—J.D. Salinger (via quercetum)
(Source: accidentalism)
TITLE: The Rachel Papers
AUTHOR: Martin Amis
PUBLISHED: 1973
RATING: 4/5
Amis’ ‘The Rachel Papers’ is a classic coming-of-age tale involving the high achieving, if not little pompous, Charles Highway. The morose, mundane surroundings in which he lives only provoke him to maximise the time he has left before university. As a result his admiration for ‘the older woman’ Rachel Noyce takes hold and soon enough he finds himself trying to win her heart. However, as with most fictional teenage romances, soon enough her allure disappears and he becomes bored of her presence.
Although at times the protagonist is a little graphic in recalling his experiences with women, he is ultimately an affable, well-intentioned young man. His honest words and embarrassing encounters make the novel both humane and humorous to read. Amis writes convincingly as the nineteen-year-old, assuring us that the book is largely an autobiographical piece.
CONCLUSION: A comical, true-to-life title. Definitely worth a read.
TITLE: The Beautiful and Damned
AUTHOR: F. Scott Fitzgerald
PUBLISHED: 1922
RATING: 4/5
Although ‘The Beautiful and Damned’ is not as critically acclaimed as other Fitzgerald reads such as ‘The Great Gatsby’ it still offers food for thought. Anthony and Gloria Patch allow us an insight into what it means to have money and what it means to lose it. Ultimately the tale is one that tackles the issues of morality and class.
Despite the fact that the novel’s use of language is not ground-breaking, it does provide Fitzgerald’s response to the world of the wealthy. The vanity expressed by both husband and wife (the former pursues a loveless affair with a naive young Doris and the latter chases after a distant dream of “[going] into the movies”) is in a sense redeemed by their loss of money, friends and sanity.
Fitzgerald’s key themes involve alcoholism, infidelity and unemployment, all aspects that mirror his own life and relationships (particularly his rocky marriage to Zelda Sayre). Although Adam and Gloria Patch are elated to receive their “3 million” inheritance fund in the concluding pages, the writer ultimately reminds us that it is their “character flaws, not outside forces” (Kirk Curnutt) that are to blame for their ruin.
CONCLUSION: An interesting, relatively easy read that echoes the frivolity of the ‘roaring twenties.’
