“I shall go on shining as a brilliantly meaningless figure in a meaningless world.”

The Beautiful and the Damned follows the story of Anthony Patch, and his beautiful wife Gloria, living in the New York elite café society during the “Jazz Age“ before and after the Great War in the early 1920s. So much of Beautiful and Damned reminds me of Belle du Seigneur, which in my opinion is a deeper and stronger dive into the subject of existential dread of upper-class beautiful and rich people. In the autobiographical tone Fitzgerald tears down the idealized American dream of youth, beauty and wealth, and shows it is not a promised land of perfect life nor an anesthetic for despair and psychological suffering. Indeed life is hard no matter what cards you have been dealt with.

“Life is so damned hard, so damned hard... It just hurts people and hurts people, until finally it hurts them so that they can't be hurt ever any more. That's the last and worst thing it does.”

There is no escape from being human, alive, and therefore succumbed to suffering and bearing one's cross. Anthony grows up in all the worldly riches but loses both of his parents in early childhood, and his only parental figure is cold and distant tycoon grandfather, who demands that he takes on adult responsibilities in a very strict way, with a threat of punishment in disinheriting him (which he ultimately does). Fitzgerald's writing is beautifully crafted, at the same time emotional and controlled. The characters are juvenile, immature, fixated in the state of inaction, unable to cope with the reality of life, the world, and their own relationships. The circumstance of being well-off enables them to stay in prolongated adolescence of drinking, partying and resting on expensive holidays. Following Fitzgerald's favorite theme of the influence of money on a young person, they are damned by their fortune, in not being forced by circumstances to get a job, make something of their life, to achieve financial freedom. In a state of permanent adolescence, they remind self-absorbed and selfish, each in their own specific way, living in their illusions, a fantasy of eternal beauty or great influence and wealth, while being unambitious and unmotivated. Both Anthony and Gloria have a complicated relationship with wealth, class and status, placing in them the meaning and value of their life, and Gloria also places a lot of her personal value on beauty, renowned for her good looks and flirtatious behavior, and is ultimately confronted with the transience of physical looks.
Her obsession with appearance even draws her away from being a mother, an idea that briefly crossed her mind while feeling lonely.

“She wanted to exist only as a conscious flower, prolonging and preserving herself”

In the limbo of having ”everything”, in a very superficial sense, they lose a sense of life's purpose and meaning and a chance to create something of authentic value. And for a person stripped of personal meaning and formed identity reflecting in the ways a person is contributing to the world, it is hard to have a meaningful and thriving relationship with real substance, so Anthony and Gloria are stuck in the limbo of miserable dysfunctional marriage. Even though Anthony reclaims his inheritance of millions, in the end, there is nothing of value left in Anthony and Gloria's world and relationships and he decompensates psychologically, as his richest point becomes his life's lowest point.
Despite having everything physical and material both Anthony and Gloria are two tragic characters with heartbreaking endings, drawing the parallel between the real lives of Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda. I assume that Fitzgerald's writing is so striking and convincing because it represents his inner psychological world and the world of his relationships, the weight of the unhappiness, despair, decadence and dread he carried that no amount and fortune and beauty could lift.

“Tired, tired with nothing, tired with everything, tired with the world’s weight he had never chosen to bear.”

„Sich im Urteil zurückzuhalten ist eine Sache grenzenloser Hoffnung.“ (F. Scott Fitzgerald)

Nun, Herr Fitzgerald – diese Hoffnung muss ich bei Ihrem Roman „Die Schönen und Verdammten“, der jetzt (2021) dank des Penguin-Verlages eine Neuauflage bekommen hat, etwas „eindämmen“.

Uns Leserinnen und Leser lassen Sie in diesem Roman an einem Lebensabschnitt von Anthony Patch und Gloria Gilbert teilhaben. Er, ein Jüngling mit stinkreichem Großvater im Hintergrund, schlägt sich mehr schlecht als recht durchs Leben. Seine paar halbherzigen Versuche zu arbeiten, scheitern grandios. Da hilft ihm auch nicht seine (kurzfristige) Zeit beim Militär.

