# F. Scott Fitzgerald:  Where to Start?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-scott-fitzgerald-where-to-start/712786>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [February 16, 2015, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-scott-fitzgerald-where-to-start/712786 "2015-02-16T03:37:41Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2015, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-scott-fitzgerald-where-to-start/712786/21 "2015-02-17T02:53:11Z")

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Actually, I didn’t dislike _Bernice Bobs Her Hair_.

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**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2015, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-scott-fitzgerald-where-to-start/712786/22 "2015-02-17T03:27:08Z")

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> [@John\_Mace](#):
>
> Since no one has suggested it, I’m going to insist that you start with _The Great Gatsby_.

Well, that was certainly unexpected!

> [@BrainGlutton](#):
>
> Start with Scotch, progress to vodka.

That’s how I got in trouble in the first place!

> [@Equipoise](#):
>
> Thank you for mentioning this. I have never read any FSF either and I just bought this for my iPhone Kindle. . . .

Yay! This thread may have done some good after all! We’ll meet again soon and compare notes!

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**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\
**Post date:** [February 26, 2015, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-scott-fitzgerald-where-to-start/712786/23 "2015-02-26T01:13:26Z")

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I read…and somewhat enjoyed…The Great Gatsby.

The characters seemed terribly alien to me. Rich, drunk, somewhat violent, somewhat criminal New York upper-crust types. They aren’t my kinda people! I felt somewhat voyeuristic, as if I were seeing things I had no business seeing. I felt a little like I was “people-watching” at a bar, listening in on conversations.

The only characters I liked were the narrator…and he’s mostly a tabula rasa…and Jordan Baker, the woman he’s dating…who seemed to have a bit more class than all the rest of the mob. The rest of them ranged from dull to odious, and (as in real life) the drunker they got, the less I liked them.

I’ve read other fiction revolving around rich New York upper-crust society, in Robert W. Chambers. I found Chambers more approachable, and, overall, more pleasant to read. But Chambers is shallower, and Fitzgerald vastly deeper. He delves down into motivation and emotional undertones, where Chambers mostly bobs on the surface.

But I definitely see the quality of Fitzgerald. The metaphor of an American Shakespeare isn’t wrong. The writing itself is brilliant, and easily carries along even a reluctant reader. I’m just starting on some of the short stories.

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