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Cartas a mi hija
A mediados de la década de 1930, F. Scott Fitzgerald tenía unas deudas astronómicas, su esposa Zelda estaba ingresada en una clínica psiquiátrica y la hija de ambos, Scottie, daba sus primeros pasos desde una infancia de privilegios hacia una juventud comprometida con su tiempo. Las cartas que le escribió, traducidas por vez primera al castellano, abarcan esos años decisivos, para el padre postreros, para la hija inaugurales. Se leen en estas cartas consejos sobre chicos, libros, viajes, alcoholes, asignaturas en la universidad, notas académicas, tratos con los dineros propios y ajenos, los peligros de un éxito prematuro (Scottie publicó un cuento en el New Yorker antes de cumplir los veinte años) o la insistencia en la ética del trabajo. También encontramos la mirada del escritor sobre el mundo funesto que se estaba gestando, desde la Guerra Civil española hasta los primeros compases de la Segunda Guerra Mundial. La guerra cambiaría para siempre el rostro de la Europa que ambos, padre e hija, habían conocido durante la engañosa bonanza económica de los felices veinte. Sólo Scottie la vería terminar. El 21 de diciembre de 1940, F. Scott Fitzgerald moría de un ataque al corazón en Hollywood. Se interrumpía sin despedida posible el intercambio.
Con una prosa perspicaz, a veces deshilachada por la urgencia, siempre ingeniosa, amorosa, atenta al ruido y la furia de la década, nunca presumida, profesoral o autoritaria, F. Scott Fitzgerald fue tejiendo entre 1933 y 1940 un milagroso lazo epistolar destinado no solamente a la niña de doce años, la adolescente de quince o la brillantísima joven de diecinueve, sino a una Scottie intemporal, a la mujer que vendrá, porque el padre no se guarda nada en las cartas y escribe con una asombrosa honestidad un testamento literario, ético, un regalo para una vida.
Es posible que Scottie no siguiera al pie de la letra los consejos de su padre, como reconoce en la magnífica, descreída, dignamente irónica introducción que abre estas páginas. Quedan, sin embargo, las cartas de Fitzgerald, ventana abierta a un tiempo y cuitas de un escritor que nos permiten, hoy, ahondar en la personalidad del autor de El gran Gatsby.
Con una prosa perspicaz, a veces deshilachada por la urgencia, siempre ingeniosa, amorosa, atenta al ruido y la furia de la década, nunca presumida, profesoral o autoritaria, F. Scott Fitzgerald fue tejiendo entre 1933 y 1940 un milagroso lazo epistolar destinado no solamente a la niña de doce años, la adolescente de quince o la brillantísima joven de diecinueve, sino a una Scottie intemporal, a la mujer que vendrá, porque el padre no se guarda nada en las cartas y escribe con una asombrosa honestidad un testamento literario, ético, un regalo para una vida.
Es posible que Scottie no siguiera al pie de la letra los consejos de su padre, como reconoce en la magnífica, descreída, dignamente irónica introducción que abre estas páginas. Quedan, sin embargo, las cartas de Fitzgerald, ventana abierta a un tiempo y cuitas de un escritor que nos permiten, hoy, ahondar en la personalidad del autor de El gran Gatsby.
- GenresNonfiction
216 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1965
6 people are currently reading
174 people want to read
About the author
F. Scott Fitzgerald
2,324 books25.6k followersFrancis 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
May 16, 2018
No sabría ni por dónde empezar a explicar lo mal q me cae ahora Fitzgerald....
July 26, 2018
Como su nombre indica, esta es una recopilación de cartas que F.S. Fitzgerald escribió a su hija cuando esta era una adolescente, y durante sus años en la universidad. Aunque no tenemos las respuestas de ella, Scottie incluye un prólogo que es un complemento fantástico y nos ayuda a situarnos en la situación personal del autor durante esos años, y entender mejor la correspondencia. En las cartas se mezclan comentarios del día a día con consejos para la vida, en general muy interesantes y aún vigentes, aunque por supuesto algunos nos chirrían hoy en día, por el peso puesto en el matrimonio por ejemplo. Entre estos temas más generales encontramos también consejos sobre escritura, reflexiones sobre su obra y opiniones sobre autores que a mí al menos es lo que más me ha interesado, aparte de frases maravillosas de Fitzgerald que siempre están presentes. Es una lectura para hacer a ratos y apuntarse algunos consejos, y a mí al menos me dio qué pensar la situación de esta familia disgregada, y el final tan brusco de la correspondencia con el fallecimiento del autor. La edición de Alpha Decay tiene una portada preciosa y es muy cómoda de leer, incluye algunas anotaciones que ayudan a dar contexto a temas de actualidad de entonces que se mencionan en las cartas.