Auch Anthony´s Frau Gloria lebt auf großem Fuß, stützt sich auf ihre Schönheit und ihre „männermordende“ Ausstrahlung. Gemeinsam steuern sie unaufhaltsam auf eine Katastrophe zu…

Das Leben von Anthony und Gloria, so wie Sie es beschreiben, ist – nun ja, nicht das Leben, dass ich führen möchte. Und ich bin froh, nicht in dieser snobistischen und rassistischen Gesellschaftsschicht zu leben. Da spielt es auch keine Rolle, dass Ihr Roman in den sogenannten „Roaring Twenties“ bzw. dem „Jazz-Age“ spielt. Wer nie „Rücksicht“ auf andere Menschen nehmen muss und tut – nein, that´s not my cup of tea.

Natürlich ist Ihr Roman eine Satire auf diese Gesellschaft – soweit so gut. Manch eine Pointe oder scharfsinnige Bemerkung, die Sie Ihren Protagonisten in den Mund legen, haben mich lauthals lachen lassen.

Aber muss es in dieser Ausführlichkeit Berichte von exzessiven, Filmriss verursachenden Partys geben, bei denen im wahrsten Sinne des Wortes Unmengen an Geld und Alkohol verbrannt werden – vermengt mit langwierigen und langweiligen Passagen, die weder die Handlung noch sonst etwas voranbringen? Hätte Ihr Roman, werter Herr Fitzgerald, 250 - 300 Seiten weniger, hätte ich rigoros 5 Glitzersterne aus meinem Champagnerglas gefischt.

So aber komme ich (leider) nur auf 2,5*, die ich aber mit 0,5* Klassikerbonus (Sie wissen, dass Ihr Buch zu den Klassikern gehört, oder? Ihre entsprechende Bemerkung, was ein Klassiker ist, ist grandios) auf 3* aufrunde.

Herzlichst, Ihr

©kingofmusic

This book has stayed with me. I loved this story of a couple desperately awaiting an inheritance. Hope can be so destructive.

I found this book fascinating and also really problematic. Fitzgerald's class prejudices and racism are on parade, and it's a horrifying parade. It's much less censored than in *Gatsby*, and in that sense it's more interesting. Fitzgerald surveys and mocks different "types," social and racial, and in that catalog we glimpse what moves and terrifies *his* kind. So when his hero and heroine start to come apart, we understand that it's bigger than Anthony's alcoholism or Gloria's spending . . . there is something rotten at the core of their world.

It's really interesting to note how Anthony's troubles presage Fitzgerald's own. These are the best and most convincing parts of the book, too. Actually, the degeneracy is a bit harrowing at times, but sometimes I enjoy a good harrowing.

Fitzgerald really understands both privilege and failure, and so if you're interested in this combination, The Beautiful and Damned is an excellent exploration of the two.

I think it's time to admit Fitzgerald is simply not for me. I found this book incredibly boring, and had to struggle to even find a plot somewhere. It's basically stupid people wasting money they don't have. Either there's some social criticism in there that I simply don't get or… Well.

But aside from that, two things really annoyed me.

First, the racism. Even if we explain it away as a product of it's time, I thought it was just overdone.

Then, there were the women and their characterization. Take these quotes, for instance:

The biography of every woman begins with the first kiss that counts. and ends when her last child is laid in her arms.

It seemed that he had always given in and that in her heart she had despised him for it. Ah, she might hate him now, but afterward she would admire him for his dominance.

All I think of ever is that I love you," she wailed. "I value my body because you think it's beautiful. And this body of mine -of yours- to have it grow ugly and shapeless? It's simply intolerable." … "You'd think you'd been singled out of all the women in the world for this crowning indignity." "What if I do? It isn't an indignity for them. It's their one excuse for living. It's the one thing they're good for"

"Hit me!" she implored him- wildly, stupidly. "Oh, hit me, and I'll kiss the hand you hit me with."

So. Yeah. I did not enjoy this book. And it's the last Fitzgerald I'll ever try…

Didn't do much for me.
For some reason i can't quite explain i haven't liked any of Fitzgerald's books except The Great Gatsby.
Was this guy actually just a one hit wonder?

I read two books by Fitz in college - The Great Gatsby and Tender Is The Night. Although they both looked to be right up my alley, I didn't enjoy either one, and since then, I hadn't read Fitz again.

Recently two things happened - first, the resurgence of Hemingway over the last year or so brought in its wake a lesser resurgence of Fitz, since the two ran in the same circles. Second, while reading Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain, I learned how the change in one's perspective over time does impact how we view what we had read in the past. I figured that 20+ years was plenty of time to have changed my perspective so I decided to give Fitz another try and with something that I hadn't read previously no less.

