This Side Of Paradise

Book Description

Something wicked this way comes; in this case it's high schooler Jack Barrett's father, whose inherent drive for perfection has spiraled into a raging obsession ever since he began working for the mysterious Eden Corporation. When his father forcibly relocates the family to Paradise, a village that is literally owned by Eden's enigmatic CEO, Jack uncovers a sinister plot that threatens the lives of everyone he loves. Delving even further into the secrets of the village, he soon learns just how high the price for perfection can be . . . and to what lengths some people are willing to go to obtain it.

Customer Reviews:

Courtesy of Teens Read Too.......2007-03-25

Jack's father has always been a perfectionist, but lately, his need to control every aspect of the family's life has stepped up a notch. Mr. Barrett, Jack's dad, has been offered a wonderful opportunity with the company he works for, the Eden Corporation. Eden owns a gated village in Paradise, a nearby town, where only the most successful and devoted employees are invited to live. The village is all-inclusive and there is no need to ever leave. The village even has a school for the children of the employees.

Mr. Barrett's family isn't handling the news of the move very well. His wife has been drinking more and more since Mr. Barrett's controlling nature has intensified. Troy, the youngest child, has used his rebellious attitude to spark conflict within the household. Gram, Mr. Barrett's mother and the boys' biggest protector, doesn't mince words when it comes to how crazy she thinks moving the whole family to a strange community is, and Jack, the oldest son, tries to keep the peace by attempting to please his father and trying to keep Troy under control.

Eventually, the day comes and the family packs up and moves to Paradise. Jack's mother has gone ahead in order to get the house ready so it is just Mr. Barrett, Jack, Troy, and Gram following the moving van. Once they reach the entry gate, Jack sees a site that leaves him speechless. Jori is a beautiful girl that works at the entry gate of Paradise and a girl that he definitely wants to get to know better, but for some reason, Mr. Barrett doesn't want him to have anything to do with her. His exact words are, "She doesn't belong in Paradise." This statement is just one of the things Jack, Troy, and Gram consider strange when they get settled in their new community.

Everyone seems too happy, their mother hasn't been seen since they've arrived, and Mr. Eden, the owner of the Eden Corporation, has been sneaking into the Barrett's house at night and taking Troy somewhere after knocking him out so he won't wake up. The boys, with a lot of help from Gram and Jori, attempt to get to the bottom of all the mysteries and find a way out of Paradise.

THIS SIDE OF PARADISE is a science fiction thriller reminiscent of The Stepford Wives. It was awarded the Hal Clement Award for best science fiction novel for young adults in the United States. This is Steven Layne's first novel and is far from perfect, but at the same time, has many characteristics that will appeal to young readers.

Reviewed by: Karin Perry

Book Review for This Side of Paridise.......2007-01-09

What would someone do if their father was crazy and made them move to a city where everyone is perfect, and then they found out they could not leave? Jack Barrett, Troy Barrett, and Gram Barrett faced this in the interesting book This Side of Paradise by Steven L. Layne.
The Barretts were a happy family until Mr. Barrett started working for Mr. Eden and forced his family to move to Paradise which is owned by Mr. Eden. Soon they learn about a secret that could destroy their lives.
One thing that I thought was fantastic was the plot of This Side of Paradise. It always made me want to read more. An example is when Jack found out that he could not leave Paradise and I wanted to know why so it made me keep reading. I liked the theme of this book because it taught me that not everything should be perfect and that not everything can be perfect. Finally, I liked the characters. My favorite character is Gram. I liked her because she was caring and knew a lot about people even before she met them. She showed this when Troy got beat up by his father and she helped him and cared for him.
This book would be appropriate for young teens. I really enjoyed This Side of Paradise by Steven L. Layne and I know someone else will too.

Good Book .......2006-05-12

'This Side of Paradise' by Steven Layne was a very good book. It's about two brothers named Jack and Troy who move to a community named Paradise because their dad gets a new job. Everything in Paradise seems like it's perfect; but it's not. The plot of this book was very suspenseful and mysterious. There are many cliffhangers that keep you wanting to read more of this book.

