The Sensible Thing

by F. Scott Fitzgerald

This 1924 short story borrows from the common plot and themes of Fitzgerald's work. In this story, George O'Kelly, an aspiring engineer turned insurance salesman, fights to recapture the love of Jonquil Cary. When George receives a letter from Jonquil that sounds "nervous" George quits his insurance job and heads down to Tennessee to convince Jonquil of his love for her. Upon arriving, George finds Jonquil in the company of two younger boys and he knows that something is wrong. After their break-up, George leaves Tennessee to pick up the pieces of his life. We return to George over a year later as he comes back to see Jonquil again. The years have been good to George - he is tan, well dressed and successful. When the two reunite, things have changed.

Genres: Short Stories, Classics, Fiction, American, Romance, Literature, Literary Fiction

20 pages, Nook

First published January 1, 1924

About the author

Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald, widely known simply as Scott Fitzgerald, was an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. He is best known for his novels depicting the flamboyance and excess of the Jazz Age, a term he popularized in his short story collection Tales of the Jazz Age. During his lifetime, he published four novels, four story collections, and 164 short stories. Although he achieved temporary popular success and fortune in the 1920s, Fitzgerald received critical acclaim only after his death and is now widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century.
Born into a middle-class family in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Fitzgerald was raised primarily in New York state. He attended Princeton University where he befriended future literary critic Edmund Wilson. Owing to a failed romantic relationship with Chicago socialite Ginevra King, he dropped out in 1917 to join the United States Army during World War I. While stationed in Alabama, he met Zelda Sayre, a Southern debutante who belonged to Montgomery's exclusive country-club set. Although she initially rejected Fitzgerald's marriage proposal due to his lack of financial prospects, Zelda agreed to marry him after he published the commercially successful This Side of Paradise (1920). The novel became a cultural sensation and cemented his reputation as one of the eminent writers of the decade.
His second novel, The Beautiful and Damned (1922), propelled him further into the cultural elite. To maintain his affluent lifestyle, he wrote numerous stories for popular magazines such as The Saturday Evening Post, Collier's Weekly, and Esquire. During this period, Fitzgerald frequented Europe, where he befriended modernist writers and artists of the "Lost Generation" expatriate community, including Ernest Hemingway. His third novel, The Great Gatsby (1925), received generally favorable reviews but was a commercial failure, selling fewer than 23,000 copies in its first year. Despite its lackluster debut, The Great Gatsby is now hailed by some literary critics as the "Great American Novel". Following the deterioration of his wife's mental health and her placement in a mental institute for schizophrenia, Fitzgerald completed his final novel, Tender Is the Night (1934).
Struggling financially because of the declining popularity of his works during the Great Depression, Fitzgerald moved to Hollywood, where he embarked upon an unsuccessful career as a screenwriter. While living in Hollywood, he cohabited with columnist Sheilah Graham, his final companion before his death. After a long struggle with alcoholism, he attained sobriety only to die of a heart attack in 1940, at 44. His friend Edmund Wilson edited and published an unfinished fifth novel, The Last Tycoon (1941), after Fitzgerald's death. In 1993, a new edition was published as The Love of the Last Tycoon, edited by Matthew J. Bruccoli.

Reviews

[Ericka Clou · Rating 4 out of 5]

"There are all kinds of love in this world, but never the same love twice." It's stuff like that that makes Fitzgerald one of the greats.

[Viji (Bookish endeavors) · Rating 5 out of 5]

"There are all kinds of love in the world, but never the same love twice."
An aspiring engineer who works as an insurance salesman gets himself fired from his job because he has to visit his lover who seems to be in doubt about the relationship. The girl tells him that she can't marry him because he hasn't got enough to support them both and so,that seems the sensible thing. He leaves her saying that he will come back one day. About an year later, he comes back as an established engineer. But she seems indifferent to him, neither married nor in another love, but just indifferent. As they talk, it is revealed that she hasn't lost her love for him.. She had been waiting for him every day.. She talked about about the sensible thing that day but her life after that was without any happiness, without any sense.
A touching story indeed.. He left his youth when he left her.. He tried to do the sensible thing by giving up his emotions.. "This night's dusk would cover up forever the sun and the trees and the flowers and laughter of his young world.." He came back with lots of money for them to live, but lost his youthful days and pure love in doing that.. He will never feel the same warmth again.. They will not feel the same love again.. For that moment is long gone.. This story will make you hug your loved ones more closely..

[Lyra Goga · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are all kinds of love in this world, but never the same love twice.

[Kimiya · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Well, let it pass, he thought; April is over, April is over.
There are all kinds of love in the world, but never the same love twice."

[Prashant · Rating 3 out of 5]

Man in a fight between rationality and the fickle human nature always makes for a good story. We since aeon have wondered what is the right path to go for, the objectivity taught in The Fountainhead or the emotions dripping from the plethora of books swamping the marketplace.

