Pabast ~ I don't mind at all. I've got my answer posted already! :-)

Lezlie

Andi said...

I loved Gatsby, but I have yet to finish another of his novels (can never get through Tender is the Night). This one sounds pretty good, though!

Lezlie said...

Andi ~ I recently bought a book of his short stories. I'll most likely read a few of those before I go for another novel of his. I like his writing a lot, but there is something about it that makes me lose track of the "story". Maybe it's supposed to be that way.

Lezlie

Ladytink_534 said...

Lol, great quote. I don't think I've ever read any Fitzgerald before.

Lezlie said...

Ladytink ~ I'm definitely going for some of his short stories next.

Lezlie

Serena said...

this is not a book I've read by this author. THanks for reviewing it.

Lezlie said...

Serena ~ You're welcome! It was Fitzgerald's first novel. It's not one of his most most popular works.

Lezlie