This Side of Paradise

Ellen chose this book:

Sure, everyone loves The Great Gatsby, but Fitzgerald's first novel is more raw and sad and charming. I read it in high school and probably re-read it at least once a year.

I agree with her assessment of the book's rawness, sadness, and it's charm. This novel had some fun prose and interesting writing. Not the most riveting, but not the most boring thing I've read in awhile either. The novel started with that particular romanticism that captured the pre-World War I era, and while the war itself is not elaborated on, the book does a good job of exploring the effects of people post-war. The novel is in some ways less refined tha TGG, but it really outlines the themes and the raw writing potential of Fitzgerald.