Finished This Side of Paradise last week. It's another Fitzgerald, recommended on GetCrafty. I figured I'd give him a second chance while I was still in the early-20th-century mindset.
I am noncommital. I liked it, but I wasn't roaring to finish it. This one was about a guy named Amory (I thought he was named Anthony, like the protagonist in Damned, on first page-through, and I was so confused. Then I remembered how to read.) and was basically a coming-of-age story. Amory was nowhere near as annoying as Anthony, and I kind of liked him for the most part. The story was okay -- I was really interested in it at times, and at times I wanted to skim.
I think part of my problem with Fitzgerald's stories is that so much of them happens inside the characters' heads. I'm not one of those readers who has to have an Exciting! Adventure-Filled! Thrilling! plot in order to enjoy a book, but his characters just don't think in any way I can respond to except in an "uh-huh. And? . . ." manner.
He also seems to have a fascination with women curled up on sofa corners with pillows. How Roaring '20s of him.
All in all, more enjoyable than The Beautiful and Damned, but I think I'll put off reading any more Fitzgerald for a little while.
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