The Beautiful and Damned

I was very intrigued by the story of F. Scott Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda, so I did some more research. This is just a summary of their lives, but read more:

Scott Fitzgerald met Zelda Sayre at a dance at the Montgomery Country Club in July 1918. By September, Fitzgerald declared that he was in love with her. Zelda was different than many of the other women her age at that time because of her free spirit and sometimes rebellious and reckless way - a perfect match for Scott. As mentioned in the previous post, Zelda refused to commit to him because of his dismal economic standing. As soon as This Side of Paradise was accepted for publication, Zelda agreed to marry him. They were married at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City on April 3, 1920.

After spending their honeymoon in NYC, they began their life together "the fabled couple who embodied the fun, the wildness the brilliance and glamour of the era which Fitzgerald named the Jazz Age." Despite shaky finances, the couple went to Europe, even living on the French Riviera for a time and finally back to the states, throwing wild parties and living a life that would eventually tire them both. At some point, they entered a period which they both drank heavily, daring each other to more reckless acts. Eventually, Zelda had a breakdown and reached a point where she was in and out of psychiatric hospitals while Scott worked to support her and their family. Later, Scott was admitted to the hospital for alcoholism.

Although their life together was essentially over, they apparently never stopped loving each other, as Zelda continued to write to Scott from the hospital and Scott refused to move her to a state institution - despite the price this cost him. In 1940 Fitzgerald later suffered a heart attack and died shortly after. In 1947 Zelda tragically died when was locked and trapped in a room awaiting electroshock therapy and a fire broke out.

"Like the subjects of one of Fitzgerald's novels, they seem the embodiment of 'the beautiful and damned'".

I'm Cheating on my Book

I'm cheating on my book. I cannot juggle reading a bunch of different books. Although I was forced to do this in college, I try not to make a habit of it in my new "adult" freedom. I'm still reading This Side of Paradise, but I'm just not getting into it and have started another book. As I was explaining to a friend yesterday, I think the talent of some writers is in their storytelling, and some is in the beauty of the words. This Side of Paradise "is about the education of a youth, and to this universal story of Fitzgerald brought the promise of everything that was new in the vigorous, restless American during the years following World War I."

To me, in this book at least Fitzgerald's strength is certainly not in the storytelling - there are long expositions about morality and much of the book focuses on the status-seeking greed of the main character, Amory Blaine. The book finally got interesting, for me at least, when the arrogant Amory finally experiences heartbreak. Apparently Fitzgerald had just broken up with a girl (Zelda) when he finished writing a a manuscript he had been working on. He hoped if he became a successful novelist he would win Zelda back. Then, after the was accepted for publication, he wooed his girl back and she agreed to marry him! About a week after the book was published they married.

In fact, I'm finding the back story of Zelda and F. Scott more interesting than the book itself! I don't think that's a good sign.