The Beautiful and Damned

Wow! I was ecstatic to find a wonderfully vintage version of this book..truly one of the great classics of American literature, which I teach in summer sessions in the Yucaipa, California School District. Fitzgerald needs to be continually read..and this vintage version is tops!!

I have not yet found an American author who writes as beautifully and poetically as F. Scott Fitzgerald. Even if you're not into the sad lives of the wealthy Americans of the early 1900s, you'll fall madly in love with Fitzgerald's stunning turns of phrase and gorgeous metaphors.

I bought this because I love this Penguin collection. Call me old-fashioned, but I rather have one of this beautiful covers in my library, than to have a digital copy of the book. Of course, this also happens to be my favorite Fitzgerald novel. I also bought one as a gift for a friend.

I really liked The Great Gatsby. Reading this in high school was like reading Shakespeare in high school. I got through it, but didn't care for it or understand why it was so great. As it was when I read Shakespeare recently, I fell in love with this book. I think the characters were so rich and well-developed and the language was so beautiful. Further, Fitzgerald's dissection of the failure of the American Dream is incredible.

The reason I reduced it to four stars is, in essence, Nick. Nick's thoughts are too much. I enjoyed the other characters, but couldn't get past his odor. He just explained his thoughts too much. I felt that these thoughts were Fitzgerald's failure: he was using these thoughts to tell (as opposed to show) his story. The end of the book was especially dulled by telling. It seems to me that this engaging mystery tread onward after the end of the story.

Regardless, this book was amazing. Fitzgerald created a rich world with full-bodied characters. He vividly describes the yearning we all feel and shattered it to pieces. Great read. Would recommend.

I chose this rating because I thought this was a pretty good and hard book but it was really good. I recommended this book to my mom whom collects F Scott Fitzgerald 's books and I have read some of them and they are quite good and I hope there are more of his books.

The jacket cover is nice. The quality of the paper appears good; I especially appreciate the note re FSC certified paper. The print is bold enough to read without effort, though the spacing between lines could be a bit more. What makes for an "OK" only rating, though, is the volume size: it's simply too small to give the sense of a "classic," especially in a hardback edition; instead, the effect is cheapness—as if the publisher is willing to sacrifice appropriate size for a few cents more in profit.
I would have preferred to have paid a couple of dollars more for a decent-sized volume. What I have here is basically a paperback of good quality masquerading as a hardcover—of a classic by one of America's best prose writers ever.
If I were a teacher, I'd give this volume an overall grade of C+; surely Penguin is capable of better than this.
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Quite a pleasant read from Fitzgerald.
A sophisticated witty posh book talking much about obsessions with a particular woman and small talk with friends about many other topics. I feel like I am with the author when reading.

I had read Fitzgerald is undoubtedly a good writer, but it seems he wrote this book only to fulfill delivery commitments with the publisher. It is a flat book without action and extremely boring
I had read read several of Scott Fitzgerald 's books , and I consider him an excellent writer. However it seems that he wrote this book only to fulfil and delivery l commitments with the publisher. It is a flat book without action and extremely boring. I was not able to finish it

The characters are hard to relate too, however they are interesting throughout. This book was good but did not leave me wanting more, only content with its outcome. That might have been what Fitzgerald wanted though.

"The Beautiful and Damned" is well-written, but extremely depressing throughout. Perhaps I should not have been surprised by that given the title, however. Fitzgerald does an excellent job developing the characters of the story, but it's so difficult for the reader to want to root for any of them (particularly protagonists Anthony & Gloria) because of their narcissistic and entitled attitudes. I also had a problem with the ending...

The two ce fanntral characters in this novel are dissipants who do not deserve much admiration. I do not consider this one of the Fitzgeralds better novels. The writing is excellent, but the characters lack of moral fiber is discouraging The fact that many critics consider F.Scott and his wife Zelda to be the models for these two central characters is insulting. I would not recommend this book to anyone who is not an avid Fitzgerald

{ TL;DR . . .
Buy this book because you love Mr. Drake’s work. The short stories have little gems of beauty between the lines and the poetry is something that will stay with you. Support his labor of love. He is just blooming.

Beautiful And Damned was one of those books that I could not wait to read. I am part of the minority that found out about Mr. Drake's work outside of Instagram, so I have and still do see him as an indie author I want to support rather than just a popular poet. Because I adore his past work and know he has immense untapped talent just brewing underneath the surface, I will be 100% honest about his debut into short story/novel work. But first, poetry.

