5. The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button And Six Other Short Stories - F. Scott Fitzgerald (07.02.09-10.02.09)
Full grown with a long, smoke-coloured beard, requiring the services of a cane and fonder of cigars than warm milk, Benjamin Button is a very curious baby indeed. And, as Benjamin becomes increasingly youthful with the passing years, his family wonders why he persists in the embarrassing folly of living in reverse. In this imaginative fable of ageing and the other stories collected here - including "The Cut-Glass Bowl" in which an ill-meant gift haunts a family's misfortunes, "The Four Fists" where a man's life shaped by a series of punches to his face, and the revelry, mobs and anguish of "May Day" - F. Scott Fitzgerald displays his unmatched gift as a writer of short stories.
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button - A 28 page short story that adds little to the blurb, the reader learns little more. Although the writing style was descriptive for the most part, the story flows as expected, with ease and at a quick pace. Ultimately a very sad tale about a lonely individual who is unlike anyone else. Fitzgerald includes a touch of unexpected, sweet humour within the first few pages but this doesn't last. By far the best story in this collection of his works and well worth a quick read. 8/10
Head And Shoulders - Another relatively sweet story with a very basic moral that is obvious throughout; how love can change people and make them act in unexpected ways. A little confusing in parts and fairly average. 5/10
The Cut-Glass Bowl - The third story in the collection took far too long to reach any climax. Even with the blurb as a guide, it seemed largely pointless. The writing style switched between fairly engaging to downright boring. 4/10
The Four Fists - A story about a man who's life is altered by a number of punches to the face where he basically learns a 'life lesson' from each. The introduction was intriguing and made the reader wish to know more about the character. The idea is a little predictable but written well. 6/10
May Day - The longest story in the book provides the most character depth and exploration. Tells the story of several characters lives post war and all their many perspectives. Their lives all happen to be intertwined in ways. Fitzgerald tended to go off on descriptive tangents which tended to be a little distracting from the story. 5/10
'O Russet Witch' and Crazy Sunday - Placed together as they are both equally the worst out of the collection. As the reader, I had little to no idea what the point in either of the stories was and both seemed like a waste of time. 2/10
Overall, I would only recommend the book to fans of Fitzgerald, who find his style appealing and enjoy short stories. His plot and descriptions at times are incredibly tedious and seemingly pointless. The writing style was constantly switching; at times it was an intriguing page turner but then at the most part, it was a skim read due to boredom. The book had the feel of an academic text which begs to be analyzed but ultimately felt like a compulsory read, rather than one for enjoyment.
Having said that, The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button is above average and fairly enjoyable so that would be a recommendation.
4/10