The most promising—and the most disappointing—fragment

November 10, 2024 2:04 AM

When Fitzgerald died of a heart attack on the morning of December 21, 1940, he had written 44,000 words of a planned 50,000. It seems likely that the final version would have been longer, because Fitzgerald had covered only a little more than half of his outline. (By comparison, Gatsby, one of the great short novels of the Western canon, is 48,852 words.) He intended for Stahr to die at the end of the novel, symbolically defeated by his rivals and leaving his vision for the studio unfulfilled. This, for Fitzgerald, is what happens to extraordinary personalities: they are crushed by the coarseness and venality of the world. from Scott Fitzgerald’s Last Act [City Journal]
posted by chavenet (5 comments total)

Fitzgerald had lived unwisely. He was also the victim of a shift in his country’s politics and culture.

You and me both, F. Scott, you and me both.
posted by otherchaz at 3:31 AM on November 10 [20 favorites]

I never know what to make of magazines like the City Journal. On the one hand they publish thoughtful, empathetic cultural criticism, and on the other they're Breitbart News for people with masters' degrees.

Either way, Jonathan Clarke is a good literary critic, but I kinda wish he'd think about society and politics with the same sort of empathy he brings to his essays on literature. Unfortunately, it's usually the other way around, like in a lead-footed piece about Annie Ernaux where he treats writing about personal trauma as merely an effort to shock conservative sensibilities. But at his best, such as in this piece about Fitzgerald's Last Tycoon, he's able to draw forth something both surprising and true about books and their authors.
posted by Kattullus at 5:52 AM on November 10 [9 favorites]

I just finished reading "Tender is the Night" this week. It was tough going in the beginning but I was soon captivated. I think if I lived another 100 years I would not be capable of writing a single paragraph that would compare to anything he has written.
posted by night_train at 11:13 AM on November 10 [5 favorites]

I really enjoy a collection of letters to and from Sara and Gerald Murphy, who were Fitzgerald’s models for the Divers in Tender is the Night. Lots from, too, and about Zelda and Scott as well. It’s called Letters from the Lost Generation.
posted by PussKillian at 7:27 PM on November 10 [2 favorites]

FABER AND GWYER LTD. Publishers 24 Russell Square, London, W.C.1. 31st December, 1925
F. Scott Fitzgerald, Esqre., % Charles Scribners & Sons, New York City.

Dear Mr. Scott Fitzgerald,
The Great Gatsby with your charming and overpowering inscription arrived the very morning that I was leaving in some haste for a sea voyage advised by my doctor. I therefore left it behind and only read it on my return a few days ago. I have, however, now read it three times. I am not in the least influenced by your remark about myself when I say that it has interested and excited me more than any new novel I have seen, either English or American, for a number of years.

When I have time I should like to write to you more fully and tell you exactly why it seems to me such a remarkable book. In fact it seems to me to be the first step that American fiction has taken since Henry James….

By the way, if you ever have any short stories which you think would be suitable for the Criterion I wish you would let me see them.

With many thanks, I am,
Yours very truly, T. S. Eliot

P.S. By a coincidence Gilbert Seldes in his New York Chronicle in the Criterion for January 14th has chosen your book for particular mention.


Dear Tom.
in the dim afternoon light, the doctor's office
lime green hue diffused in the ceramic basins with a shine of small instruments tucked away in drawers that have no name merely a number. The vortex of emotion to follow the sea elsewhere, advice, Odysseus takes too long to write, and Hector seems more appropriate for the fading intention, the mere description turn narrative this combination, its steam and ear work, Binary ledgers in history repeated, tapped perhaps this is why it's written down as a reminder of things to come rather than things that have passed like a banker burning through cash. The ages time won't stop, Tom, think of a photonic river and how to out distance the time keeper. It feels busted, how can that be, shave anytime, new brown shiney shoes wearing out egregious pavement. Hollywood's calling for the movie rights.
How's Viv
love, Scott
PS
you want money and love, for a story.
posted by clavdivs at 9:28 PM on November 10 [3 favorites]