He is a wonderful writer, F. Scott Fitzgerald. He tells you more in half a page than most writers do on three pages. Every word contributes to the whole. It is a pleasure to read what he has written.
Several months ago, I read a review of American fiction of the 20th Century. The reviewer suggested that The Great Gatsby was the best American novel ever written, and that The Beautiful and Damned was perhaps his second best work. The reviewer also felt badly about that because he said that no one reads it anymore, even though it was a wonderful book. So I downloaded it onto my Kindle, to read later.
I started the book two months ago and even though I loved the writing, I hated the people in the book so I read the book a little at a time, until now. Finally, I got interested in these foolish people and am almost finished. I still don't like the main characters but I am enjoying every page of the writing. Just the other day I spotted a series of quotes, all taken from The Beautiful and Damned.
Since I have been reading the book, I have asked lots of folks whether or not they had read it. No one yet has told me yes. F. Scott also published over 60 short stories, none of which I have read. I must find them.
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Hi Ruth,
I have not read The Beautiful and the Damned (and as an English Lit major I am ashamed to say I was completely ignorant of its existence), but it's definitely going on my to-read list! I have however read The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. It's interesting to read; what struck me at first was how different it was in spirit to the movie (which I had seen first). It's quite short so the text can be found online with a simple google search!
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