As this novel has entered Public Domain, all spoilers are unmarked per wiki policy. You Have Been Warned.
This Side of Paradise is the debut novel of F. Scott Fitzgerald, written and published in 1920, in the beginning of the Jazz Age.
The story follows Amory Blaine, a middle-class Princeton student who attempts to achieve a promising future while he dabbles in literature and engages in romances with flappers. However, his experiences and life-changing events have an effect on his viewpoint of society and the people around him, including himself.
His debut novel was a huge success, casting a spotlight on society in the early Jazz Age and examines the themes of status-seeking and love warped by greed.
The Beautiful and Damned would be published after this novel.
This Side of Paradise has officially entered Public Domain in the United States. The full text of the book can be found here
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This Side of Paradise contains these examples:
- Adorably Precocious Child: As a child, Amory Blaine has a taste for fashion and was quite insightful as seen when he completely understands his mother when she was stressed and recognize her flaws unlike most children and once talked in reminiscent detail about famous musicians such as Mozart and Beethoven. His mother would end up bragging about how sophisticated, charming, and delicate he is to a room full of women who were in awe of it.
- The Alcoholic: Beatrice learned to prefer whiskey and wine from her time in England and thus drank quite a bit such as when she had a nervous breakdown at a hotel in Mexico City where consumed a bunch of alcohol. She even had some liquor lying around for a young Amory to take a sip of and get drunk when he was left alone in a hotel room (which secretly amused her). Shortly after Amory's surgery to get his appendix removed, Beatrice had another nervous breakdown with the symptoms being similar to that of alcohol withdrawal delirium, implying she was trying to stop drinking at one point.
- Alliterative Name: Amory Blaine's mother is named Beatrice Blaine.
- Bookworm: Amory Blaine has always dabbled in literature as a hobby, having read many books and prefers studying literature over math.
- Breakfast in Bed: Amory grew up spoiled by his mother who literally forbade him to get out of bed too early, while their servant brought him breakfast. Probably as a result of this, his appendix burst when he was thirteen, and he had to be operated."Dear, don’t think of getting out of bed yet. I’ve always suspected that early rising in early life makes one nervous. Clothilde is having your breakfast brought up."
- Calling Parents by Their Name: From a young age, Amory refers to his mother by her name, Beatrice, who doesn't seem to mind and even encourages it with the narration stating that it's such a quaint name for a mother.
- The Casanova: Amory Blaine's greatest strength is his charm and beauty, which gives him big social grace, being able to dominate over other men and charm many women. This helps set him up as a "romantic egotist" who's interested in sex and gets himself into many romances with several women.
- Casanova Wannabe: Kerry Holiday has tried every single trick in the book to try getting a girl but fails, including when a St. Timothy girl cut out the "My God" from a "My God, how I love you" in a letter he wrote to her and showed the rest of the letter in the school. He even asks Amory, who has been in successful relationships, how to win a girl over but later accepts he likely won't be winning one over.
- Coming of Age Story: The novel is based on Amory Blaine's life, exploring his growth and development from childhood to adulthood. As he grows up, Amory becomes more self-aware and reflective. He begins the novel taking his youth for granted, believing Princeton and his romance with Isabelle Borgè to be the peak of his life. He ends up losing his innocence after fighting in World War I and becomes self-destructive because of it. By the end of the novel, while still nostalgic for his youthful past, he accepts that he's maturing and desires to be a person that others can rely on.
- Confirmed Bachelor: After the death of her husband, Clara Page decides not to marry again and has sworn off men for the rest of her life so she could be with her children at all times. Thus, she turns down Amory despite liking him.
- Doting Parent: Beatrice was quite loving towards Amory. She gave him a highly specialized education, bragged about how sophisticated and charming he was to other women, and spoiled him excessively such as forbidding him from leaving bed too early just so their servant can bring him breakfast.
- Driven to Suicide: Due to intense grief over his love interest, Rosalind Connage, leaving him for Dawson Ryder, Amory Blaine announces at the Knickerbocker Bar that he's going to commit suicide the next day. Due to initially not being dissuaded from his newfound suicidal tendencies, Amory ends up in discussion about depression and suicide. He eventually backs off from committing suicide.
- Drunk Driver: One night, Dick Humbird had been drinking a lot at a party and ended up driving. Ferrenby and the other Princeton students tried taking the wheel from him but failed. As a result, Dick's drunk driving led to an accident that got him killed and two other students injured.