April 20, 2019
Non ero un'adolescente perspicace, e probabilmente ero più egocentrica della media. Ma persino io percepivo vagamente, già allora, che mio padre era non solo un genio ma a suo modo un grand'uomo, nonostante i suoi tormenti che in parte s'infliggeva da sé e i suoi peccati giganteschi. Sapevo che era buono, generoso, onesto e leale, lo ammiravo e gli volevo bene. Ma poiché l'autoconservazione è l'istinto più forte di tutti, specialmente da giovani, sapevo anche che per me c'era un solo modo di sopravvivere alla tragedia: ignorarla. Guardando indietro vorrei essere stata una figlia meno esasperante, più riflessiva, più costante e sensibile. Mi addolora sapere quanto devo avere contribuito alle sue difficoltà, e questa è probabilmente la ragione per cui non ho scritto sinora su di lui in chiave personale. Ero impegnata a sopravvivere e quello che non potevo ignorare nel campo dei comportamenti deprecabili, come un calamaio volato a un centimetro dal mio orecchio, lo rimuovevo appena possibile nella mia soffitta emotiva.
(...) Il guaio con la reazione da struzzo è che se la usi abbastanza a lungo diventa un'abitudine. (...). Sviluppai una tale immunità nei confronti di mio padre, che se mi faceva la ramanzina, semplicemente non lo sentivo.
Sicché queste stupende lettere, queste gemme assolute di saggezza e stile letterario, arrivavano a Vassar e io le scorrevo solo alla ricerca di assegni e novità, poi le cacciavo nell'ultimo cassetto in basso a destra. Sono orgogliosa di averle conservate; sapevo che erano lettere straordinarie, e i miei motivi non erano certo venali, perché papà allora era uno scrittore povero e dimenticato, senza alcuna prospettiva che Il Grande Gatsby fosse tradotto in ventisette lingue. Le tenni in serbo come si tiene in serbo Guerra e Pace da leggere qualche giorno, o Firenze per passarci del tempo in futuro.
Ma all'epoca non volevo sentirmi dire che libri leggere, che corsi seguire, se cercare di scrivere per il giornale del college, quali ragazze prendere per compagne di stanza, quali partite di football andare a vedere, cosa pensare della guerra di Spagna, se bere o no, se 'buttarmi via' o no, di non scrivere musica per i nostri spettacoli universitari, di non farmi una mèche ossigenata, di non andare a una festa per debuttanti a New York (...)
La cosa che approvò di più fu - l'anno che morì- fu la mia iscrizione alla scuola estiva di Harvard. Suona bene dal punto di vista intellettuale e sono felice di avergli comunicato un sentimento di successo. Ma in tutti quarant'anni circa della mia vita sino a oggi, penso di non aver mai fatto niente di così assolutamente e pateticamente frivolo. Mi unii a un gruppo affascinante di gente che era stata bocciata ad Harvard per una ragione per l'altra, e me la spassai tanto che non diedi nessun esame.
(...) Ero una figlia immaginaria, fittizia quanto una delle sue prime eroine. Mi faceva sembrare assai più corteggiata e seducente di quanto fossi. Nella realtà ero appena vagamente carina e mi invitavano a ballare solo gli amici che per fortuna erano numerosi. Ma lui voleva così disperatamente farmi a sua immagine che in queste lettere sembro una Brenda Frazier, la regina di tutte le maliarde di quegli anni (...).
C'è una morale della favola, e sto per togliermi il rospo.
Per gli studenti del college: non ignorate nessun buon consiglio, a meno che non venga dai vostri genitori. I genitori degli altri potrebbero anche avere ragione.
Per i genitori (povere creature smarrite): non gettate perle ai porci, perlomeno assicuratevi che i porci le mettano nell'ultimo cassetto in basso a destra.
Scottie Fitzgerald Lanahan
(Introduzione all'opera)
(...) Il guaio con la reazione da struzzo è che se la usi abbastanza a lungo diventa un'abitudine. (...). Sviluppai una tale immunità nei confronti di mio padre, che se mi faceva la ramanzina, semplicemente non lo sentivo.
