I am roughly 100 pages into The Beautiful and Damned, never having read it or even knowing what the story is about! This is my first attempt at a Fitzgerald (yes, I know - I give you all permission to disown me in some way) and although I do find his detail and style of writing beautifully picturesque, I am not sure on whether I have any love for the story so far.

To be fair I have in a way just started the book but if I’m honest, I could probably leave it in a corner and forget it with not much guilt.. but I swear I will read on, for the love of literature I will! And I do love the way in which Fitzgerald writes - I can understand the love for him and his work (and I will go on to the Great Gatsby eventually!)

I’ve come to the conclusion that my coldness toward the story stems from my disdain for Anthony Patch. His character seems egotistic, ungrateful, unbearably pretentious, narrow minded, shallow and absolutely in love with himself! Am I meant to be so repelled by his character, when he clearly is the main and will be with us throughout the entire novel?? Perhaps he changes further in the book but I’m utterly frustrated reading him! And his adoration for Gloria.. I don’t know - its admittedly romantic, but I cringe at the thought of his complete and utter adoration for her. But I do find this quite deep and wonderfully written!

Speaking of Gloria Gilbert, perhaps I just don’t understand her but I have so far found her rather dull. Perhaps her passivity (that the right word) infuriates me in the same way as it seems to infuriate Patch - sans adoration, of course. I’m not sure if the picture of her in my mind is correct but I rather like to think of her as a china doll - just in a flapper dress, and I’m not a fan of china dolls. So far I’ve found her toying with admirers (even if it isn’t intentional) exhaustingly vain, yes she’s a vain character - but I wish it’d go deeper than that.

Well, with that said - I still have no opinion on the overall story so far, but I will try and keep you posted. I look forward to changing my views on these two main characters and honestly hope to fall in love with the book, because Fitzgerald just writes so beautifully!

Until next time, darlings!..
x