My initial reaction to the book was how the tone of Fitz' writing is the same in each of his works and how the subject matter in TBAD touched in some of the same areas as TGG and TITN. I started to get the feeling that like Hemingway, perhaps I was more interested in Fitz the man than Fitz' the author. Then, as the story moved on, I became completely caught up in the characters and the lyricism of Fitz' writing.

Don't get me wrong - this book is a complete downer filled with sadness and despair. However, I view the story of Anthony and Gloria to be an important one, and as with many other classical works, it remains relevant. I have so much going on in my head right now about this book that I am struggling to find the words to give insight on it.

Nevertheless, overall, I would highly recommend reading this one. I'll also now be lining up both TGG and TITN in my queue for reconsideration. I have a feeling that my perspective on Fitz' works is changing for the better.

Visuomet turiu tokį norą - metus pradėti gera knyga, na kažkaip - įsikvėpti į priekį, užkoduoti skaitymo metų sėkmę, padiktuoti toną. Taigi tam pasirinkau savo vieną mylimiausių autorių F. S. Fitzgerald, ir be abejonės - neklydau. 

Buvau tikra dėl dviejų dalykų, kurie man tikrai patiks romane: pirma - laikmetis. Mano numylėtasis aukso amžius, mano svajingas tarpukaris, o dar hedonistinio New Yorko centre, cafe culture šurmulyje, fone skambant nerūpestingo jazzo melodijoms. Antra - Fitzgeraldo plunksna. Apgaulingai lengva, kaip mėgsta autorius, portretai piešiami blizgūs ir lengvabūdiški, tačiau po fasadais slepiasi to viso grožio pasekmės. Skaudžios, nes visas žavusis krištolas dūžta. 

Ir po dailiu šydu uždengtas ne tik visas romanas, tačiau kiekvienas veikėjas. Kiekvienas jų viliasi, kad tuščią vidų slepiančios maskaradų kaukės įtikins visus puotos dalyvius - draugus bei šeimą, ir net mylimuosius. Stengiasi tol, kol galiausiai glamūrinis gyvenimas ištįsta tik į praėjusių linksmybių šešėlius.  

Kalbant paprastai - genialu, genialu, kaip F. S. Fitzgerald po paviršutiniškais veikėjais ir siužetais sutalpina tiek liūdesnio, gyvenimo tiesų ir mūsų pačių veidrodžių, atspindžių. Kaip naudodamasis literatūrinėmis nuorodomis, kalbos grožiu - sukuria tobulo saldumo, lengvumo romaną, kuris tuo pačiu karčiai nugula ant širdies.

Un libro che sembra andare a ritmo di jazz. La prosa è veloce, incalzante, scintillante, come la New York degli anni 20.

Un’epoca contrassegnata dal benessere elitario, dalla prima ascesa della società di massa, e da diverse stravaganze artistiche: il Dada, il Surrealismo, l’Art Dèco. "Belli e dannati" trasuda deterioramento morale come spesso in Fitzgerald, mentre le sparkling notes alla Bix Beiderbecke e Pee Wee Russell sembrano riecheggiare al voltare di ogni pagina.

"It seemed that the only lover she had ever wanted was a lover in a dream."

Ein wundervolles Relikt eines Paares, welches reich und schön geboren wird, sich aber leider auch nur dadurch zu identifizieren scheint und auch sonst nichts zu geben/ zu bieten hat.
Am Beispiel von Anthony und Gloria wird deutlich, wie schwer es zu sein scheint, sich von der Bürde des Reichtums und der Schönheit zu lösen, die Normalität zu akzeptieren, sich als Paar nicht nur im anderen zu sehen, sich am anderen festklammern und durch ihn zu rechtfertigen. Ohne diese Privilegien kann dieses Paar scheinbar sein Leben nicht leben. Ein Leben, welches gänzlich der Schönheit (Gloria) und dem Reichtum ohne Arbeit (Anthony) gewidmet ist.

Fitzgerald beschreibt dieses Dasein, wie ich finde sehr eindrucksvoll, so eindrucksvoll, dass ich oft nur den Kopf schütteln konnte. Dabei stellt sich für mich die Frage, was macht den Menschen an und für sich genommen aus? Was kann er sein, kann er werden, wenn die Schönheit verblasst ist und das Geld verprasst ist. Die beiden Protagonisten scheinen dann nichts mehr zu sein.

