Throwing you directly into the life of a privileged young child, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s breakout novel This Side of Paradise shows the reader the glamor and emptiness of a wealthy life in the 1910’s in a semi-autobiographical manner. Under normal circumstances, this would make the novel somewhat dry, but because of the unique life that Fitzgerald lived himself, it works brilliantly, creating an entertaining novel. 

While reading this book, Fitzgerald really throws you into his own life and all of the soaring highs and deep lows he experienced before even writing this book. Sure he sends you on this journey through Amory Blaine who grows up living a privileged life in the midwest, but the direct parallels straight into Fitzgerald’s life are hard to ignore. With Amory growing up in Minnesota, attending Princeton, and enlisting in the military, Fitzgerald might as well be writing an autobiography instead of a novel. 

The novel starts off with a joyful Amory who blissfully believes he is above everyone else. Throughout he keeps his egotistical tendencies but gradually realizes that his previous assumptions may not have been true. These realizations lead to an Amory that loses himself more and more as the novel progresses. 

Similar to many of Fitzgerald’s other works, the descriptive language in This Side of Paradise is ever present and one of the book's strong points. There isn’t a moment throughout the novel where you can’t fully understand the picture being painted. Fitzgerald really puts you with Amory through his steady decline, which makes the book a somewhat depressing read for sure. The novel masterfully keeps its egotistical tone throughout the novel, but there is gradual negativity that grows and grows throughout as well. 

Because Fitzgerald follows Amory from early childhood all the way to adulthood, there are definitely parts of the book that feel rushed. In addition, Fitzgerald added many poems throughout the novel, which I felt took away from the story itself and felt like filler. To be honest, I stopped reading them about halfway through the novel. On top of this there are some parts of the book that just feel out of place. For example, about a third of the way through the book Amory gets drunk and thinks he sees the devil; this is made to seem like a big deal but it is not mentioned again for the rest of the novel. Lets just say that there are definitely some points where you can tell it is Fitzgerald’s first novel. 

At its core, even with the autobiographical aspects, which was my favorite part of the novel, This Side of Paradise kind of seems like a cry for help from Fitzgerald . The book ends with Amory stating that “now, finally, he knows himself, but that is all-” which is depressing to say the least. Overall, I would say that this American classic is a fairly good read, especially for those who are fans of Fitzgerald, but it isn’t without some of its obvious flaws.