The Beautiful and the Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald

 I've read other Fitzgerald, although never his magnum opus, The Great Gatsby, but after reading The Beautiful and the Damned, I don't think I'm likely to pick Him up again.

   I started out really liking The Beautiful and the Damned. The precise but loping language and structure was a breath of fresh air after just finishing The Age of Innocence (although I loved it!). The novel follows two central figures, Anthony and Gloria, both New York nouveau riche during the early 1900s Jazz Age. The book starts during Anthony's college days and continues on through his courtship and marriage to Gloria, short stint in the military during WWI and subsequent tumble into alcoholism as he awaits a sizable inheritance to come through.

   I initially became involved with the characters and I had an unexplained like for Dick Caramel (don't ask--he was an odd bird, but adorable somehow.). But as the book progressed, I became increasingly annoyed by both Gloria and Anthony. They are both self-centered and shallow. Completely unlikable. I kept hoping some redeeming quality would surface.

   Sadly, it never did.

  I did have a fascination with Dorothy "Dot" Raycroft whom I instantly likened to Ellen Olenska from The Age of Innocence. I'm always fascinated by the females who draw husbands away from their wives in novels. "What makes them so special?"  I always find myself asking.
    Something I always do when reading period novels, especially when I can't seen to find an interest in the characters actions, is to transpose them into modern day. Who would they be? Where would they be in modern life? With Anthony and Gloria, I kept thinking of Orange County wealthy and opulence. The society is so progressed in its insular culture that it believes it is all that exists. I felt that Gloria and Anthony would have moved almost seamlessly into the Southern California Hollywood and famous people world.
   Another tidbit. This novel was the first to be published after Fitzgerald's popular This Side of Paradise. The Great Gatsby follows. It is interesting--this novel sandwiched in-between these two others. Interesting.