- Dumb Blonde: Discussed in chapter 4 of Book 1 where during a discussion about the hair colors of the senior council members, Amory brings up that people unconsciously expect blondes to talk and if they don't talk, they're considered shallow-minded and stupid. He notes that dark-haired people who are stupid aren't called out for being stupid, unlike blondes.
- Everybody Hates Mathematics: Amory has an immense dislike of mathematics and science, preferring to study literature and history. This sentiment is shared by his mentor, Thayer Darcy.
- First Kiss: Amory's very first kiss was with Myra St. Claire during his early teen years. Myra joked about them being awful, which led to Amory freaking out in disgust and out of panic, desired to be away from Myra and never see her again nor kiss anyone.
- Gold Digger: Rosalind is a woman who has her eyes set on a man's wealth and status. When she finds out about Amory's poverty, she decides to break up with the middle-classed Amory and get hitched with his rival, the wealthy Old Money Dawson.
- Hair Memento: As an indicator of his Casanova tendencies, the charming and handsome Amory Blaine ends up collecting the locks from numerous girls during his high school years.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: The blonde Clara Page is full of goodness and purity that puts her above the questionable morals of a desperate husband-seeker and people flock to her because of her kindness. When Amory, who was charmed by her kindness, is rejected by her, he chants about gold, alluding to her golden hair and how he wanted her.
- Kids Raiding the Wine Cabinet: When he was a child, Amory was left alone in a hotel and slipped some of his mother's liquor. While he liked the taste, he got a little drunk and ended up smoking a cigarette, which he reacted to quite negatively. His mom was horrified when she found out but at the same time was amused on the inside.
- Killed Offscreen: During the Interlude, Kerry Holiday and Jesse Ferrenby are killed offscreen while serving in the war. Their deaths are mentioned in a letter Amory wrote to Lieutenant T.P D'Invillers.
- Lost Pet Grievance: For a brief period, Amory cries on his bed about the loss of his dog, Count Del Monte, after he lost his mind and ran away in fits of eccentricity. However, after several months, Amory suspected Count of being a decent emotional actor and eventually got over him.
- Meaningful Name: Amory seems to be related to the Latin word for love, amor. Which is fitting for a charming Casanova who's dubbed a "romantic egotist" and finds himself in multiple relationships with women.
- Nephewism: After an incident where Amory's appendix burst during a trip in Italy and having to be sent back to America to get an operation to remove it, his mother had an intense nervous breakdown which resembled severe alcohol withdrawal symptoms, leading to Amory having to live the next two years in Minneapolis with his aunt and uncle.
- Parental Substitute: Monsignor Darcy serves as both mentor and father figure to Amory Blaine, helping him out and giving him advice. As he took a Vow of Celibacy and thus isn't allowed to conceive children, Darcy views Amory as a son and admits that he has a paternal instinct for him.
- Riches to Rags: It's briefly mentioned that Clara Page was a high society person, thus implied to be wealthy, before she became a poor, widowed single mother.
- Romancing the Widow: Amory Blaine falls helplessly in love with the widowed Clara Page and tries confessing his love to her. However, while she likes him, Clara turns him down as she has sworn off men for the rest of her life, which saddens him.
- Rule of Three: Amory engaged in romances with three young flappers - Isabelle Borge, Rosalind Connage, and Eleanor Savage.
- Ruptured Appendix: Around the beginning of the novel, Amory's appendix ruptured in the middle of a trip in Italy, likely the result of his mother making him have multiple Breakfasts in Bed. He had to be sent to New York to get a operation to deal with his ruptured appendix.
- Shout-Out: Early on in chapter 2 of Book 1, during a discussion about literature, a freshman mentions that he just finished reading The Picture of Dorian Gray and lets Amory borrow a copy of it so he can read it himself.
- Smoking Is Not Cool: Myra is not at all pleased with Amory's smoking habit when he tells her about it, giving her an unpleasant image about Amory suffering from the negative side-effects of smoking. She insists Amory to drop the habit, telling him that it'll stunt his growth. When Amory tells her that he doesn't care and that he had seen some horrible things. Later on, Myra still tells him to stop smoking and that she cares after Amory responds that nobody cares about smoking.
- Vow of Celibacy: As part of his role as a Catholic priest, Monsignor Darcy has sworn a vow of celibacy and refrains from having sex. This contributes to Darcy seeing Amory Blaine as a son because he isn't allowed to sire children.