Sicché queste stupende lettere, queste gemme assolute di saggezza e stile letterario, arrivavano a Vassar e io le scorrevo solo alla ricerca di assegni e novità, poi le cacciavo nell'ultimo cassetto in basso a destra. Sono orgogliosa di averle conservate; sapevo che erano lettere straordinarie, e i miei motivi non erano certo venali, perché papà allora era uno scrittore povero e dimenticato, senza alcuna prospettiva che Il Grande Gatsby fosse tradotto in ventisette lingue. Le tenni in serbo come si tiene in serbo Guerra e Pace da leggere qualche giorno, o Firenze per passarci del tempo in futuro.
Ma all'epoca non volevo sentirmi dire che libri leggere, che corsi seguire, se cercare di scrivere per il giornale del college, quali ragazze prendere per compagne di stanza, quali partite di football andare a vedere, cosa pensare della guerra di Spagna, se bere o no, se 'buttarmi via' o no, di non scrivere musica per i nostri spettacoli universitari, di non farmi una mèche ossigenata, di non andare a una festa per debuttanti a New York (...)
La cosa che approvò di più fu - l'anno che morì- fu la mia iscrizione alla scuola estiva di Harvard. Suona bene dal punto di vista intellettuale e sono felice di avergli comunicato un sentimento di successo. Ma in tutti quarant'anni circa della mia vita sino a oggi, penso di non aver mai fatto niente di così assolutamente e pateticamente frivolo. Mi unii a un gruppo affascinante di gente che era stata bocciata ad Harvard per una ragione per l'altra, e me la spassai tanto che non diedi nessun esame.
(...) Ero una figlia immaginaria, fittizia quanto una delle sue prime eroine. Mi faceva sembrare assai più corteggiata e seducente di quanto fossi. Nella realtà ero appena vagamente carina e mi invitavano a ballare solo gli amici che per fortuna erano numerosi. Ma lui voleva così disperatamente farmi a sua immagine che in queste lettere sembro una Brenda Frazier, la regina di tutte le maliarde di quegli anni (...).
C'è una morale della favola, e sto per togliermi il rospo.
Per gli studenti del college: non ignorate nessun buon consiglio, a meno che non venga dai vostri genitori. I genitori degli altri potrebbero anche avere ragione.
Per i genitori (povere creature smarrite): non gettate perle ai porci, perlomeno assicuratevi che i porci le mettano nell'ultimo cassetto in basso a destra.
Scottie Fitzgerald Lanahan
(Introduzione all'opera)
February 10, 2017
F.Scott Mansplaining, condescendencia redactada belleza: me ha encantado.
May 13, 2018
“Los buenos escritores son sabuesos empeñados en revelar la condición escandalosa de la condición humana”
“Tienes que dedicar lo mejor y más fresco de tus energías a aquellas cosas que te darán una vida feliz y de provecho”
“Insinuar un estado de cosas que no se ajusta a la realidad sólo sirve para aplazar el momento del juicio final”
“Tienes que dedicar lo mejor y más fresco de tus energías a aquellas cosas que te darán una vida feliz y de provecho”
“Insinuar un estado de cosas que no se ajusta a la realidad sólo sirve para aplazar el momento del juicio final”
October 1, 2023
Me encantó
December 17, 2024
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s letters give readers a glimpse of the man behind the beautiful sentences of his short stories and novels. The first collection of Fitzgerald’s letters appeared in 1963, and two years later Letters to His Daughter was published, featuring an introduction by Scottie Fitzgerald. (She’s referred to as “Francis Fitzgerald Lanahan” on the book jacket.) In his letters to Scottie, we see Fitzgerald in all his complexity. He is, by turns, pedantic, domineering, charming, funny, nostalgic, and sweet.
The letters in this book date from Scottie’s teenage years. After Zelda’s third mental breakdown in 1934, Scott was coming to terms with the fact that Zelda would most likely never be “cured” of her mental illness. Fitzgerald spiraled for a while—the period covered in his “Crack-Up” essays of 1936, but he pulled himself together, got a job as a screenwriter for MGM, and moved to Hollywood in 1937. Scottie was at boarding school, and thus much of Fitzgerald’s parenting was done via letters.
Scott wanted to guide Scottie through these years, as he knew from his own experience how difficult adolescence could be. Fitzgerald had struggled through school, flunking out of Princeton University, forcing him to repeat his junior year. Ultimately, Fitzgerald enlisted in the US Army in 1917 and never completed his college degree.
While Scott is certainly overbearing, he’s also not totally crazy to be so worried about Scottie’s grades. She was kicked out of Ethel Walker’s School after she graduated, while studying for her college board exams.
