The Price Was High: Volume One Of the Last Uncollected Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald

by F. Scott; Bruccoli Fitzgerald

El precio era alto reúne diecinueve cuentos que Fitzgerald escribió para periódicos y revistas entre los años 20 y 40, como parte de un proyecto que le permitiera solventar económicamente su literatura. No incluidos en ninguna colección de cuentos, estos relatos fueron publicados en español únicamente por la editorial Bruguera en Barcelona, en 1982 y nunca volvieron a reeditarse hasta hoy. La prosa de Fitzgerald, con su característico dinamismo para ubicarnos entre personajes encantadores y la inminencia del derrumbe del sueño americano, se despliega en diecinueve cuentos inolvidables que recorren con una mirada no autocomplaciente la vida de la juventud en las décadas del jazz y la guerra.

Relegados durante años por su origen mercantil, los relatos de El precio era alto son, sin embargo, una muestra exquisita y fresca de un estilo y una elegancia que se mantuvieron intactos. Una mirada peculiar y a la vez sombría de la época del jazz y los años posteriores a la Primera Guerra Mundial, que desconfía del clima de fiesta y generosidad económica y puede presentir la estrepitosa crisis del 29. Cuando la Gran Depresión llega, como señala Marcelo Cohen en su prólogo, “Fitzgerald ya había comprendido que detrás de la riqueza fácil flotaban una anodina sordidez, el cálculo y el delito”.

Traducción: Marcelo Cohen

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories, Classics

432 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1979

Reviews

[Thomas Cannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

These are his short stories that people deemed not good enough to be in other collections. While some of the stories relied too much on two young people meeting and then immediately wanting to get married, they were still great. It is a thick book, but all the stories were memorable and unique. Fitzgerald's writing style was able to create great imagery and intriguing worlds simply and quickly. These stories still show why Fitzgerald was sough after for his short stories.

[Steven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Collection of incredible short stories from a writer who, in my opinion, is simply the greatest. Nobody writes prose like poetry like Fitzgerald.

[Nina · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVE HIS SHORT STORIES.CAPTURED AND CREATED HIS TIMES

[Will García · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are recurrent themes in Scott Fitzgerald's stories in this book: money, beauty, love and also loneliness. This is an inherently american collection of short stories, framed in its own historical background, sure, but some of the longings are universal. Meanwhile, the other stories show how much old F.S. Fitzgerald needed money and was willing to write for it.

[Mike Booth · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really quite varied selection of stories from an incredible author. As the stories come from all parts of his life, there is a wide range of quality here - from some which are almost nonsensical or end abruptly to works which could easily have been expanded into a novel, and were a delight to read. Because of the inclusion of some of the worse ones, it's only a 4* from me, but there definitely are some gems in here. I read this as I'd read most other collections and the 5 novels, and I think it will be the last time I read any Fitzgerald for a while, as the sheer volume of stories in here did start to drag on me after a while. This coupled with the subject material almost always being somewhat similar - love, money, and melancholy of some sort - meant I found myself not reading as much. I'm sure I'll come back to read more eventually, as I do love most of his writing, but for every Great Gatsby there is a Tarquin of Cheapside, and both are represented in this anthology.

[Noel Cisneros · Rating 4 out of 5]

La apariencia del mundo de los millonarios, de las escuelas de la Ivy Leage, de las estrellas de cine cansadas de serlo, de hombres pusilánimes que descubren un día el poder que tienen en los puños, jovencitas engañadas por sus pretendientes (porque las consideran buscafortunas) que en venganza también los engañan a ellos, enamoramientos que se dieron en la guerra (la primera guerra mundial), son algunos de los temas que con dominio del arte de narrar desarrolla Fitzgerald a lo largo de este libro.

[Dan Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fitzgerald was definitely a writer of his time: his stories center around outdated themes and stereotypes surrounding women, money, luxury, and love. But you don’t read Fitzgerald for the moral content; you read him for the poetry of his prose. His lyrical writing creates worlds with bold, colorful middles and soft edges. It makes you feel like you’re floating above his stories, looking down on a nostalgic world of dreams and glory.

[Ann Parker · Rating 4 out of 5]

I absolutely love Fitzgerald short stories. They are beautifully written portrayal of an elite, but with so much sensibility that it is hard not to feel for the characters. Always a pleasure.

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This has a lot of very meh stories. There's a reason some of these weren't in any other collection

[Alex Ankarr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mostly awesome, sometimes transcendent, the occasional dud. 'Three Acts of Music' is the saddest thing ever committed to paper.

[Spencer · Rating 4 out of 5]

When first published in 1979 these 50 short stories had not been collected in any other book. That still holds true today for most of them. This book belongs on the shelves of any FSF afficionado.

[Veronica · Rating 5 out of 5]

La elegancia en la escritura de Fitzgerald se hace notar haciendo de estos relatos exquisitos y dinámicos, fáciles de leer y ambientados en el Estados Unidos de La Gran Depresion que le da un toque especial, con arqueotipos personajes típicos de la época este libro te hace viajar en el tiempo.
Sin duda Francis Scott Fitzgerald es un gran escritor.
Recomiendo este libro para disfrute de su escritura y en caso de que se necesite algo fresco que leer.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's no such thing as a bad Fitzgerald story -- just some that aren't as great as others. This collection is not necessarily the junior varsity of Fitzgerald stories. Some of them are among his most interesting works. It is certainly worth delving into this book if you enjoy one of the 20th century's greatest writers and want to explore beyond the most well-known stories.