THE POETRY:

His poetry in the second part of the novel ("The Damned") holds up the 400+ paged book. They are written not as character-about-a-character, but from him to you. He lets you into his personal thoughts, shows you his weaknesses, and wears his heart on his sleeve. They are also not the hopeful or artsy poetry many in his fan base are used to seeing…at least on Instagram. If you've read his books and loved them, then you are more likely to enjoy them in their honesty.

The 60 new poems are a mixture between his "Black Butterfly" and "A Beautiful Madness" phases. They're deep and heartfelt and sad—like "Black Butterfly," but longer with more of a focus on being truthful than setting up words that rhyme—like "A Beautiful Madness."

Be soft, be fragile with Mr. Drake. Poems like “Do Not Become the Writer,” “The Murder of Trees,” and “Dely Wely” reveal the self-doubt that has dug its claws into his labors of love but “Bookstores” is most haunting to me. This section is called “The Damned” for a reason.

There is humor and beauty too! There are stunning pieces like “On Days Like These,” “The Things We Feel,” “Be Anyone, Even You,” “Do Things Alone,” and my absolute favorite “Little Windows” (snippet):

“Sometimes you have to self-destruct
in order to self-discover
and understand that
the only person
you must learn to let go
is you,” (pg. 312).

Then there is “Karma Is a Bastard,” which just about made me laugh out loud.

The bottom line is that these poems are signature R.M. Drake, haunting and funny and deep and contemplative, with a dash of more edge to them this time around. Onwards to the stories.

THE SHORT STORIES:

There are at least three short stories that have stayed with me. “The Journey” is one because holy mother of plot twist! I did not see that ending coming one foot away.

“Lost and Found” with Jennifer and her dear pup Mattel is another because it stirs the heart and makes you think about enjoying every moment with your loved ones.

The third and most gripping to me was “Joshua.” 1) Alex, he’s that fun; 2) there's a little undercurrent of eeriness that makes you want to keep reading; 3) THAT ENDING. I had to set the book down and just breathe for a few minutes because it was that intense.

Each short story is sorted under a poem that deals in some way, shape, or form with the theme underneath the first part of the book titled “The Beautiful”. There are happy stories and sad stories, and some are a little bit of both. There is an array of whimsical ones, like a genie spider in “Along Came the Spider” and a talking bird in “The Journey.” Then there is that one story that made me click on purchase before I could blink, where a character meets God at a bar: “On the Edge.”

Nonetheless, there is a gaping negative and it is by far Mr. Drake’s characters. The majority are copies placed in a bit of a different workplace or setting, and nearly all of them, male or female, have or had this overbearing wanderlust to them. In “I Never Forgot You,” the main character Scarlett “fixes” her midlife crisis by splitting with her husband and traveling. Then there is Jake in “I Never Left You” who leaves his loyal girlfriend one day and doesn’t even call, who then expects her to forgive him when they meet again. She asks him why he left, to which he responds:

“I had to go. I had to do it for me. I felt like I was missing something in my life. I was searching for myself, for something, a clue—anything to make me feel complete again. I went to several places and met different people,” (pg. 158).

That above is a rehashed motivation for almost all his characters. The three who stand out just because they’re so different are Jennifer from “Lost and Found” and Joshua and Alex from “Jacob,” which I already mentioned above. In fact, if I’d have to pick the strongest character then it would be Alex who isn’t even a main character because 1) he’s not plagued with wanderlust; he knows who he is and loves his idle life, 2) he was not in some relationship that fell apart because one or both of them had a weird existential crisis, and 3) he’s hilarious, which is perfect balance for that story he's in.

Another fact is that Mr. Drake writes better in third person than first person. Why? Because his third sounds distinctive in each piece whereas his first person stories do not, which again comes down to his characters being so similar.

The last thing I feel I have to point out is that though his prose understandably sounds like a new writer’s and the dialogue doesn't sound natural at times, there are moments where he shines. One of my favorite sections is the second paragraph of “Lost and Found,” where he describes Jennifer as having a velvet deep purple dress, lips stained with wine, eyes a honey-gold (pg. 123).

I can see that; I can see her confidence just through her appearance. I wanted that for all the characters, especially Scarlett who started so strong but just spiraled into generic wanderlust.

CONCLUSION:

I still adore Mr. Drake’s work. I still cannot wait for his full length novel later this year. He is just beginning, and I know one day he will surpass his own expectations.

I am keeping my copy out and proud for the coffee table. Somedays little simple stories are just what you need.

So please go out and buy this book, especially for those three stories and the poetry. Who knows, you might fall in love with a story that didn’t steal me away.