Fitzgerald writes to Scottie about a dyed blonde streak in her hair, which seems like a ridiculous thing to be concerned about, but he also writes that three people have written him about her hair, which seems equally ridiculous. It’s possible he was exaggerating the number, but someone must have written him about Scottie’s hair, how else could he have known? Yes, he’s being slightly ridiculous, but other people are also being ridiculous by writing to him about Scottie’s hair.
The key to the whole book is Scott’s admitting, “you are so much like me” (p.45). This is exactly why he is pedantic and pestering, because he knew Scottie was so similar to him. And he wanted her to avoid the same mistakes that he made.
In October of 1937, Scott writes: “You have got to devote the best and freshest part of your energies to things that will give you a happy and profitable life. There is no other time but now.” (p.27) That might be a bit much for a 16-year-old to digest, but it’s fantastic advice for anyone, at any age.
Fitzgerald hit upon one of the main themes in his work when he wrote “my generation of radicals and breakers-down never found anything to take the place of the old virtues of work and courage and the old graces of courtesy and politeness.” (p.57) This theme reverberates throughout Fitzgerald’s work: he is eager to see the old Victorian morality die off, but he questions what values people will choose to live by now. Fitzgerald constructed a moral code for himself that did not come from organized religion. Fitzgerald also saw how people who had no moral code floundered without a clear direction.
Even though Fitzgerald, who was raised Catholic, had no use for organized religion, he had high praise for the book of Ecclesiastes, encouraging Scottie to read it. “Remember when you’re reading it that it is one of the top pieces of writing in the world.” (p.64) This is notable as it’s one of the few positive mentions of anything related to religion in Fitzgerald’s writings.
Fitzgerald’s erudition is on full display in his letters—it’s abundantly clear how well-read he was. He writes “certainly you will agree that Marxism does not concern itself with vague sophistries but weds itself to the most practical mechanics of material revolution.” (p.82) You might not expect the author of The Great Gatsby to be so well-versed in Communism, but Fitzgerald was a complicated fellow. That was part of the genius of Fitzgerald; he was able to describe the glittering surfaces and also the rot underneath.
Fitzgerald was sympathetic to left-wing politics of the 1930’s, but he had no time for Communism as an ideology, finding it far too restrictive and rigid. He wrote to Scottie in 1940: “Communism has become an intensely dogmatic and almost mystical religion...”. (p.105)
While reading the book, I was amazed at how much money Scottie was getting. Her weekly allowance of $13.85 would be $315 in 2024. That’s a good amount of money for a teenager at boarding school/college. Scott sent Scottie $350 for a trip, that would be $8,100 in 2024! I would love it if my parents had ever sent me $8,000 for a trip during college.
Fitzgerald was always recommending books to Scottie. Fitzgerald was an admirer of Joseph Conrad’s writing, as evidenced from this 1939 letter: “Lord Jim is a great book—the first third at least and the conception, though it got lost a little bit in the law-courts of Calcutta or wherever it was. I wonder if you know why it is good?” (p.96) Having recently read Lord Jim, I was struck by Fitzgerald’s mentioning it, and I wonder if Conrad’s use of the partially involved narrator in Lord Jim and Heart of Darkness influenced Fitzgerald’s use of Nick Carraway as a partially involved narrator in The Great Gatsby.
A tidbit that I found especially fascinating was that Fitzgerald had promised to himself “I would never write anything about my own father and mother till they had been at least ten years dead...”. (p.118) Fitzgerald never made it past his self-imposed timeline: his father died in 1931, his mother died in 1936, and Fitzgerald died in 1940. For a writer who mined his own life as much as Fitzgerald did, it’s remarkable how little he wrote about his parents. Reading about his self-imposed timeline, I wonder if this is part of the reason why Fitzgerald wrote about his parents so little. Although I don’t think if Fitzgerald had lived longer he would have written some shocking novel about his parents. Fitzgerald had a reticence when it came to certain aspects of his private life. In his “Crack-Up” essays, for example, as much as he tells the reader about the problems and issues in his life, he doesn’t mention the two largest challenges of his private life: Zelda’s mental illness and his own alcoholism. For some reason, he kept those challenges to himself.
Letters to His Daughter is a fascinating look at F. Scott Fitzgerald during what would be the last years of his life, and the reader cannot help but feel a sadness when Fitzgerald’s life was cut short by a heart attack at age 44.
The letters in this book date from Scottie’s teenage years. After Zelda’s third mental breakdown in 1934, Scott was coming to terms with the fact that Zelda would most likely never be “cured” of her mental illness. Fitzgerald spiraled for a while—the period covered in his “Crack-Up” essays of 1936, but he pulled himself together, got a job as a screenwriter for MGM, and moved to Hollywood in 1937. Scottie was at boarding school, and thus much of Fitzgerald’s parenting was done via letters.
