The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by F. Scott Fitzgerald

I saw the film adaptation of this short story about four ears ago and wasn’t overly interested at the time but when I found a free ebook version on Feedbooks I thought I’d give it a go. I hadn’t previously read any Fitzgerald and, with the edition being only 45 pages, I thought I’d give it a go.

The writing style is very simple yet beautifully executed with just enough description to paint the picture but not so much as to make it drag. The idea of the character aging backwards was interesting but I wish the story was longer so that I could read more into Benjamin’s life. The story seemed to skip over vast stretches of time, just discussing certain points but I think it should have focussed on certain parts for longer so the reader could really get a feel for Benjamin’s situation.

Although this is a fictional story, at times it does feel as though Fitzgeraldwas aiming for it to read like a historical account with dialogue largely not included and the facts laid bare rather than hinted at as they would usually be in a fiction piece.

Overall although I found the concept behind this story intriguing, there wasn’t enough to really sink my teeth into. I enjoyed this book, reading it in under an hour, and would say to read it if you want a short introduction to Fitzgerald’s work as this has definitely made me want to pick up some of his novels, but all in all it was a little too short for me.