اسکات فیتز جرالد

Twentieth Century Views

by Arthur Mizener, هوشنگ رهنما (Translator)

The unending fascination of F. Scott Fitzgerald lies partly in the fact that his tragic life was like the plots of his own novels. Many famous and brilliant writers have led withdrawn, prosaic, uneventful lives; but Fitzgerald and his wife, Zelda, existed almost wholly in the real, external world--active, social, sadly typical of that frantic time in which he experienced instant success and fame, followed by a long decline and failure. Arthur Mizener is well known as the author of the first full-scale biography of Fitzgerald. In this book, Professor Mizener looks at the facts of Fitzgerald's short life, offering insights into the subtle way in which actual events were transformed and woven into the novels. With the aid of contemporary photographs from all stages of Fitzgerald's career he tells the human story and provides an important assessment of Fitzgerald's achievement.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Essays, Literary Criticism, Classics

153 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1963

About the author

Arthur Moore Mizener was an American professor of English, literary critic, and biographer. After graduating from Princeton, Mizener obtained his master's degree from Harvard. From 1951 until his retirement in 1975, he was Mellon Foundation Professor of English at Cornell University. In 1951, Mizener published the first biography of Jazz Age writer F. Scott Fitzgerald titled The Far Side of Paradise.
In addition to authoring the first biography of Fitzgerald, Mizener proposed the now popular interpretations of Fitzgerald's magnum opus The Great Gatsby as a criticism of the American Dream and the character of Jay Gatsby as the dream's false prophet. He popularized these interpretations in a series of talks titled "The Great Gatsby and the American Dream."
Although Mizener's biography became a commercial success, Fitzgerald's friends such as critic Edmund Wilson believed the work distorted Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald's relationship and personalities for the worse. Consequently, scholars deemed Andrew Turnbull's 1962 biography Scott Fitzgerald to be a significant correction of the biographical record.
In 1971, Mizener released a biography about writer Ford Madox Ford titled The Saddest Story: A Biography of Ford Madox Ford that received critical acclaim but did not achieve the same commercial success. He later wrote a supplemental Fitzgerald biography titled Scott Fitzgerald And His World.

Reviews

[Lily Kauffman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I mostly enjoyed this because it had pictures. Honestly, I just kind of skim read it.

[Ferit Behrat · Rating 5 out of 5]

کتاب، یک زندگی‌نامه‌ی مختصر و مفید بود. اطلاعات خوبی از زندگی نویسنده می‌داد و رمان‌ها و داستان‌ها رو طبق ترتیب زمانی، همراه با اتفاقاتی که موقع نوشتن اونها برای نویسنده افتاده آورده بود. تصاویر خیلی خوبی هم داشت.
این کتاب یکی از سری کتاب‌هایی هستش که نشر هرمس در مورد نویسنوه‌ها منتشر می‌کنه و یک جور زندگی‌نامه و توضیح آثار هست. من سه کتاب دیگه از این سری رو (ارنست همینگوی، ویرجینیا وولف و جیمز جویس) رو خوندم و همه به همین خوبی و مفیدی بوده. امیدوارم نشر این سری ادامه پیدا کنه

[Maria Almaguer · Rating 1 out of 5]

Made the mistake of thinking this would be enlightening reading about the works of one of my favorite authors. But it was much too dense for my taste, at least at this point in my life. I'd much rather re-read Fitzgerald than this.

[Darinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting.

[Bahman Bahman · Rating 2 out of 5]

فیتزجرالد در زمان مرگش در سال ۱۹۴۰، دچار فقر و گمنامی بود اما با گذشت چندین دهه، آمریکا با ساخت اقتباس‌هایی از رمان برجسته او نامش را دوباره به اوج رساند. فیلم سینمایی گتسبی بزرگ که سال ۲۰۱۳ توسط باز لورمن ‌ساخته شد و ستاره‌هایی چون لئوناردو دی‌کاپریو و کری مولیگان در آن ایفای نقش کردند، باعث شد رمان فیتزجرالد باز هم به فهرست پرفروش‌ترین آثار ادبیات داستانی بازگردد.

کمتر از یک سال پس از اکران فیلم اقتباسی گتسبی بزرگ، قبر نویسنده این رمان معروف به جاذبه جدید گردشگری تبدیل شد. هزاران گردشگر از سراسر جهان با تماشای فیلم گتسبی بزرگ و پس از نمایش آن در افتتاحیه جشنواره کن، به قبرستان شهر راکویل رفته و با سنگ قبر فیتزجرالد که جمله پایانی گتسبی بزرگ نیز روی آن نقش بسته، عکس یادگاری گرفتند.

رمان‌های کمی مثل گتسبی بزرگ خواننده را این‌چنین در فضای ماوراءطبیعی خود درگیر می‌کنند. زندگی جی. گتسبی استعاره‌ای از خودسازی ملی آمریکایی‌ها و همچنین پوچی رویای آمریکایی است. این کتاب می‌گوید که زندگی چیزی فراتر از پول و ثروت است و این دوران اوج همچون عصر جَز روزی به پایان می‌رسد.

اما مسلما ذهن فیتزجرالد در زمان نگارش این رمان، کمترین نزدیکی را به این ایده داشته. او قصد داشت قصه‌ای بگوید و خود را آماده چنین کاری می‌دید: «قدرتی عظیم در خودم حس می‌کنم، بیشتر از هر زمان دیگری.» او این جملات را سال ۱۹۲۴ برای ناشرش نوشت و نتیجه تلاش‌هایش رمانی شد روان و غنایی که خواندنش آسان است و فراموش کردنش، دشوار.

[Vincent · Rating 3 out of 5]

I believe the photos were more interesting then the sparse biographical information. I do appreciate how the author ties out autobiographical events to specific stories and moments in novels of Fitzgerald's writing. I would like to see more and have time to read the stories and novels again. I still need to read "The Beautiful and the Damned" and about half of the author's short stories though. This books makes we read more, and definitive biographies on Fitzgerald, and the other three of the early 20th's Four Horsemen of American Literature: Hemingway, Faulkner, and Steinbeck.

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

So glad I re-read this as there was SO much I understood better with more age and experience under my belt. Too varied to really review comprehensively, but it really gave me a good overview of the meaning of Fitzgerald's work, in particular in relation to Gatsby.

[O · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was of no great surprise to me that the life of Mr. Fitzgerald was greatly reflected in all of his novels. Dabbling in the high societies and rummaging around with women, this all highlighted his life and his life's work.

[Jocelyn Harvey]

One of my grad school mentor's best books.

[Alexis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found his life so fascinating! It was such an intriguing novel and a thrilling ride to dig into more of the life of this all time American literary hero!

[E.J. Cullen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Leaden prose, but lots of pictures.