Scott wanted to guide Scottie through these years, as he knew from his own experience how difficult adolescence could be. Fitzgerald had struggled through school, flunking out of Princeton University, forcing him to repeat his junior year. Ultimately, Fitzgerald enlisted in the US Army in 1917 and never completed his college degree.
While Scott is certainly overbearing, he’s also not totally crazy to be so worried about Scottie’s grades. She was kicked out of Ethel Walker’s School after she graduated, while studying for her college board exams.
Fitzgerald writes to Scottie about a dyed blonde streak in her hair, which seems like a ridiculous thing to be concerned about, but he also writes that three people have written him about her hair, which seems equally ridiculous. It’s possible he was exaggerating the number, but someone must have written him about Scottie’s hair, how else could he have known? Yes, he’s being slightly ridiculous, but other people are also being ridiculous by writing to him about Scottie’s hair.
The key to the whole book is Scott’s admitting, “you are so much like me” (p.45). This is exactly why he is pedantic and pestering, because he knew Scottie was so similar to him. And he wanted her to avoid the same mistakes that he made.
In October of 1937, Scott writes: “You have got to devote the best and freshest part of your energies to things that will give you a happy and profitable life. There is no other time but now.” (p.27) That might be a bit much for a 16-year-old to digest, but it’s fantastic advice for anyone, at any age.
Fitzgerald hit upon one of the main themes in his work when he wrote “my generation of radicals and breakers-down never found anything to take the place of the old virtues of work and courage and the old graces of courtesy and politeness.” (p.57) This theme reverberates throughout Fitzgerald’s work: he is eager to see the old Victorian morality die off, but he questions what values people will choose to live by now. Fitzgerald constructed a moral code for himself that did not come from organized religion. Fitzgerald also saw how people who had no moral code floundered without a clear direction.
Even though Fitzgerald, who was raised Catholic, had no use for organized religion, he had high praise for the book of Ecclesiastes, encouraging Scottie to read it. “Remember when you’re reading it that it is one of the top pieces of writing in the world.” (p.64) This is notable as it’s one of the few positive mentions of anything related to religion in Fitzgerald’s writings.
Fitzgerald’s erudition is on full display in his letters—it’s abundantly clear how well-read he was. He writes “certainly you will agree that Marxism does not concern itself with vague sophistries but weds itself to the most practical mechanics of material revolution.” (p.82) You might not expect the author of The Great Gatsby to be so well-versed in Communism, but Fitzgerald was a complicated fellow. That was part of the genius of Fitzgerald; he was able to describe the glittering surfaces and also the rot underneath.
Fitzgerald was sympathetic to left-wing politics of the 1930’s, but he had no time for Communism as an ideology, finding it far too restrictive and rigid. He wrote to Scottie in 1940: “Communism has become an intensely dogmatic and almost mystical religion...”. (p.105)
While reading the book, I was amazed at how much money Scottie was getting. Her weekly allowance of $13.85 would be $315 in 2024. That’s a good amount of money for a teenager at boarding school/college. Scott sent Scottie $350 for a trip, that would be $8,100 in 2024! I would love it if my parents had ever sent me $8,000 for a trip during college.
Fitzgerald was always recommending books to Scottie. Fitzgerald was an admirer of Joseph Conrad’s writing, as evidenced from this 1939 letter: “Lord Jim is a great book—the first third at least and the conception, though it got lost a little bit in the law-courts of Calcutta or wherever it was. I wonder if you know why it is good?” (p.96) Having recently read Lord Jim, I was struck by Fitzgerald’s mentioning it, and I wonder if Conrad’s use of the partially involved narrator in Lord Jim and Heart of Darkness influenced Fitzgerald’s use of Nick Carraway as a partially involved narrator in The Great Gatsby.
A tidbit that I found especially fascinating was that Fitzgerald had promised to himself “I would never write anything about my own father and mother till they had been at least ten years dead...”. (p.118) Fitzgerald never made it past his self-imposed timeline: his father died in 1931, his mother died in 1936, and Fitzgerald died in 1940. For a writer who mined his own life as much as Fitzgerald did, it’s remarkable how little he wrote about his parents. Reading about his self-imposed timeline, I wonder if this is part of the reason why Fitzgerald wrote about his parents so little. Although I don’t think if Fitzgerald had lived longer he would have written some shocking novel about his parents. Fitzgerald had a reticence when it came to certain aspects of his private life. In his “Crack-Up” essays, for example, as much as he tells the reader about the problems and issues in his life, he doesn’t mention the two largest challenges of his private life: Zelda’s mental illness and his own alcoholism. For some reason, he kept those challenges to himself.