An introduction to suspense.......2006-04-22

I read this boook two years ago and loved it. I would have given it a '5' and ranted on how good it is. It was never my favorite book however, I read Lord of the Rings in [...] (before the movies) and that will forever remain my favorite book. However, this book is more of an introduction to suspense than a great novel. It's intened for preteens who havn't seen much great literature, and are easily entranced by stories more complicated than what they have been reading at the time. The perfect ages for this book are 10, 11, and 12.

The book isn't as elequent as most other novels, It does stick to simple words. This isn't neccisarily a bad thing, however. Jack's mindset seems to be more of a preteen than of a Junior. This makes it better for the preteen audiance however. And yes, this book comes with cheesy teen romance.

The Author seems to drop TOO many hints. Reading it again, it seems a little too obvious what is going to happen. He italicises key words, and the 'gollum' scene is almost painfully obvious.

My main problem with the book is the author can't seem to decide wheather he wants the story to be dark, or humourous. My least favorite part of the book is when they are in the middle of the climax, and suddenly out of the blue there is a humourous scene with Troy. It is completley out of place and irksome.

In conclusion, this book is an enjoyable read. If you buy it, you won't regret it. It probaly deserves 3 stars, but it's written for preteens, I'll give the author an extra star because it fits the audiance. Like Harry Potter, it's not great literature, but an enjoyable read.

Paradise Trashed.......2006-01-06

This Side of Paradise is an appallingly dreadful book by Steven L. Layne. It is about two incredibly brainless sons, Troy and Jack; their insane perfectionist of a father, Mr. Barret, A.K.A. Mr. Eden; and an annoying grandmother, irritatingly called Gram. This perfect example of how not to write starts out with a normal enough family. But soon the mother starts drinking and fighting with the father, who proceeds to have her murdered and replaced with a robot. Then the father forces the family to move to a seemingly perfect place called Paradise. Or at least, it was perfect until the family moves there. That's when Paradise crashes. First the reader finds out that everyone in Paradise is a robot except for the protagonists...and Mr. Barret/Eden (I honestly think that the author based him on Tolkien's Gollum, as both characters have split personalities: an almost good side and a completely evil side, both argue with themselves when they think that no one else is near, and the bad side is dominant in both cases). Eventually the story comes to the end that the reader had both predicted and longed for from the first page. Basically, the father dies, Paradise collapses, and they all live happily ever after.
My first problem with this tale is that it has very poor word choice. It uses short, simple words that belong in children's books, not books written for teens. The largest word in This Side of Paradise is probably evasive, which is a word that any village idiot would know.
Next, the characters are very poorly developed. The author simply tells the reader a few useless facts about the characters, instead of showing more important facts. The book says, "My grandma Katy, a spry and sassy seventy-two-year-old known to us as Gram..." This is a very poor description of a character that should be developed far more, as she is one of the protagonists. The book then says:
Actually, Troy is very intelligent; he just uses his intelligence in the wrong way. He challenges the system- school, sports, home, and life. He can't accept the way things are to the degree that the average person can, and this puts him in conflict with most adults. He questions everything and everyone. Mom used to say that he came out of the womb and immediately requested a copy of the doctor's credentials.
That brief description is all of the information that the book gives the reader. It is not nearly enough to actually give one a mental image of any sort. But then again, there isn't even a single point in the whole miserable story that does. That definitely goes to show how absolutely pitiful the author's prose is.
Also, the author uses far to many italics and puts quotation marks anywhere and everywhere, whether they should be there or not. It is almost as though that was the only way the author could give any expression to his characters' dialogue. However, he uses them in middle of sentences where they completely destroy the flow of the text. It actually looks as though he simply went through the book and chose random words to italicize. For example, in the passage above, Layne simply chose the word everyone, even though to the reader's eye this choice makes no sense and simply distracts, instead of emphasizing or giving expression. In the author's note he chooses some more arbitrary words to italicize. The book says, "Major thanks to Ryan McNamara and Nate Baron." He simply chose to italicize the words major thanks for no apparent reason. The book also says:
"I get it!" I jumped in. "An employee could buy the house from Mr. Eden at the fantastic low price, then decide to leave Paradise and resell it to him at the fair market price - which would obviously be much higher!"
Again, haphazard words are italicized for no apparent reason, leaving the reader in doubt of whether or not the author actually knows how to use italics properly. As for the quotation marks, they are used in the same way as the italics- seemingly to emphasize unsystematic words. The book says,
Whatever the case, my brother's school suspensions for "failure to show proper respect to authority figure" were paralleling my mother's trips to the liquor cabinet - which were a source of great concern for all of us.
It is seriously as though the author simply chose a series of chance words that happened to be in the way of his quotation-marking passion.
Finally, This Side of Paradise is dreadfully elongated, dragged out until the reader is at a point where they would gladly go on their knees to the author to beg for mercy from the awfulness of his writing. The ideal length for a book as bad as this one would be about a page, the maximum amount of time that it takes the reader to discover the flawed nature of the author's writing, rather than 215 pages. I find it impossible to comprehend why a book in which the reader can see the ending coming after the first couple of pages must be dragged out for that long.