I don't want to hear the answer because your answer will no way be mine, how so much I try.

But we all can see the irony engraved in this story with a man happily leaving his job for a girl living long distances away. She getting confused and eerie when he has finally come to her leaving everything, just to be with him.

But he just can't make her change her mind. So he will learn to live on with the pain, anguish and confusion fitting for a man who has loved and lost.

But he will live and he will last. Because that's what real a real person do !

[Ray LaManna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just a few pages Scott Fitzgerald examines, love gained and love lost, and all the emotions in between.

[Dalia دَالِيَا · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it, it really touched my heart

[Jackie]

In this one we have main character George O'Kelly quits his job to go see the love of his life Jonquil in Tennessee. They haven't seen each for a year and he wants to marry her, but things are not the same between.
This short story explores the same theme as The Great Gatsby, which is "can you recapture the past", with our main character is trying to with his long distance girlfriend. He learns they have different views on relationships. He is committed to her while she flirts with others. She is not ready for a commitment being so young unlike George who is head over heals and wants to get married. The story implies that at a young age you can get caught up in love, but often learn the hard way people change over time. It is a bittersweet story.

[Kritika Swarup]

Amazingly written story and I so love the title!! Love would be justified for its form, whatever be it. The faith in the other shall never vain. It takes that moment of truth to test it. Tough times never last but the lessons they leave make the direction our lives-their love in this case, would take. Another test comes with handling success, but that is for a different story.

What shall keep us in the comforts of the day, will reflect in the sensations of the night. So good day Sir!

[Durar Akil]

"she was something desirable and rare that he had fought for and made his own--but never again an intangible whisper in the dusk, or on the breeze of night. . . .

Well, let it pass, he thought; April is over, April is over. There are all kinds of love in the world, but never the same love twice."

[Hanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

„There are all kinds of love in the world, but never the same love twice.”
Bardzo lubię i cenię tego autora.

[Audrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I mean, his writing is just so insanely good. Short story, so good writing is the most important thing for me

[Jdrocks325gmail.com · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully written.

His stories are always so sad. Another one where you feel sorry for everyone involved. These stories stories always make you think. Roaring 20s Dont quite sound so appealing.

[Alor Deng · Rating 5 out of 5]

America's greatest ever writer. That's all.

[Rin · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are all kinds of love in the world, but never the same love twice.

[#DÏ4B7Ø Chinnamasta-Bhairav · Rating 1 out of 5]

~}- - - - - - - - - - - - - -:}|{:- - - - - - - - - - - - - -{~
~}-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-{~
~}--- :}|{:-:}|{:- * FOLLOW 4 FOLLOW * -:}|{:-:}|{: ---{~
~}-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-{~
~}--------:}|{:-:}|{:- * LINKS * -:}|{:-:}|{:----------{~
~}-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-{~
~}- - - - - - - - - - - - - -:}|{:- - - - - - - - - - - - - -{~
***********************************************

~} * -:}|{}|{:=:}|{}|{:- * - * -:}|{}|{:=:}|{}|{:- * {~
* -} neuralsurfer {- *
~} * -:}|{}|{:=:}|{}|{:- * - * -:}|{}|{:=:}|{}|{:- * {~

* -:}|{}|{:=:}|{}|{:- *

* -:}|{}|{:- ^ AUDIOBOOK ^ -:}|{}|{:- *

~}- - - - - - - - - - - - - -:}|{:- - - - - - - - - - - - - -{~

~}-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-{~

~}- - - - - - - - - - - - - -:}|{:- - - - - - - - - - - - - -{~

* -:}|{}|{:- * SUMMARY * -:}|{}|{:- *

~}- - - - - - - - - - - - - -:}|{:- - - - - - - - - - - - - -{~

* -:}|{:- * RATING * -:}|{:- * 2.5/10 * -:}|{:- *

~}- - - - - - - - - - - - - -:}|{:- - - - - - - - - - - - - -{~

* -:}|{}|{: =EXPERIENCES=&=DISCERNMENTS= :}|{}|{:- *

* -:}|{}|{: = empty = }|{}|{:- *

~}- - - - - - - - - - - - - -:}|{:- - - - - - - - - - - - - -{~

* -} https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VWrl... {- *

* -:}|{}|{:=:}|{}|{:- *

* -} Gestalt Psychology Simplified with Examples and Principles {- *

* -:}|{}|{: = MY SYNTHESISED ( ^ GESTALT ^ ) OF THE * -:}|{}|{:=:}|{}|{:- * ( WAY THE AUTHOR FRAMES = HIS WRITING PERSPECTIVES ) & ( POINTERS & IMPLICATIONS = the conclusion that can be drawn IMPLICITYLY from something although it is not EXPLICITLY stated ) = :}|{}|{:- *