Letters to His Daughter is a fascinating look at F. Scott Fitzgerald during what would be the last years of his life, and the reader cannot help but feel a sadness when Fitzgerald’s life was cut short by a heart attack at age 44.
July 3, 2024
Maria Popova has read more ‘letters’ and ‘diaries’ than anyone I know. Perhaps more than anyone—period. (She’s talks about diaries a bit in her wonderful conversation with Krista Tippett from 2015.) Check out her posts on The Marginalian featuring the letters of Mary Wollstonecraft, Bruce Lee, and W.E.B. Dubois. Since the only diaries I’ve ever read are from Anne Frank and Adrian Mole, Age 13 ¾, I decided I needed to go a bit deeper. First I came across this wonderful 'Letter To His 11-Year-Old Daughter In Camp' by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and then I went ahead and ordered the whole book! It’s out of print so I ordered a used copy online. It’s stamped “Chesterfield-Marlboro Technical Education Center Library” and I can see from the borrower card at the back that it was signed out by Barbara Brewer on March 1, 1972, Joyce Miles on March 31, 1983, and seven times in between. Written mostly to his then 17-19 year old daughter Frances—who he calls “Pie,” Darlin’,” “Darling,” “Dearest,” “Scottina,” and “Scottie”—while she was at Vassar, all the way up till he died of a heart attack at age 44 just weeks before she graduated. In the flap copy the publishers say Fitzgerald was “trying to maintain his integrity and hope as a writer to be both father and mother, mainly by long distance, to his only child.” Writing from MGM Studios in Hollywood on November 25, 1938 he writes “I never blame failure—there are too many complicated situations in life—but I am absolutely merciless toward lack of effort.” There’s a wonderfully erudite 1930s father-daughter tone throughout like when he writes “Your letter was a masterpiece of polite evasion” or cautions her about working too hard at the school play: “Amateur work is fun but the price for it is just simply tremendous. In the end you get ‘Thank you’ and that’s all.” But the best letter in the lot might be from his daughter! She writes the 'Introduction' and begins by saying “In my next incarnation, I may not choose again to be the daughter of a Famous Author. The pay is good, and there are fringe benefits, but the working conditions are too hazardous. People who live entirely by the fertility of their imaginations are fascinating, brilliant, and often charming, but they should be sat next to at dinner parties, not lived with.” She drops melancholic-twinged observations. “Good writers are essentially muckrackers, exposing the scandalous condition of the human soul.” And “I was an imaginary daughter, as fictional as one of his early heroines.” But eventually, generously, concluding: “Listen carefully to my father, now. Because what he offers is good advice, and I’m sure if he hadn’t been my own father that I loved and ‘hated’ simultaneously, I would have profited by it and be the best educated, most attractive, most successful, most faultless woman on earth today.—Scottie Lanahan” She sounds pretty faultless to me! Published in 1963 with Scottie’s intro added in 1965. A wonderful peek into a fascinating private relationship.
December 6, 2024
Dimes y diretes, reprimendas, nuevos códigos postales, nuevas y pasadas anécdotas, vivencias, enfermedades, cotilleos del Hollywood de Joan Crawford, nostalgias, rebeldías de chica adolescente de familia de bien, algo criticable sobre Zelda y muchos consejos sobre asignaturas. “Cartas a mi hija” me ha encantado.
Son cartas que envía a su hija, Frances Scott Fitzgerald –aka Scottie – mientras está en la universidad. Y, como en cualquier relación paterno filial, se envían esperando una contestación que al lector nunca le llega; Scottie somos todos en este caso. Igualmente, la conversación no queda coja.
Más allá de los textos y el ingenio de Scott Fitzgerald se esconde – aunque siempre fue muy visible – todo un personaje: alcohólico empedernido, intelectual, sobrado, pedante y genio locuaz. No he leído ninguno de sus libros (y ahora necesito hacerlo), pero descubrir el personaje se me hacía casi más necesario que conocer al genio de las letras. Y es que la personalidad atrapa más que el intelecto.
Inmiscuirse en esta serie de cartas, fechadas entre 1933 y 1940 (cuando fallece) ha sido una maravilla. Dejando de lado la idiosincrasia y el carácter a veces polémico del autor, ha sido una lectura exquisita que me ha ayudado a comprender más su mundo, sus inquietudes y su rol como padre y como hombre del siglo XX.