In conclusion, This Side of Paradise is an awful book filled with brainless characters that serve to properly horrify the reader with their stupidity. The author who wrote it apparently has a great love for putting italics and quotation marks in useless positions where their only purpose can be to distract the reader, and to make matters worse, this italics-lover didn't even develop to characters, despite his efforts to give expression in odd places during the dire narrative. This book is very poorly written and is fit only fuel for a fire. In other words, it is such a horrific example of literature that the unfortunate reader desires only to destroy it by the assuaging end.

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At times sophomoric but ultimately dazzling and memorable
Autobiography of Fitzgerald? Probably [91]
The book that launched a thousand ships
Apparently misunderstood
Read this F Scott novel last

This Side Of Paradise
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Manufacturer: Scribner
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0684843781

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Fitzgerald's first novel, reprinted in the handsome Everyman's Library series of literary classic, uses numerous formal experiments to tell the story of Amory Blaine, as he grows up during the crazy years following the First World War. It also contains a new introduction by Craig Raine that describes critical and popular reception of the book when it came out in 1920.

Book Description

This Side of Paradise, F. Scott Fitzgerald's romantic and witty first novel, was written when the author was only twenty-three years old. This semiautobiographical story of the handsome, indulged, and idealistic Princeton student Amory Blaine received critical raves and catapulted Fitzgerald to instant fame. Now, readers can enjoy the newly edited, authorized version of this early classic of the Jazz Age, based on Fitzgerald's original manuscript. In this definitive text, This Side of Paradise captures the rhythms and romance of Fitzgerald's youth and offers a poignant portrait of the "Lost Generation."

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There was, also, a curious strain of weakness running crosswise through his make-up ... a harsh phrase from the lips of an older boy (older boys usually detested him) was liable to sweep him off his poise into surly sensitiveness, or timid stupidity ... he was a slave to his own moods and he felt that though he was capable of recklessness and audacity, he possessed neither courage, perseverance, nor self-respect.