* -:}|{}|{: = ? = }|{}|{:- *

~}- - - - - - - - - - - - - -:}|{:- - - - - - - - - - - - - -{~

~}-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-{~

~}- - - - - - - - - - - - - -:}|{:- - - - - - - - - - - - - -{~

To SEE a WORLD in a Grain of Sand,
And a HEAVEN in a Wild Flower,
Hold INFINITY in the palm of your hand
And ETERNITY in an Hour"
~ William Blake ~

~}- - - - - - - - - - - - - -:}|{:- - - - - - - - - - - - - -{~

“Wisdom tells me I am nothing. Love tells me I am everything. And between the two my life flows.” Nisargadatta Maharaj

~}- - - - - - - - - - - - - -:}|{:- - - - - - - - - - - - - -{~

Form is Emptiness; Emptiness is form.
Form is not different than Emptiness;
Emptiness is not different than form
~ Heart Sutra ~

Like the ocean and its waves,
inseparable yet distinct

~}- - - - - - - - - - - - - -:}|{:- - - - - - - - - - - - - -{~

" I and The Father are one,
I am The Truth,
The Life and The Path.”

Like a river flowing from its source,
connected and continuous

~}- - - - - - - - - - - - - -:}|{:- - - - - - - - - - - - - -{~

Thy kingdom come.
Let the reign of divine
Truth, Life, and Love
be established in me,
and rule out of me all sin;
and may Thy Word
enrich the affections of all mankind

A mighty oak tree standing firm against the storm,
As sunlight scatters the shadows of night
A river nourishing the land it flows through

~}- - - - - - - - - - - - - -:}|{:- - - - - - - - - - - - - -{~

~}-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-:}|{:-{~

[Mei Is A Curious Month · Rating 3 out of 5]

“But for an instant as he kissed her he knew that though he searched though eternity he could never recapture those lost April hours. […] Well let it pass, he though; April is over, April is over. There are all kinds of love in the world, but never the same love twice.”

George O’Kelly is “new to poverty” and madly in love with Jonquil Cary, a girl from Tennessee, who he rushes to go and see at her wavering in devotion. This is the classic Gatsby story: time is elusive, love is both forever and fleeting, the girl is unreachable, money is everything and nothing. Like Gatsby, Kelly leaves the woman he loves and returns to her later, having “carved success out of despair”. Again, this ties into the American Dream being an ideological “function of deprivation” and the crazed, hollow accumulation of wealth merely being a product of desperation.

There is also a sense of wonderment at the disappointing physicality of things – when Kelly returns to the Cary’s house, he is stunned at its mundanity. This relentless dreaming, which sours and tarnishes reality, is a peculiarly Fitzgeraldian masochism.

Additionally, the reader also witnesses how Fitzgerald links so potently a sentiment with a place in his writing. To Kelly, the emblem of the fan is like “a clock ticking away all the time I’ll be with you. I came here to be happy and forget everything about New York and time-”. To Kelly, New York is time, and the lethargy of Tennessee is an escape from the incessant memento mori of fast-paced NYC industry.

“The poor go under or go up or go wrong or even go on, somehow, in the way the poor have”. In the Valley of Ashes, the destitute and the desperate drag on, nearer to their deathbed - they simply “go on”. This is seen in the sickly apathy of Wilson, and the last hurrah, combative stance of Myrtle’s vitality and sensuality.

Jonquil Cary is Lady Liberty, a medal for a hero, something that “he had fought for and made his own”. This dehumanising evaluation of women as a prize – and the lexis of appropriation with its forceful militaristic connotations - could be interpreted as having a sexist subtext.

The closing passage (see above) is unique as, whilst melancholic, it is not devastated and desolate. (It is, however, ambiguous). Kelly is able to realise the confines of his own mortal nature – he cannot repeat time, unlike Gatsby, who practically deifies himself in his quest for simple human love.

[Juli Zabaznova · Rating 4 out of 5]

American critics of the 50s and 70s of the twentieth century were almost unanimous about the main theme of F.S. Fitzgerald's short stories as "the collapse of the American dream. I've noticed the writer's characters are disappointed in almost everything, they don't get satisfaction from their achievements, they have no sense of real happiness, their dreams are almost always doomed to collapse or, when realized, become not at all what they were at the beginning.
"The Sensible Thing" is one of S. Fitzgerald in terms of his central theme of creativity. We can see how his own position is revealed through the example of this story. Every writer has a theme that he adheres to in all of his works, and with Fitzgerald, it is the theme of success which is closely intertwined with the theme of love. These two issues are so interconnected that it is difficult to find a line separating them.
In the story "The Sensible Thing", success for the main character George O'Kelly is tied to his life's dream, not to money. The theme of success emerges in the very first lines of the story: "At the Great American Lunch Hour young George O'Kelly straightened his desk deliberately and with an assumed air of interest." The rejection of a dream, of success, is already a moral feat of the character. He has already made his choice, he gave up success for the happiness with the girl he loves. Was it worth it? Complicated issue.
The thing that impressed me - how at the end of the story George realized that he had won Jonquil, if not her love, then the respect and serious treatment of himself as a contender for her hand. Another of the character's dreams of winning the right to possess his beloved girl also came true, but anyway this is a story of loss. Cruel disappointment in love, suffering, humiliation, tears, sacrifice - made him mature, made him say goodbye to his youth in just one year.

