The Last Tycoon

Didn't read the description clearly and thought there would be an ending. There's not, it's unfinished and stops abruptly but was fun while it lasted.

The biggest problem with this novel is that Fitzgerald never finished it. The Scribner Classics editors provided a decent resource in trying to reconstruct the rest of the novel from Fitzgerald's notes and letters, but it just falls apart once we lost Fitzgerald's narrative structure and voice. The novel itself is fascinating in its treatment of gender. Fitzgerald tries to use a female narrator, but there are points when she is so overly feminized that she becomes almost absurd. Plus, Fitzgerald's characteristic admiration for strong, lonely male figures continues straight from Gatsby to Monroe Stahr. Another critically interesting element in this novel is the economic commentary coming from Fitzgerald's characters. They struggle with union problems, business issues, financial issues, and the business practices of 1940's Hollywood. It is fascinating to hear the commentary on the Post-Depression film industry. One warning though, Fitzgerald provides an ambivalent portrayal of Jews.

The book edited by Matthew J. Bruccoli is a work in progress, left with various kinds of incompletion at F. Scott Fitzgerald's death. The narrator, Cecilia Brady, is on planes frequently. She attends Bennington. She is the daughter of a producer. Monroe Stahr is someone who was born sleepless. He has no talent for rest. Pat Brady, Cecilia's father, and Monroe Stahr are partners. Wylie White, one of the travelers on the plane, is a writer. There is never a time when the studio is absolutely quiet. There are always technicians present. There is an earthquake and a small water main bursts. Stahr's work is secret in part, devious, slow. He seems ready to shelve a work the writers have labored over to bring to the screen. He notes that when he wants a Eugene O'Neill play he will buy one. If a director disagrees with Stahr he does not advertise it. The writers are people who are employed because they accept the system and manage to stay sober. Stahr sees a girl who resembles his deceased wife. He has her found in order to see her. He has difficulty explaining his interest to her and she is troubled by people fawning for reason of his power and, in general, the notoriety of being seen in his company. Sustained effort is difficult in California it is asserted. It is Monroe Stahr's ability in this area that accounts for his success. F. Scott Fitzgerlad chased ghosts, evanescence. Stahr pursues a girl, Kathleen Moore, because she is the image of his dead wife. The author pursued the following idea obsessively--when did his life derail. The Kathleen Moore character shares some of the attributes of Sheila Graham. She lived in England previously and was tutored in classical literature by her live-in companion. It is reported that Fitzgerald had a life-long capacity to hero-worship. A writer character in the novel compares Monroe Stahr to Lincoln carrying on a long war on many fronts. At the end of the volume there are working notes and a brief biography. Revisiting the bright, shining world of F. Scott Fitzgerald, even with the melancholy features, is lots of fun.

Even though it is unfinished, this book is one of the most amazing peices of fiction I have ever read. No one captures themes of wealth, power, and lonliness the way that Fitzgerald does. I have read all of his novels and this one is righ up there with Gatsby. It is structured, it moves quickly and the characters are really written well. It is really too bad that he did not get a chance to finish this. However, just reading a few pages of Fitzgerald at his best is worth the anguish that you will go through when you come to the "end" of the book. If you like Fitzgerald I think you have to read this, just to see whats out there.

Fitzgerald's last unfinished novels is one of his best in that his style has evolved from his cluttered previous novels into a clean and unfettered one. Every event that occurs is absolutely vital to the plot. He masters the mood and atmosphere of Hollywood. His protagonist has the same rags to riches story, same charisma, and same leadership qualities as his other characters, Gatsby and Dick Diver. However, Stahr is the more developed character. Even unfinished, this tragic tale has a clear theme and style.

Writers are endlessly second-guessing their work habits, their ideas and their purpose. As a novelist myself, I found this work-in-progress comforting, because it showed that even the greatest writers struggle with "The Process." Fitzgerald's inherent talent shines through, despite the incomplete nature of the work. The notes and other addenda helped shape the story even further for me, leaving it perhaps more fascinating for the wonder of what Fitzgerald might have done had he not died so young. I have groused in the past about the release of several Hemingway books after his death, and none has come close to the feeling of this unfinished work, but I cannot dispute the value to the reader of seeing these words, these last words, of one of America's greatest novelists. I am happy I got the chance.