Es un libro ameno, controvertido y original. He estado leyendo reseñas estos días y considero fundamental ir con la mente limpia, libre y predispuesta a toparse con frases y episodios que no gusten del todo o sean algo polémicos, pero lo cortés no quita lo valiente. La Literatura, al igual que Scott Fitzgerald, se disfruta más sin barreras mentales y, para quienes acostumbramos a vivir en abismos (mentales o no), este tipo de lecturas son magníficas.
Son cartas que envía a su hija, Frances Scott Fitzgerald –aka Scottie – mientras está en la universidad. Y, como en cualquier relación paterno filial, se envían esperando una contestación que al lector nunca le llega; Scottie somos todos en este caso. Igualmente, la conversación no queda coja.
Más allá de los textos y el ingenio de Scott Fitzgerald se esconde – aunque siempre fue muy visible – todo un personaje: alcohólico empedernido, intelectual, sobrado, pedante y genio locuaz. No he leído ninguno de sus libros (y ahora necesito hacerlo), pero descubrir el personaje se me hacía casi más necesario que conocer al genio de las letras. Y es que la personalidad atrapa más que el intelecto.
Inmiscuirse en esta serie de cartas, fechadas entre 1933 y 1940 (cuando fallece) ha sido una maravilla. Dejando de lado la idiosincrasia y el carácter a veces polémico del autor, ha sido una lectura exquisita que me ha ayudado a comprender más su mundo, sus inquietudes y su rol como padre y como hombre del siglo XX.
Es un libro ameno, controvertido y original. He estado leyendo reseñas estos días y considero fundamental ir con la mente limpia, libre y predispuesta a toparse con frases y episodios que no gusten del todo o sean algo polémicos, pero lo cortés no quita lo valiente. La Literatura, al igual que Scott Fitzgerald, se disfruta más sin barreras mentales y, para quienes acostumbramos a vivir en abismos (mentales o no), este tipo de lecturas son magníficas.
April 25, 2020
Cartas a mi hija es un lúcido compendio epistolar de Francis Scott Fitzgerald para su hija Scottie, cartas escritas entre 1933 y 1940 en las que se atisba no solo una relación de proximidad y distancia entre padre e hija, sino también la voz interior del escritor en su oficio cotidiano. Con un registro auténtico, original y directo, Fitzgerald le habla a su hija con el afecto característico de un padre para abordar temas como la escritura, la ética del trabajo y una invitación para afrontar la vida con entereza.
Sobre la escritura, el genio se devela al declarar que el ejercicio de la escritura es un oficio solitario y de disciplina, “nadie se ha hecho escritor por el simple deseo de serlo” (Fitzgerald 36). La posibilidad de la escritura reside en la urgencia de poder contar algo, que a medida que avanza encuentra su propio modo de conformarse, su estilo. Sin embargo, hace hincapié en que la única manera de alcanzar una posición notable consiste en la dedicación, el esfuerzo genuino y el trabajo constante. El entusiasmo, la pasión y la entrega al trabajo determinan el camino por el que la vida sigue su curso, Fitzgerald señala: “nunca he recriminado a nadie sus fracasos –en la vida abundan las situaciones complicadas-, pero soy totalmente despiadado con la falta de esfuerzo.” (Fitzgerald 105).
En medio de circunstancias adversas, como la enfermedad de su esposa y madre de Scottie: Zalda; así como sus altos y bajos económicos y profesionales en Hollywood, el escritor deja ver a través de sus cartas una profunda sabiduría para sobrellevar la tragedia con dignidad y con alegría. En Cada una de sus epístolas es una invitación a conservar una fuerza motriz interior que empuja a la vida, forjar la fuerza de carácter, la imaginación y la exaltación hacia una vida con sentido más allá de las comodidades materiales inmediatas y de lo fútil de la existencia.
Esta es una lectura obligatoria para quienes desean encontrar un camino en las letras, porque cada página revela secretos literarios, recomendaciones sobre lecturas y claves para la escritura. También es indispensable para aquellos que buscan consuelo y formas legítimas de establecerse en la existencia. Toda vez que este consiste en un maravillo y breve tratado ético. Finalmente, esta es una lectura para quienes busquen, como Fitzgerald, “hacer dela vida una posibilidad seductora”.
