I have to admit it: I am hopelessly in love with a man who has been dead for 76 years. F. Scott Fitzgerald, yes, the genius man behind "The Great Gatsby," stole my heart a few years ago simply with the beautiful stories he wrote. It’s amazing the kind of connection we feel with writers whom we have never met, and in some cases have been dead for decades. Books are pretty badass. In middle school, I hooked myself on Nicholas Sparks books and, while I cried my eyes out over Noah and Allie and will envy that type of love forever, I began a love affair of my own when I was sixteen years old and picked up my first book written by Fitzgerald. "The Great Gatsby" was more than just a story about the American Dream and a hopeless romantic to me. I loved the language, the complexity of the characters, the metaphors and all. I wanted more. So I began reading more of Fitzgerald’s work and as someone who wrote in extreme parallels to his own life, I couldn’t help but fall in love. If you’re ever down to read a good love story but even more, a story with deep sociological and psychological themes, read Fitzgerald. I’ll get you started and if you really decide to actually read these, read them in this order! Trust me.
1. Tender is the Night
I’ve read this book three times now, and it hits me hard every time. I’ve noticed that a lot of people find this book hard to get into, so it's probably not the best idea that I start you out reading this one first, but it’s all for good reason. I believe this is the most powerful book Fitzgerald has ever written, even more than Gatsby. And, like Gatsby, it follows the lives of the elite and wealthy and really attacks their flaws. This book made me fall in love with Fitzgerald right off the bat because the characters are so alive and their struggles are so honest. I found myself thinking about their well-being as if I personally knew them days after I finished the book. Hands down the most romantic book I have ever read. Not because of the story line but because of the human character chronicled. I promise you, your soul is going to be awoken after reading this and there’s no going back.
2. This Side of Paradise
I recommend this book to every young man that I know. A lot of the being that this was Fitzgerald’s first ever novel published and he wrote it when he was only 23. (I think I’m subconsciously hoping that these guys will read it, pick something up, and then magically transform into Fitzgerald’s 23 year old self) It’s a semi autobiographical story of a young, brilliant, and handsome Princeton man basically on a life quest. He falls in and out love several time, loses most the millions associated with his name, and in the end that is all that he is left: his intellect and his name. Because the main character, Armory Blaine is supposed to represent Fitzgerald himself to an extent, you will quickly learn how chaotic of a mind this man has. You’ll find yourself at some parts hating Armory/Fitzgerald and at other points you’ll fall in love with him. Again, Fitzgerald kicks some serious ass at character development.
3. The Beautiful and Damned
I’ll be honest, after finishing this one I was emotionally and mentally exhausted. Its context is extremely heavy as the main characters’ marriage is one of misery and constant defeat. Alcohol and depression are present again, two elements Fitzgerald and his characters are all two familiar with. This book is definitely a must-read but I warn you it’s a tough one. As a reader, we get another glimpse into how truly rotten the human character was as an elitist of the Jazz Age. And if you’re a history and sociology nerd like myself, it’s all incredibly interesting.
4. The Crack-Up
Essentially it’s a painful memoir of FSF’s depression and recovery. Again, its honest, intellectual, I mean very intellectual and yet so intimate. Fitzgerald was an elitist in the Jazz Age, had a smokin hot wife, and a place along the French Riviera. But as learned from The Great Gatsby, Tender is the Night, and The Beautiful and the Damned, these people lives are not glamorous, they’re full of pain and sadness. Fitzgerald struggled with depression and alcoholism and The Crack-Up is a collection of some of his works published originally in Esquire Magazine that documents all of that. I found my heartbreaking when reading this yet still in awe at his brilliance and craft.
5. The Love of the Last Tycoon
This novel is unlike all of the rest for the simple fact that it was published a year after Fitzgerald’s death. The version I picked up contained FSF’s actual notes on character and plot development which is super freakin' cool to look at, and the novel ends abruptly - right where Fitzgerald left it. I got chills after I turned the last page because it truly marked the end of my love affair that never really began. The plot itself is okay, of course it’s unfinished, but at that point in my journey of Fitzgerald novels it was more about the man behind the story.