Wie wenig Mühe haben sie sich doch gemacht, sich selbst zu begegnen, sich selbst zu finden und authentisch zu leben. Oder lebten sie ihre Authentizität sogar in Gänze aus?

Neben den inhaltlichen Gedanken und Emotionen, die Fitzgerald in seinem Roman entstehen lässt, hat er auch die wunderbare Gabe, dieses sprachlich in besonderer Weise auszudrücken:

(...) Nachdem er seine Seele mit erlesenem Geschmack möbliert hat, sehnte er sich jetzt nach dem alten Trödel zurück. (...)

(...) das war der erste Refrain seiner verzweifelten Stimmung. (...)

(...) Und mit dem Mut der Verzweiflung begann er nun, diese Hoffnung aus dem Stoff seiner Träume zu zimmern - ein gebrechliches Gebäude, gewiss, das zehn-, zwölfmal am Tag Risse bekam und einzustürzen drohte, eine Hoffnung aber, die, wenn auch ein Blendwerk, seiner Selbstachtung Stab und Stütze sein sollte. (...)

(...) Dann flüchtete er, würdelos seiner Würde nachlaufend, wieder in seine schützenden vier Wände. (...)

Fitzgeralds Leben selbst, soweit ich dies in Ansätzen nachlesen konnte, birgt ebenfalls Tragik und Dramaturgie, die es Wert wären, niedergeschrieben zu werden.

Nach "The Great Gatsby" ist dies mein zweiter Roman von F. Scott Fitzgerald. Und auch dieser Roman hat meine Erwartungen, die nach ersterem sehr hoch waren, erfüllt und mich nicht enttäuscht. Es wird sicherlich nicht mein letzter Roman von ihm sein.
Einige stehen zum Glück noch zur Verfügung.

Hmmm.....Anthony and Gloria. How do you describe Anthony and Gloria?

So far Anthony and Gloria are two of the most vile characters that aren't criminals or evil that I've ever read. They're entitled. Classist. Wasteful. Narcissistic. Greedy. Anthony's a weak alcoholic and Gloria is vainer than Snow White's stepmother.

The story starts out with Anthony graduating from college, the assumed heir to his grandfather's seventy five million. He's dreamy, likes to wax philosophic, party, but can't figure out what he wants to do with his life. Since he has a bunch of bonds that collect interest and an allowence from Gramps he doesn't have to work.

He falls in love with Gloria, the most beautiful woman he's ever seen. Besides this, she has that unattainable, cold air. She's selfish and narcissistic to the core and doesn't even attempt to hide it. Strangely, it's these qualities that Anthony seems to love most of all.

They get married and drift through life. Anthony starts a high end job through his connections but can't hack it, working nine to five overwhelms and depresses him. So he and Gloria drift through life, with vague plans that he will write the next great novel and she will be a movie star. Their problems are beyond ridiculous. Their "problems" are things like Anthony gets pisses at Gloria because she can't even put the clothes in the laundry bag for the maid to wash, and he gets mad that he's the husband and he has to do it.

Well, Gramps sees Anthony and Gloria for the useless wastes of space that they are and when he dies, he has disinherited Anthony. So begins their downfall. They still have the interest from the money in the bank, but they're like children. They are incapable of budgeting their money and the "tragedies" start.

They can't stop partying because they "need to release the stress" from their money problems. Anthony is useless and can't sell any of his stories. No one wants to hire him, and he doesn't especially try all that hard. Poor Gloria can only get bit parts in the movies, which she turns down. She's thirty and just pretty now instead of breathtakingly beautiful and she has a mini breakdown over it. Anthony descends into a slide of alcoholism and overspending and they are selling off their bonds one by one and are incapable of supporting themselves like real people.

I won't give away the end, which is an out of left field one. Fitzgereld's prose is absolutely beautiful and articulate. Even though it was written in and of the time of the twenties there is a timelessness in the book. The aristocrats that died out in Victorian times unable to adapt to the new world. The decadent southern planters that couldn't survive when their greedy world came crashing down. The fall of Rome. Even the recent wall street decline comes to mind.

Even though this book is very good I won't give it five stars for two reasons. One, although the writing and themes are very good, there's no real plot and the structure seems odd and meandering. The ending out of no where is odd too. Second, there is no way I'm giving Anthony and Gloria five stars. They really are repulsive examples of human beings.