Book info

• Title The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• Author F. Scott Fitzgerald
• Year 1922
• Genre Classic

Benjamin Button, who suddenly starts ageing backward in 1860, is born an old man. His appearance is dreary and worn at the start of his life, but as he gets younger, he embraces it. He joins the military, starts a business, falls in love, has children, attends college and prep school, and, as his mental faculties deteriorate, enrols in kindergarten before eventually returning to the care of his nurse. The acute social insight that has made Fitzgerald one of the greatest voices in American literary history is embodied in this strange and unsettling tale.

Thoughts

This is such a unique idea for a story, and one that really makes you ponder, from the start to the finish. It glosses over some slightly more important questions at the beginning - how did this woman give birth to a full size grown man, and what happened to her afterwards? How did they manage to keep it under wraps for so long?

But you have to put that aside, and just roll with the journey - which is an interesting one. How to be completely out of your time and not fit in with your peers because you’re different.

It’s a short read, and a good one. I quite liked the way it drifted away at the end, peaceful, which actually seems like a nice way to go. Perhaps we should all aspire to live life backwards!

Rating: 3 / 5