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greyyy's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
jess_mango's review
4.0
A good companion read to F. Scott Fitzgerald's "[b:Tender is the Night|46164|Tender Is the Night|F. Scott Fitzgerald|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170314348s/46164.jpg|8272]" as it parallels many of the same plot points. "Save the Waltz" is an autobiographical novel by Fitzgerald's wife, Zelda. Zelda's writing is not as strong as her husband's but she was able to deliver a sad story about madness and life in the public eye.
beatriz_florentino's review against another edition
3.0
Que livro complicado!
Muitas partes maçantes, muitas descrições, muitos personagens, muitas metáforas.
Depois acabei me acostumando com a escrita, e a leitura foi prazerosa.
De modo geral, considerando que se trata de uma obra autobiográfica, destaca-se a dinâmica do casal: a euforia dos primeiros anos, as festas, as bebidas, o tédio, a infelicidade, as traições. A primeira parte do livro evidencia a vida de luxo que eles levaram, mas que não eximiu Alabama/Zelda de vivenciar a solidão.
A segunda parte foca na sua tentativa de se tornar bailarina. Mostra como Zelda sentia a necessidade de sair do "lugar" de esposa de Fitzgerald. Ela queria alcançar seu próprio sucesso.
Sabendo que ela escreveu todo o livro quando se encontrava internada em um hospital psiquiátrico, as concepções que formou sobre o seu passado e a suas experiências parecem tão certeiras. Ela escreve consciente do "fracasso", afinal, o casamento não deu certo. Embora Zelda pintasse, escrevesse, dançasse, até aquele momento, não havia obtido êxito profissional em nada.
Adoro ler sobre essa época e ver o feminismo despontar. E a vontade de Alabama de ter sua própria história, independente do marido, evidencia o feminismo que desabrochava na época do modernismo.
"Alabama viu a mãe à luz do que ela realmente era, parte de uma tradição masculina. Millie não parecia ter consciência de sua própria vida, de que não lhe restaria nada quando o marido morresse."
Para terminar, o que me encanta nas obras dos Fitzgerald em geral é a relação com a busca, sempre frustrada, pela felicidade.
"Obrigações eram para Alabama um plano e uma armadilha que a civilização criará para prender e mutilar a sua felicidade e tornar mancos os pés do tempo."
"Por que passamos anos gastando os corpos para alimentar as mentes com experiência, para no final descobrir as mentes se voltando para os corpos exaustos em busca de controle?"
Muitas partes maçantes, muitas descrições, muitos personagens, muitas metáforas.
Depois acabei me acostumando com a escrita, e a leitura foi prazerosa.
De modo geral, considerando que se trata de uma obra autobiográfica, destaca-se a dinâmica do casal: a euforia dos primeiros anos, as festas, as bebidas, o tédio, a infelicidade, as traições. A primeira parte do livro evidencia a vida de luxo que eles levaram, mas que não eximiu Alabama/Zelda de vivenciar a solidão.
A segunda parte foca na sua tentativa de se tornar bailarina. Mostra como Zelda sentia a necessidade de sair do "lugar" de esposa de Fitzgerald. Ela queria alcançar seu próprio sucesso.
Sabendo que ela escreveu todo o livro quando se encontrava internada em um hospital psiquiátrico, as concepções que formou sobre o seu passado e a suas experiências parecem tão certeiras. Ela escreve consciente do "fracasso", afinal, o casamento não deu certo. Embora Zelda pintasse, escrevesse, dançasse, até aquele momento, não havia obtido êxito profissional em nada.
Adoro ler sobre essa época e ver o feminismo despontar. E a vontade de Alabama de ter sua própria história, independente do marido, evidencia o feminismo que desabrochava na época do modernismo.
"Alabama viu a mãe à luz do que ela realmente era, parte de uma tradição masculina. Millie não parecia ter consciência de sua própria vida, de que não lhe restaria nada quando o marido morresse."
Para terminar, o que me encanta nas obras dos Fitzgerald em geral é a relação com a busca, sempre frustrada, pela felicidade.
"Obrigações eram para Alabama um plano e uma armadilha que a civilização criará para prender e mutilar a sua felicidade e tornar mancos os pés do tempo."
