Originally written December 13, 2011

This Side of Paradise is the first book written by famous author F. Scott Fitzgerald, which I found to be interesting. To be honest, there’s not a lot to say about it. It’s one of those iconic classic literature books, which pretty much means that if you don’t get bored enough while reading it, there’s actually a decent story beneath it, filled with underlying themes and symbolism.

But I don’t care much about that kind of stuff. The book’s protagonist is Amory Blaine, an attractive boy who feels he has a promising future. He goes to Princeton University, and in the meantime dabbles in literature and falls into some love interests.

It doesn’t sound like much, and that’s mainly because it’s a hard book to explain. But it deals a lot with love, and how differences in status and greed affect that, so that’s interesting. Plus, Amory is a pretty likeable character. I do like the book to an extent, but it’s not one I plan on reading again, at least not anytime soon. As I said before, it’s the definition of classic literature, and as such there’s some confusing vocabulary used here and there, which just kind of makes it boring in some spots. But if you’re able to get past it, it’s a decent read and not a bad debut for Fitzgerald.

3.5/5

AUTHOR’S NOTE: I wrote this review when I was 19, so I didn’t really have the same appreciation for a book like this as I do now. I notice this especially when I read sentences like “I don’t care much about that kind of stuff” when talking about themes and symbolism. Nowadays I appreciate these things much more, and I think it really enriches a story. I’m still posting this review in its original format because it reflects what my thoughts were on it when I first read it, but I just want it to be known that my worldview about literature isn’t as narrow as it used to be.