Flappers and Philosophers

The better of the two Fitzgerald collections I have read this year. (TALES OF THE JAZZ AGE being the other which I liked but did have a couple clunkers in it.) His language is often gorgeous.

"And in front as a great mellow bell boomed the half -hour a swarm of black, human leaves were blown over the checker-board of paths under the courteous trees."

“This is the beauty I want. Beauty has got to be astonishing, astounding-- it's got to burst in on you like a dream, like the exquisite eyes of a girl.”

“This unlikely story begins on a sea that was a blue dream, as colorful as blue-silk stockings, and beneath a sky as blue as the irises of children's eyes. From the western half of the sky the sun was shying little golden disks at the show more sea--if you gazed intently enough you could see them skip from wave tip to wave tip until they joined a broad collar of golden coin that was collecting half a mile out and would eventually be a dazzling sunset.”

“Resignedly and with difficulty Tom removed the cigar—that is, he removed part of it, and then blew the remainder with a whut sound across the room, where it landed liquidly and limply in Mrs. Ahearn’s lap.”

All moments I loved. Every story a gem. Humor, heart and often with devastating insight. show less

Every story after and including Bernice Bobs Her Hair was a fun read. I should say I get tired bc Fitzgerald always writes the same kind of woman (19, beautiful and blonde with grey eyes), but he is excellent at writing character interactions and picking up and describing little nuances people have in conversations. He's also really good at subtly deconstructing values and ideas, some of which still hold up today.
Some of his stories have not aged well, especially the first half. He definitely wrote for a particular audience, which is probably why I didn't enjoy the first half, but loved the second half.

I am still amazed at the intense life experience at such a young age. Even though the themes are often about "coming-of-age", FSF's depth of maturity and comprehension of the deeper side of social relations is evident in each short story. "Benediction" was particularly haunting and seems to pre-empt Hemingway's "iceberg" principle. Certainly worth a read and I must say I am now a convert to the short story...

Finished on Jul 28, 2014

Flappers and Philosophers (1920)
by F. Scott Fitzgerald
hardcover

Flappers and Philosophers, first published in 1920, marked Fitzgerald's entry into the short story arena.
As a rule, I'm not taken with short stories; but, Fitzgerald is an exception.
The flavor and the contrasts of his Jazz Age stories intrigues me.
He is precise in his critique of post World War I America.
He's harsh and bold in contrasting those who have and those who have not, and yet I feel the emptiness in his representation of wealth.
In his life, he exercises no discretion in spending, partying and globe trotting with Zelda, who is consumed with trouble and woe.
He provides, for me, an interesting literary sketch of that period.

4 ★

Flappers and Philosophers is a collection of eight short stories. I enjoyed them to differing degrees, so it would be silly of me to write a review on the book as a whole. I don't really like The Great Gatsby. I also don't really enjoy short stories.
I'm not sure why I chose this book, but I'm glad I did. Although I didn't like some of the stories, they all evoked such a powerful image of the jazz age - especially the world of young socialite women. It was fascinating and just wonderful.

The Offshore Pirate: Ardita is a spoiled, bored, rich, beautiful 19-year-old socialite. When her yacht comes under attack by fugitives (a jazz band), she hooks up with the leader of their gang. I would have too. He was pretty dreamy. Twist at the end that show more made it more than just a boy-and-girl-forbidden-relationship thing, but I liked the boy-and-girl-forbidden-relationship thing.

The Ice Palace: A southern belle goes to a Yankee city and is appalled by cold weather. Although I can't relate as a cold person, I can relate as a person new to town who is utterly discombobulated and unnerved by the surroundings and strange mannerisms of the people. An excellent job of portraying a gripping fear of nothing.

Head and Shoulders: Entirely enjoyable. Full of twists that, if written by a less skilled writer, would have seemed insane and stupid.

The cut-glass bowl: An evil glass bowl wreaks havoc on a family. Sounds stupid? It kind of is. Why didn't they just get rid of the damned bowl?

Bernice Bobs Her Hair: My favorite by far. Bernice is staying at Marjories for the summer, and she is being such a drag. Marjorie gives Bernice a few lessons on how to be a socialite - a great commentary on the social lives of society girls in the teens. Bernice follows the instructions, steals Marjories boyfriend, and then Marjorie gets her revenge. It's pretty damned cool.

Benediction: A shy, romantic girl visits her brother in his monastery and gets a clue about life. Sounds dull? It's not. Lyrical and heartbreaking. It made me sigh and feel like I wasn't living my life to its full potential.

Dalyrimple goes wrong: Another story full of twists. First, Dalyrimple plays it right and gets screwed over, then he goes bad and - no, he doesn't get screwed over, he is rewarded for being a good guy before going bad. Huh. What a world. NOT my favorite.

The Four Fists: Four times in his life Samuel has taken a hit in the face. This short story outlines those four times and what he learned from each. Extraordinarily well written. This and Bernice were my two favorites. show less

Okay, so the characters weren't all entirely believable. But so much fun to read! Bernice Bobs Her Hair was especially great, while Head And Shoulders was somewhere in-between tragic/hilarious/vaguely horrific. It was my first time reading Fitzgerald and going by what other people said I hadn't expected him to be so entertaining!

This book consists of several collections of short stories by Fitzgerald, namely ‘Flappers and Philosophers’ (1920), ‘Tales of the Jazz Age’ (1922), ‘All the Sad Young Men’ (1926), ‘Taps at Reveille’ (1935) and uncollected stories.

As with all short stories, some are hugely enjoyable and others less so. All of the stories however seem to have a melancholy, or an air of regret about them. Fitzgerald often wrote about disillusion and disappointment, but he did it so eloquently and beautifully that they were a pleasure to read even while you are commiserating with the protagonist.

My favourite stories were ‘Bernice Bobs Her Hair’, ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’ (which I have read before, but which I read again show more as part of this book, and again enjoyed greatly), ‘The Rough Crossing’ and the various Pat Hobby tales, which feature among the uncollected stories.

The only issue I have with short stories (any short stories, not just these) is that they tend to end rather abruptly; that is the case with some of the stories here, but the writing is so lovely to read that it really doesn’t matter. I prefer novels, where I can really get to know a character, but as short story writers go, Fitzgerald is up there with the best of them. show less