The aftermath of wealth, affluence and greed.
F. Scott Fitzgerald is a master of words. His prose makes the modern writer squirm in his leather swivel chair, as he sits there wishing he was as talented. Fitzgerald's short story Babylon Revisited is a superb piece of writing based on the author's real life experiences.
It is set almost directly after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and see one man's struggle with his new situation. During the 1920's, Charlie enjoyed the prominence of his status. He also developed an addiction to alcohol. Now he is clean and sober, but also defeated by the end of his reign in power. He seeks to gain guardianship of his daughter Honoria. His sister and her husband are the current guardians of Honoria, and they are worried that Charlie's vulnerable condition will damage the young girl.
It is an excellent short story, written with a brilliance that only the most gifted of writers can achieve. Fitzgerald has a penchant for understated drama, that reeks of problems concerning the rich and wealthy. In the same vein as Arthur Miller's critique on the working class of America, Fitzgerald examines the top of the social ladder, as they have further to fall.
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