Customer Reviews:

At times sophomoric but ultimately dazzling and memorable.......2007-08-25

In the beginning of the book, I was turned off by its seeming self-indulgent tone and nature. A brilliant, handsome, self-centered young man goes to prep school, then to Princeton, then out in into the world. The story seemed obviously autobiographical, and I knew what had happened to F. Scott Fitzgerald: a short, romantic but unpleasant, alcoholic life. So I read on, with the thought, "This is explaining why his life was such a disaster", so maybe that can be a reason to keep reading. (Also, I wrote a lot of largely autobiographical, very poor -- not that This Side of Paradise was poor in any way -- fiction when I was in my twenties, so maybe that was bothering me, as I identified too much with Fitzgerald's self-obsession.) And, as Amory Blaine's (the Fitzgerald-like protagonist's) story progressed, it became more entrancing and the self-centeredness less an obstacle and more of the heart of the novel itself. In the end, I would have to summarize that it was a beautiful, brilliant, compelling book, at least as good as Fitzgerald's other work. It's about the experience of the transition from childhood to adult life as viewed by a priviledged (although he wastes/loses his advantages), wonderful (if not very likable at times), artistic genius -- expressed aptly through prose as well as poetry and playscript-type sequences.

Autobiography of Fitzgerald? Probably [91].......2007-06-17

Some novels are great stories. Some novels are stories greatly written or told. And, in rare instances, some novels are greatly written great stories. This is one of those rare novels.

This novel closely follows the prepubescent Amory Blaine through his 20's. In the beginning, he is a spoiled boy whose father is distant and mother is a great but disturbed woman. With cash in their pockets, Amory and his mother, Beatrice, enjoy one another as best of friends. Home schooled, he is little boy Fauntleroy during the turn of the century America.

Things change, step by step, with Amory's character increasing while his bank account is decreasing. Fitzgerald calls Amory the Egotist in Book One, and then dons the title "Personage" for that same, but now grown, Amory in Book Two.

This is very autobiographical. Amory, an Irish Catholic (like Fitzgerald), lives his high school years in St. Paul (like Fitzgerald) then attends prep school (like Fitzgerald) as he is a privileged youth (like Fitzgerald) and later attends Princeton (like Fitzgerald) where he becomes part of Princeton's Triangle Club (like Fitzgerald) and follows Princeton for the Army (like Fitzgerald). Book One, in fact, was written while Fitzgerald was attending Princeton.

What makes this novel more interesting than other Fitzgerald novels are the different - and somewhat raw - items within it pages. Scribner initially rejected the book because of it being raw. The rawness is evidenced by numerous poems tossed about within it - great stuff. There are added poems from girls he adored - more great stuff. The letters are also great and pithy. And, in the "Debutante" chapter of Book Two, he writes in playwright form the Amory wooing of beautiful Rosalind. In his short novel there is poetry, prose and a play. Although somewhat disjointed, it works. And, works magnificently.

The ending really shows you something about the young man. He preaches Russia's Socialism to a fat capitalist who kindly gives the Princetonian a ride. Ayn Rand (the Russian born writer who immigrated to America) almost rebuts this portion of the book with her 1957 "Atlas Shrugged." Remember, Stalin and the ugly head of Soviet Socialism did not exist at the time of "This Side of Paradise." Rand, and her people, lived through some of the Red Terror and by 1957 had learned much more about how Russian implementation of Socialism seriously deviated from the ideology espoused by Marx and his peers.

Fitzgerald is a great writer. Maybe America's greatest of the 20th century. And, this close-to-home rendition of thought and emotion, may be the most poignant depiction of what the author felt and feared. If you have any interest in Fitzgerald, this novel is for you.

The book that launched a thousand ships.......2007-05-07

It's not Fitzgerald's best (Gatsby and The Beautiful and Damned share that distinction), but if you love modern American literature, then you are lucky to have this document of the youthful enthusiasm, exuberance, self-assuredness, and early blossoming of one or our greatest most tragic writers. This is Fitzgerald's foray and kickstart into the world of glamorous literati that he longed for and attained in this first novel. We should all marvel at that accomplishment and rejoice with Amory Blaine's own cocky venture into life's jaunt.

