This Side of Paradise was the debut and coming-of-age novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald that heralded a new and dynamic author into writing about the gilded age and the emerging jazz age in 1920. This novel is purported to be semi-autobiographical, and at times not a very flattering portrait. And at times the book seems disjointed as Fitzgerald experiments with different structures in the novel resulting in long passages of poetry and prose focusing on socialism, religion and relationships. Amory Blaine is a privileged young man but struggling to find his core. He attended a preparatory school in Minnesota and then went to Princeton. But in his early life, what it so endearing is his relationship with his neurotic mother whom he calls Beatrice, and the beautiful and emerging relationship with Monsignor Darcy. It becomes clear that the Monsignor regarded him as a son and some of the best parts of this novel are the meetings and letters between them. One of the most beautiful passages:

"They slipped into an intimacy from which they never recovered."

And the essence of this novel is very much a romantic tale, but we see F. Scott Fitzgerald's instinct for the tragic view of life as we follow Amory Blaine through his years at Princeton and beyond. After all, we are looking at lives in the aftermath of World War I. I loved this book and all of the promise that this young author at the age of 23-years of age brought forth. F. Scott Fitzgerald's brilliance is apparent within these pages.

One of the most poignant moments in this book and my favorite is with Amory Blaine at loose ends and trying to find himself as he is pondering social class issues in American society and where he fits. As he is walking back to Princeton and feeling driven that that is what he must do, he is given a ride by a limousine driver. It is in this riveting conversation between these men that we learn so much, not only about Amory Blaine, but about ourselves and our beliefs.

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"I sent my son to Princeton,"
"Did you?"
"Perhaps you knew him. His name was Jesse Ferrenby. He was killed last year in France."
"I knew him very well. In fact he was one of my particular friends."

n

At last I have read all the novels of Fitzgerald and now I can officially say that this novel is my favourite. Yes that is true, many professional literary critics consider it to be the most immature and imperfect work of Fitzgerald, but still I like it and nothing will change my opinion.

n  This novel is a story of Amory Blaine. Or of Scott Fitzgerald?n Sometimes it is difficult to distinguish between the author and the main characters for there are so many events and people taken from the writer's life - Princeton, military service in Europe and the Triangle Literary Club as well as Monsignor Darcy, Beatrice Blaine and Clara who are almost accurate copies of Fitzgerald's closest people. However we can't say that Fitzgerald and Amory Blaine are one and the same person. Amory is a collective image of many young people of the time including Fitzgerald himself.

So n  who is this Amory Blaine?n Let us see. he author himself labels him as "The Romantic Egotist". That is not quite true. Amory is self-centred but not selfish. how is that possible? Let the character speak for himself: "There is no virtue of unselfishness that I cannot use. I can make sacrifices, be charitable, give to a friend, endure for a friend, lay down my life for a friend—all because these things may be the best possible expression of myself; yet I have not one drop of the milk of human kindness". An extraordinary position, isn't it? And believe me, Amory does live according to this statement.

Now it is understandable why Amory is "an egoist" but why "romantic"? The matter is that his notion of life is very idealized, his expectations about other people are high which often leads him to disappointment. Amory can see that emotions of many people surrounding him are false and he doesn't like it on the one hand but on the other has no idea what to do about it.

Sometimes Amory becomes snobbish and arrogant but in this way he just tries to hide his self-doubt and in fact he really likes to communicate with other people, to get new friends and find out something new.

Actually there is a simple and clear explanation for all the drawbacks of Amory's character and that is his upbringing. What would you expect from a child who has hardly seen his father once a ear and whose mother was busy either with herself or with her parties and the only way in which she educated her son was telling him some worldly gossips and fulfilling all his whims.

It is logical to presuppose that being "an egoist" Amory is no able to love, but that is not so. He can love although his feelings are in most cases not deep, but very strong, often desperate, he falls in love easily and also easily falls out of it. Amory takes love for granted - you should make the most of it once you have fallen in love and simply forget it hen it ends.

n  "For this is wisdom — to love and live,
To take what fate or the gods may give,
To ask no question, to make no prayer,
To kiss the lips and caress the hair,
Speed passion's ebb as we greet its flow,
To have and to hold, and, in time — let go"n

As you can see this character is very complex but what is great about him is that anybody can see himself in him if he looks closer.

n  What is Amory's calling in life?n That is his major problem. During the novel the protagonist changes plenty of hobbies and fascinations trying to find the best one. Amory is eager to become famous, no matter in which way, and he is trying to achieve his goal. He doesn't find it in the end, but he finds something much more valuable - himself. the whole novel is a long way of the main character to the understanding of himself and his own life. There is a great quote about it in the novel:

n  "Personality is a physical matter almost entirely; it lowers the people it acts on — I've seen it vanish in a long sickness. But while a personality is active, it overrides 'the next thing.' Now a personage, on the other hand, gathers. He is never thought of apart from what he's done. He's a bar on which a thousand things have been hung—glittering things sometimes, as ours are; but he uses those things with a cold mentality back of them".n

Amory is a personality from the very beginning, there is no denying of it. But he has a long way to go and in the end of this way, as the title of he last chapter suggests "The Egotist Becomes a Personage". And here finding his calling for Amory becomes just a matter of time.

Now this was a story of Amory Blaine, but the book is not just about Amory, it is about the whole generation of young people, n  the Jazz Age generationn, whose lives are endless line of parties, love affairs, cocktails, gossips about each other and other kind of fun. the key word for this generation is "easiness". Whatever happens to Amory and his friends their life remains easy and they easily forget the events that can bring bitterness into their lives. Sometimes it seems that they live some imaginary lives of their own, where nothing bad can happen, where there is always just fun and laughter, they live in their dreams and fantasies about the real life but not in this life itself. They see what they want to see and deny the rest. What do they live for? Neither of them knows, and neither wants to.

But you can't run away from the real life forever and Amory is the first to feel it. It takes many sad events to make Amory realize that n  there is no escape from reality and one time or another the moment will come when you have to answer the questions "Who I am?" and "What is my aim in life?" and the sooner you find the answer, the better for you.n