"Por que passamos anos gastando os corpos para alimentar as mentes com experiência, para no final descobrir as mentes se voltando para os corpos exaustos em busca de controle?"
saintejeanne's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
sometimes_iread's review
challenging
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I have to admit that I only picked this book up because I am in love with F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and might always be so. It is thus tough to read Zelda Fitzgerald’s work independently without comparison to Scott’s works. I felt really bad at not being able to read Zelda’s book as an independent reader especially since it readily became apparent while reading that having an identity separate from her husband was something very important to her.
Save Me The Waltz by Zelda Fitzgerald follows Alabama as she grows up as a Southern Belle before marrying a painter and achieving notoriety as a flapper. The book charts Alabama’s struggle for meaning in life and independence of her identity from the men around her. Ultimately, the book culminates in a sense of futility, made all the more bleak by the parallel between Alabama and Zelda herself.
It was tough reading this as a modern mother because attitudes toward child rearing are so different now. Woe unto the woman who dare leave her child to help for personal fulfillment. Yet, that was more commonplace then, especially amongst the upper classes. It thus chafed a little for me because the Knights were hardly well-to-do, yet persisted in living the life of the well-heeled, including leaving their child almost entirely to the care of various nannies. I had to keep repeating “different era, different era” under my breath but it definitely rankled my sensibilities still.
Taking a step back, I felt that my reaction to Alabama’s lifestyle ties quite neatly into the theme of a woman’s identity. Alabama struggled to find her sense of self apart from her father, suitors, and husband throughout the book. From parties to dance, Alabama lurched from one pursuit to another, never quite attaining her goal. In fact, her pursuit for meaning and purpose for her self was probably what pushed her to her collapse even though it was never explicitly stated. It was a sobering end to her attempts and drew out a common theme of modernism, that of futility. Why do we keep trying when our tries to be our own woman are ultimately doomed to fail?
Depressing themes aside, Zelda’s prose is stuffed full of little oddities and observations that made each sentence feel rather bloated. I can see the influence of Scott and other writers of the age, with a feminine spin, but ultimately could have benefited from some editing. As it reads, I ended up skipping entire run-on sentences or risked missing the point of the paragraph entirely. Which is a waste because some of her sentences do read beautifully. There certainly is potential there that could have been cultivated. However, with Zelda’s tenuous hold on reality and her honestly toxic relationship with her husband, is it any surprise that this is the work that we are left with? I do wish that more could have been done to support her, but I guess life imitates art and her pursuit for self-actualization in literature apart from her husband is still to no avail.
Diversity meter:
-
charlottekook's review
5.0
oh my god, i loved this! this is so tragic and wry and luxurious and WITTY. i feel like i've never really experienced how extravagant the portrayal of 1920s parties could be except in this novel, she does it so brilliantly. there are so many odd lines of description that are so unique and perfect, and lots which seem to encapsulate both the novel and modernism itself. there is such restlessness here, and a lot of existentialist wondering about purpose - especially for women (dancers not understanding alabama's desire to dance as to them it is the way to make their living).
it does feel disjointed at points and there are some lines that were a little convoluted or not constructed brilliantly, so i do think you can feel the mess of the editing process - fuck you, f scott fitzgerald, forever and always!
it's interesting that it started and ended with her father and her country home. the sense of growing up and maturing beyond their constant moving and david's endless parties.
there are so, so many fascinating things in this novel! alabama's drive for dancing is so not where i thought the narrative going but i really enjoyed it. some more small thoughts:
- the gaps in the narrative are very typical of modernism (affairs only mentioned in passing once they finish, the quick passing of time from one sentence to another)
- their being called "the david knights", mirrors "the fitzgeralds" and erases alabama's existence
- money and class, this kind of lifestyle only available for the rich upper/middle classes
- fascist europe and its creeping into the dance studio
it does feel disjointed at points and there are some lines that were a little convoluted or not constructed brilliantly, so i do think you can feel the mess of the editing process - fuck you, f scott fitzgerald, forever and always!
it's interesting that it started and ended with her father and her country home. the sense of growing up and maturing beyond their constant moving and david's endless parties.
there are so, so many fascinating things in this novel! alabama's drive for dancing is so not where i thought the narrative going but i really enjoyed it. some more small thoughts:
- the gaps in the narrative are very typical of modernism (affairs only mentioned in passing once they finish, the quick passing of time from one sentence to another)
- their being called "the david knights", mirrors "the fitzgeralds" and erases alabama's existence
- money and class, this kind of lifestyle only available for the rich upper/middle classes
- fascist europe and its creeping into the dance studio
yungjulchen's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
aglaia's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5