Sobre la escritura, el genio se devela al declarar que el ejercicio de la escritura es un oficio solitario y de disciplina, “nadie se ha hecho escritor por el simple deseo de serlo” (Fitzgerald 36). La posibilidad de la escritura reside en la urgencia de poder contar algo, que a medida que avanza encuentra su propio modo de conformarse, su estilo. Sin embargo, hace hincapié en que la única manera de alcanzar una posición notable consiste en la dedicación, el esfuerzo genuino y el trabajo constante. El entusiasmo, la pasión y la entrega al trabajo determinan el camino por el que la vida sigue su curso, Fitzgerald señala: “nunca he recriminado a nadie sus fracasos –en la vida abundan las situaciones complicadas-, pero soy totalmente despiadado con la falta de esfuerzo.” (Fitzgerald 105).
En medio de circunstancias adversas, como la enfermedad de su esposa y madre de Scottie: Zalda; así como sus altos y bajos económicos y profesionales en Hollywood, el escritor deja ver a través de sus cartas una profunda sabiduría para sobrellevar la tragedia con dignidad y con alegría. En Cada una de sus epístolas es una invitación a conservar una fuerza motriz interior que empuja a la vida, forjar la fuerza de carácter, la imaginación y la exaltación hacia una vida con sentido más allá de las comodidades materiales inmediatas y de lo fútil de la existencia.
Esta es una lectura obligatoria para quienes desean encontrar un camino en las letras, porque cada página revela secretos literarios, recomendaciones sobre lecturas y claves para la escritura. También es indispensable para aquellos que buscan consuelo y formas legítimas de establecerse en la existencia. Toda vez que este consiste en un maravillo y breve tratado ético. Finalmente, esta es una lectura para quienes busquen, como Fitzgerald, “hacer dela vida una posibilidad seductora”.
October 31, 2023
Blessed to have found this gem of a book (or rather, a collection of precious letters). Not only did I get to know more about Fitzgerald’s way of thinking and points of view but I also got to ‘know’ him as a loving father who was always ready to give his all for the family, for his little Scottie.
It was poignant though, thinking about his wilting years and how the correspondence suddenly stopped in 1940, just before Christmas… Scottie was only 19 at the time.
Ps: prepared myself a list of amazing works of literature recommended by the great F.S. Fitzgerald! Cant wait to dive right in!
Ps2: i have the physical and mental urge to read Tender is the Night right away!!
It was poignant though, thinking about his wilting years and how the correspondence suddenly stopped in 1940, just before Christmas… Scottie was only 19 at the time.
Ps: prepared myself a list of amazing works of literature recommended by the great F.S. Fitzgerald! Cant wait to dive right in!
Ps2: i have the physical and mental urge to read Tender is the Night right away!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 15, 2019
El libro muestra el vínculo de Fitzgerald con su hija durante los últimos años en el colegio y su inicio en la universidad, que coinciden con una etapa donde está económicamente ajustado y literariamente en bajada. La introducción de su hija es hermosa y da contexto a las cartas. En ellas hay consejos literarios y los deseos de un padre para su hija. Es un libro muy interesante para quienes quieren conocer un poco más del universo de Fitzgerald.
September 21, 2019
A few interesting sections. A lot of insight into the mind of the man himself, and also into the time and situation in which he lived.
September 18, 2013
"A los universitarios (mis dos hijas incluidas):
No ignoréis un buen consejo, a menos que proceda de vuestros padres. Los padres de los demás bien podrían estar en lo cierto.
A los padres (pobrecillas criaturas en apuros):
No echéis perlas a los puercos, a menos que estéis seguros de que la puerca o puerco en cuestión las guardará en el cajón inferior derecho."
Bonita recopilación de cartas que contiene algunas de las frases más famosas del escritor Scott Fitzgerald. Con prólogo de su hija, es una cariñosa mirada al escritor padre, marido, americano y persona por encima de personaje.
No ignoréis un buen consejo, a menos que proceda de vuestros padres. Los padres de los demás bien podrían estar en lo cierto.
A los padres (pobrecillas criaturas en apuros):
No echéis perlas a los puercos, a menos que estéis seguros de que la puerca o puerco en cuestión las guardará en el cajón inferior derecho."
Bonita recopilación de cartas que contiene algunas de las frases más famosas del escritor Scott Fitzgerald. Con prólogo de su hija, es una cariñosa mirada al escritor padre, marido, americano y persona por encima de personaje.
September 8, 2015
me tardé mucho en terminar este libro porque se me hizo tedioso leerlo, las cartas apuntaban siempre a lo mismo y scottie no me simpatizó del todo. sin embargo, los consejos de fitzgerald son rescatables y aplicables perfectamente para una muchacha de hoy en día, a pesar de que hayan sido escritos alrededor de los años 40.
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