Apparently misunderstood.......2006-09-06

For all the reviews that mention how egotistical and arrogant Amory is, well, that's the point! The book deals with how he goes from being so egotistical to finding out that there's more to life than his self-indulgence. He learns a great deal, and is faced with moral choices that he must deal with. He feels so guilty in places that he mentally projects the devil staring him down, which is a heck of a way to learn your moral stance on something. Fitzgerald admits Amory's arrogance throughout the book and never makes Amory unaware of it, either. But look at it as Amory's life lessons and get swept away in the magical quality of the prose, which for a young man writing his first novel is astounding in parts. Also, for those who find it corny, etc., try to remember that it was published in 1920. Lots of perfectly serious things from that time would seem corny today.

Read this F Scott novel last.......2006-08-12

F Scotts first novel really should be the last thing you read,as it is a pot pourri of the themes and styles F Scott used to mesmerizing effect in his other novels and many short stories.
I felt that,had this been my first encounter with F Scott;I wouldn't have come back for more.It starts off like a witty Oscar Wilde tale,then heads into meloncholy and philosophy,and at times tries to be too literary for its own good.
But I found 'This side' hugely important and enjoyable having read his 3 other completed novels;Pat Hobby and the benchmark of all short stories,the wonderful "Diamond as big as the Ritz".(Only Richard Yates' 'The Builders' or 'Liars in Love' can be said to have reached that mark-but please list others you feel are as good;I can't read everything and appreciate pointers!)
'This side' is a great slice of history and F Scott displays his many writing gifts throughout.That 'This side' doesnt quite run smoothly or consistently is ,I admit, a trivial criticism.F Scott was just 23 when this was published and helped change the style of the novel.

F. Scott Fitzgerald: Novels and Stories 1920-1922: This Side of Paradise / Flappers and Philosophers / The Beautiful and the Damned / Tales of the Jazz Age (Library of America)

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The Polly Parker Stories
Short Stories
Good Collection of Pre-Gatsby Work

F. Scott Fitzgerald: Novels and Stories 1920-1922: This Side of Paradise / Flappers and Philosophers / The Beautiful and the Damned / Tales of the Jazz Age (Library of America)

Manufacturer: Library of America
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1883011841
Release Date: 2000-08-24

Customer Reviews:

The Polly Parker Stories.......2005-12-27

I am really shocked that this first rate Fitzgerald collection does not have the "Polly Parker" stories that originally were printed serially in THE SATURDAY EVENING POST in 1922. Apparently these uncollected stories remain unavailable anywhere in book form.

Polly Parker was a typical Fitzgerald heroine -- a blue-eyed flapper with a pert nose and golden hair bobbed very short. The reason her stories are omitted, I gather, is that they were slightly more sexual in tone and also addressed taboo subjects such as alcoholism, racial violence, incest, and insanity.

"GRANDPA'S GOLD" the first Polly story, deals with lasting echoes of the Civil War. Spoiled Polly goes to Vermont for the summer to stay with her aging grandfather -- the last remaining Union army veteran in Vermont. Ultimately she robs him of a small fortune in gold coins which he had originally intended to donate to a Negro orphanage. This story highlights Fitzgerald's ambivalence towards the young women of the day -- Polly is cruel and selfish, but also winningly spontaneous, free and independent. Fitzgerald's racism is in full flower here as well. The fact that she is "only" robbing colored people seems to make her crime an amusing prank rather than a vicious crime.

"ALLIGATOR QUEEN" is both darker and more sophisticated. Polly is a houseguest in Georgia, where she meets Eleanor Hiss, a jazz age siren who may or may not have negro blood. The two girls deliberately lead a young Harvard man out into quicksand, then go joy riding in his car while he slowly drowns. Fitzgerald later wrote that Eleanor seduced Polly in an early draft -- but in 1922 the SATURDAY EVENING POST would never have carried a story with an explicit lesbian seduction.

"HOLY MATRIMONY" is the ironic finale to the Polly Parker stories. Invited on a weekend yachting party, Polly is compromised by an Eastern Prince and forced to marry silent movie star Reginald Dashwood. Dashwood is a homosexual who needs "discreet companionship." Polly marries him, assuming he is a pushover, but instead he is cruel, domineering and controlling -- and aided by an iron-willed mother who treats Polly like a servant. Polly's "punishment" is ironic, since she now has unlimited wealth and a dazzling husband -- but no freedom and no hope of either sexual or spiritual release.