[Ye · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sweet tale of true, distance-surviving romance that was inevitably polluted by r€a£it¥. The couple supposedly loses their young, “innocent” love when George pursues a career to win back his disenchanted Jonquil, and returns to a bitter realisation that they and their love have changed. A brilliant way to underscore the ways materialistic society robs us of our young time and hearts to fulfil “the sensible thing”... While that does invoke sadness and nostalgia, the reunion demonstrates that true love withstands time, distance and although changes, never falters. For someone in a LDR this is truly inspiring, and definitely prepares me to embrace this day should it ever arrive at my calendar.

[Catalina Jimenez G · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although many say it is just another of Fitzgerald's typical love stories, I believe his writing was intended for the few who have lived what he describes.

I can't even remember the first time I read the quote "there are all kinds of love in the world, but never the same love twice," but it wasn't until recently that I understood the meaning of it.
Fitzgerald somehow put into words so much of what I feel and managed to so briefly tell a story that makes you imagine past and future.

I love how the title is so present in the story, how it's repeated in different tones, and how it opens the way for so many conversations when it comes to something so irrefutable as love.

[Ross Pittman · Rating 4 out of 5]

“On that sofa he had felt agony and grief such as he would never feel again. He would never be so weak or so tired and miserable and poor. Yet he knew that that boy of fifteen months before had had something, a trust, a warmth that was gone forever. The sensible thing - they had done the sensible thing. He had traded his first youth for strength and carved success out of despair. But with his youth, life had carried away the freshness of his love.” - Page 26

“Well, let it pass, he thought; April is over, April is over. There are all kinds of love in the world, but never the same love twice.” - Page 28

[Susan Molloy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent.

🖊 Poignant and enjoyable short story by a master of the written word.

જ⁀🔵Internet Archive.
༺ ༅ ✬ ༅ ༻ ༺ ༅ ✬ ༅ ༻






𝕄𝕪 𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕓𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕜𝕕𝕠𝕨𝕟:
ℙ𝕝𝕠𝕥: ★★★★★
ℂ𝕠𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕟𝕥: ★★★★★
𝕎𝕣𝕚𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕤𝕥𝕪𝕝𝕖: ★★★★★
𝕃𝕒𝕟𝕘𝕦𝕒𝕘𝕖: ★★★★★
𝔾𝕣𝕒𝕞𝕞𝕒𝕣: ★★★★★
𝔼𝕒𝕤𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘: ★★★★★
𝕄𝕪 𝕣𝕖𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟: ★★★★★
𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘: 5.0

[gonza · Rating 5 out of 5]

just fell to my knees.

"Yet he knew that that boy of fifteen months before had had something, a trust, a warmth that was gone forever. The sensible thing—they had done the sensible thing. He had traded his first youth for strength and carved success out of despair. But with his youth, life had carried away the freshness of his love."

[Amelia · Rating 5 out of 5]

“This night’s dusk would cover up forever the sun and the trees and the flowers and laughter of his young world.” III
“…his imagination had distorted and colored all these simple familiar things.” IV
“life had carried away the freshness of his love.” IV
“April is over. There are all kinds of love in the world, but never the same love twice.” IV

[Deity World · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of his best books a true romance novel very emotional did remind me a little of The Great Gatsby

[MaryAnn Mella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maybe I’m a cynic but I always enjoy reading books that feel like real life. Fitzgerald never sugarcoated life problems, but always seemed hopeful in his writing. It’s still interesting to see how much he enjoyed romanticizing people and situations even when he knew the truth.

[Fernando Frías · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best short stories of Fitzgerald. It is incredible how he writes of the same themes every time and every time it is yet different, beautiful, painful and with a lot of ugly truths.

“There are all kinds of love in the world but never the same love twice”.

[M.T. Lena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful writing, of course, nothing less was expected of the great Fitzgerald.

[Sarah Abdulraheem · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Well, let it pass, he thought; April is over, April is over. There are all kinds of love in the world, but never the same love twice." :')

[Hân · Rating 3 out of 5]

“There are many kinds of love in the world, but never the same love twice”