fast classics for literary wimps ! discussion

Hello- Put your comments about F. Scott Fitgerald's "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" down below!

here is a link to the story:

http://www.readbookonline.net/read/69...

I don't know as I want to start the "discussion" -- but I will at least say that I finished the story today and greatly enjoyed it.

Thanks Aniesa- here's my rather lengthy review: (spoilers in the 2nd half)

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a short story by F Scott Fitzgerald (writer of The Great Gatsby). It was made into a fairly successful movie a few years ago, so I think most people know the general premise which is that it's a story about a man who is born old and goes through life aging backwards. Overall, with a great narrative voice.

Benjamin Button is a fairly standard-sized short story. I read the whole thing in about 25 min. and I have to say very much enjoyed reading it. There were a number of things in the story that interested me.

**Warning spoilers below**

The historical perspective: the story itself was published in 1922 and spans the time period from about 1860 to 1930. So it kind of feels like watching an old black-and-white movie maybe listening to an old scratchy record. There are a lot of references to "society" (as in the historical upper middle class of the east coast), a few uncomfortable racist references, and of course no sex whatsoever which leads me to one of the stories strangest points, if Benjamin Button was really born as a full-sized 70-year-old man, one can only imagine that the labor was something straight out of hell. Fitzgerald dodges the whole issue by not having Benjamin's mother play any part in the story whatsoever.
Despite the fact it is written in 1922, some of the cultural references, like Yale-Harvard football games or references to the East Coast paparazzi (the mystery of Benjamin occasionally makes headlines and sparks all kinds of media-fueled rumors) , still feel fresh. I guess sports will always be sports, and the media will always be the media.

One interesting side effect of having somebody play with the idea of lifespan and mortality (by creating a reverse lifespan) is that the story made me think about death in a different way. And I found it interesting that the first part of the story with Benjamin as a "newly born" 70-year-old man was quite charming and sweet and made me happy (especially in a scene where he pals around and smokes cigars with his own grandfather- the two "old" men get along quite well after the grandfather gets over the initial shock of having a grandson his own age) , but the end of the story which takes place after he's regressed to five years of age and when he continues to regress (in a way that reminds me of the famously bitter-sweet short story, "Flowers for Algernon" )to the point of being a newborn and then dying made me sad.

My edition of the story has an introduction by F Scott Fitzgerald in which he mentions that he wrote the story based on the idea that it's unfair that people should have to live the least happy part of their lives (being old in their bodies) at the end, suggesting that -from his perspective- it would be more pleasing to die as a child, in the time when our lives are simple and fun. Paradoxically, reading the story had the exact opposite effect on me, and when Benjamin dies in the body of the newborn baby, it hit me pretty hard, and made me feel like its more poetically just to die when our bodies have weakened with age rather than when our bodies hold all the promise of being young.

From a strictly personal perspective, now that I've turned 40 and have my own kids, reading the story made me think about death in a fairly intense way. Not necessarily in a bad way, but definitely in an intense way, and it made me realize that whereas it used to think of death as being some abstract thing that possibly lived in Antarctica, it now feels like death lives about two towns away, and sometimes I pass him on the highway.

Wonderful review, Armand. I knew it would be best to leave the first review to such capable hands!

I enjoyed thinking about how a person would spend the years that he was youthful in body had he been able to live his earlier years with an adult's capacity for thought the way Benjamin did. What would someone do differently in their teenage years or twenties having had the benefit of an adult perspective prior to reaching them? To me, Benjamin seemed better able to fully live the "best" years of his physical life than most, and then almost wistfully slipped into oblivion as he became a child, rather than having to ponder his spent life with the adult ability to reflect and regret. I suppose I agree with F. Scott Fitzgerald in the introduction you mentioned. I actually saw this movie when it came out on my birthday and found it to be a perfect birthday movie for that reason.

Thanks Aniesa- I liked your ideas on the story. Benjamin Button would definitely be a trippy movie to see on one's birthday.

I just finished it (a little late, I know). I enjoyed it, but continually got distracted by wondering about the biology of how it could happen, especially the birth. In Mork and Mindy, they had Jonathan Winters hatch out of a giant egg. :)

I loved some of the early phrasing in the story, especially:

...Outrageous!" He snapped the last word out in almost one syllable...

Clank! The basin clattered to the floor and rolled in the direction of the stairs. Clank! Clank! It began a methodical descent as if sharing in the general terror which this gentleman provoked.
...
Clank! The basin had reached the first floor.

Having "outrageous" uttered as almost one syllable is such a great way to suggest the character's mood. And I loved the spacing of the basin clattering down the stairs.

The story reminded me that we're only adults once, but baby's twice. Growing old isn't that different than growing young. His loss of his memories by becoming a baby could have been similarly described if he'd lost his memories to dementia.

All around, a great choice.

Thanks for your notes Kevin !