Taken together, these three stories represent Fitzgerald's darkest early work -- and they should be included in any "definitive" collection.

Short Stories.......2002-09-12

I bought this book for the short stories. They are like small diamonds on a necklace, sparkling in a row, each one a wonder. Fitzgerald's short stories are like that.

"The Off Shore Pirate" is hilarious. The "Ice Palace" is strange and beautiful. "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" is about a baby born very old who gets younger every year.

"The Diamond As Big As The Ritz" is classic Fitzgerald, about the rich.

The story that is missing is "The Rich Boy." This is the story that started the famous spat between Hemingway and Fitzgerald.

In this short story, Fitzgerald writes: "The rich are very different from you and me." Hemingway responds in his short story, "The Snows Of Kilimanjaro:" "Yes, they have more money."

But you will not find "The Rich Boy" in this book. Too bad.

Included with the short stories are two novels:: This Side Of Paradise and The Beautiful And Damned. They are very adolescent novels. High school students might enjoy them.

Maybe not.

The short stories do more to describe the Jazz Age than his novels.

If you are serious about this author, his greatest novel is The Great Gatsby. His next best novel is Tender Is The Night. "The Rich Boy" is his best short story.

Good Collection of Pre-Gatsby Work.......2000-11-13

This is a very attractive packaged, comprehensive collection of Fitzgerald's early work, containing his first two novels (This Side of Paradise and The Beautiful & Damned) and his first two short story collections. Included are some classic short stories such as May Day and The Diamond As Big As The Ritz. Some of the other stories are less than classic, but all are enjoyable. As is the case with all Library of America volumes, the book is very easy to handle and read. There is a useful set of notes and chronology of Fitzergald's life in the back. All in all, this is well worth the price.

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This Side of Paradise

Manufacturer: Charles Scribner's Sons
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

ASIN: B000F1UWS4

Product Description

The debut novel of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Published in 1920, the book examines the lives and morality of post-World War I youth.

F. Scott Fitzgerald: This Side of Paradise, Flappers and Philosophers (Gramercy Modern Classics)

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F. Scott Fitzgerald: This Side of Paradise, Flappers and Philosophers (Gramercy Modern Classics)
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Manufacturer: Gramercy
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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The Great Gatsby

ASIN: 051714882X
Release Date: 1996-03-26

Book Description

For the first time ever, this influential and important novelist's phenomenally successful bestseller and his intriguing collection of stories appear together in one volume. This Side of Paradise is the great novel of moral education and sexual awakening. Flappers and Philosophers is the acclaimed collection of eight stories that include "Bernice Bobs Her Hair."

4 Book Collection : Tender Is the Night, This Side of Paradise, the Great Gatsby,the Last Tycoon.

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4 Book Collection : Tender Is the Night, This Side of Paradise, the Great Gatsby,the Last Tycoon.
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Manufacturer: Scribner's
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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This Side of Paradise

Manufacturer: Book-of-the-Month Club
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 0965684350

F. Scott Fitzgerald's Tender Is the Night and This Side of Paradise (Monarch Notes & Study Guides)

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F. Scott Fitzgerald's Tender Is the Night and This Side of Paradise (Monarch Notes & Study Guides)
Stanley Cooperman
Manufacturer: Monarch Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

This Side of Paradise: The Manuscripts and Typescripts (F Scott Fitzgerald Vol 1)

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This Side of Paradise: The Manuscripts and Typescripts (F Scott Fitzgerald Vol 1)
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Manufacturer: Taylor & Francis
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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This Side of Paradise (Second Chance at Love 237)

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This Side of Paradise (Second Chance at Love 237)
Cinda Richards , and Cheryl Reavis
Manufacturer: Jove Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0515082112

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