A CUT GLASS BOWL (short story) by F. Scott Fitzgerald

I must say, after reading The Great Gatsby by the same author, I wasn't exactly looking forward to reading Fitzgerald's short stories, however I must say that I have been pleasantly surprised by A Cut Glass Bowl and I have really enjoyed reading this first short story.

The story covers about twenty years of a woman named Evelyn and the events of her life over this period of time. We also get insight into her husband although this is usually negative considering the circumstances or her affair in her younger years at the start of their marriage. Although her children do get mentioned in the story, we hear little about them far from the few details about Julie's accident.

I think that this is a truly is a fine example of a short story. It has everything that a novel should have but in far fewer words. There is love, disappointment, fear, drunkenness, sadness, anger, hate, awkwardness. In just a few short pages you are over loaded with so many different emotions and feelings that all add up to create this incredible story that flows brilliantly.

One of the things I find interesting about this tale is the way that Evelyn describes her house maids. Not only does she put them down "well those swedes-", she doesn't even finish her sentence, assuming that the audience share her disgust at the maids, but also that way that Fitzgerald writes their dialogue makes the maids sound almost unintelligent and very simple minded. Through this I feel that the author is making a statement or a suggestion about society at this period of time in history (beginning to the 20th century). I feel that the author is trying to tells that immigrants from central and eastern Europe are looked down upon by these upper-middle class Americans and possible seen as inferior, they failed to move to America and make their fortune when they had the chance so now they are having to wait on the people who beat them too it. Even when referring to western European places such as Ireland, although she describes them as being good maids and being good at what they do, she is still assigning them to remain as nothing but house maids.

I thought that the ending of the short story was incredibly effective. Not once was it mentioned in the text that Donald (Evelyn's son) had died and yet through the way the text has been written and the actions and thoughts of Evelyn we see very clearly what the situation is. Throughout the story it is fascinating how the thing that is supposed to be a wonderful, beautiful gift that is displayed for everyone to see and yet to is the source of all Evelyn's problems.

Overall I felt that 'A Cut Glass Bowl' had everything that I needed it to have to be a complete, entertaining, quick and intelligent read. I'm not a hundred percent sure what else I can write about to be honest, other that during the chapter describing the punch party, I genuinely felt myself getting more and more anxious on Evelyn's behalf which I believe is a sign that Fitzgerald has done his job properly. These are just my first impressions of the story as a whole, until I have studied it in deeper detail I think I have summed up my feelings about the story.

THE GREAT GATSBY by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Well I finally managed to finish this book. I can't say that it is one of my favorite books that I've read and I doubt it will be one that I read again in a hurry.

On the whole I found it difficult to find any real plot at all, beneath the mass of description. Although I cannot fault the description used by Fitzgerald. Although I found that in many places it was harsh and sometimes almost vulgar, I thought it did a lot to reflect on Nick's character. When Nick says 'I am inclined to reserve all judgment', and then follows it up with page upon page of his opinion of people, it really goes to show how judgmental Nick really it. I felt that Fitzgerald got himself so lost and so deep in his excellent description that it's almost like he forgot to write a plot to the book and I think had it had a more solid plot then it would have made for an incredible book.

Towards the end some plot did begin to develop rather than Nick telling stories in between talking about himself and other characters, however I felt a little disappointed that this plot didn't come into the novel sooner. When I was reading it, it felt a little bit rushed and it think it had potential for Fitzgerald to do so much more with it, and I fear that had I not been reading this for my English Course then I may well have stopped reading long before the story really, truly got going.

Initially I thought that I liked Daisy the best out of all the characters however, this opinion has indeed changed. By the end of the novel, I can now say that I don't really like any of the characters at all. The only person in the book that I come anywhere close to liking is Gatsby and even then I spent most of the novel angry and frustrated with him because he was completely blind to the fact that he is such a great fool. I disliked Jordan from the start of the novel and although the initial harshness fell away as her character developed, I still felt uneasy when other characters were around her and at the end I see that I had good reason for this. Personally I felt that she behaved despicably towards Nick.

I feel that The Great Gatsby does portray a fairly accurate picture of 1920's Eastern America, even if it is all though the eyes of one upper-class individual. However no matter where you look, most stories are told from one point of view and that is what makes to warm to the characters and forces you to side with them. I thought it was nice to finally have a book that gives the upper-class perspective on things. I've found that many books set in this era tend to be about the struggles of the lower-classes and how difficult things were for them, so in that respect I did enjoy reading from a different view point. Also I thought the author also did a good job in presenting the difference between women in the different classes, e.g. Daisy and Mertyl.

All in all this book didn't live up to my expectations and left me feeling a little disappointed and I found myself having to plow through it to finish it. However there are indeed a number of good elements and once you sit down and start to analyse it there is a lot to this book. A good book to study for an English course, but certainly not one that I would choose to read for pleasure.

THE GREAT GATSBY - F. Scott Fitzgerald (Initial Thoughts)

So far, I have only read the first chapter of the Great Gatsby and already I am feeling a number of different feelings about it. The Great Gatsby, has always been a book that I have considered to be a classic and when I found out that I would be studying it I was more than I got quite excited at the prospect of reading it.

Personally I found it a little difficult to plow through the first couple of pages. As a reader I struggle to listen to a narrator ramble on about their environment before the actual story starts. I prefer to learn about this bit by bit as we progress through. However now that I have made it through the rest of the first chapter and the narrator has actually stated recalling the story, I am hoping that it will continue to be easier to read through than the beginning.

In terms of character's, I seem to have taken an immediate liking to Daisy, which is very different to my immediate dislike of Tom and Miss Baker. I think the thing I like about Daisy so much, is that right from the moment you first meet her, you know she is hiding something, but not hiding something sinister as such, however I feel that this makes her a more real character which I felt more able to connect to. Tom and Miss Baker, in my mind seemed to good to be true and too far removed from myself for me to be able to form any really connections or judgments on them, however I feel that this may be beneficial later on in the book.

One line in this first chapter really stood out to me as a little odd but at the same time, rather intriguing. It's when he talks about visiting old friend whom he didn't know particularly well. This just didn't seem right to me that he should refer to someone whom he didn't know very well, as an old friend, who is someone you have known for a long time, have learnt a lot about and generally grown rather close to.

I cannot say that I am head over heels in excitement about ready the rest of this book, but I can see that it has a lot of potential and I therefore cannot deny it the chance to prove its brilliance.