A gorgeous, deep probing treatise on the myriad manifestations of love, envy, privilege, and longing ... The Fortunate Ones is a fathoms-deep exploration of love, loyalty, and the ties that bind, written masterfully from all angles. It’s a laser-sharp look at the underbelly of power and privilege’s repercussions as told through the power of story.
No one needs to wait for copyright expiration to use Fitzgerald’s plot, that time-honored story in which a person on the fringe of high society becomes entangled in its enchantments and perfidies ... Tarkington, a talented and compassionate writer, neither wishes to shock nor to prevaricate with his plot. His fortunate characters have deep flaws and complicated pasts, and that includes the secondary ones ... Although The Fortunate Ones has some narrative flaws, uneven pacing chief among them, Tarkington’s insight into the meaning of home rings true.
Ed Tarkington's new coming-of-age novel The Fortunate Ones points out the chinks in the gilded armor adorning – and weighing down – followers of the cult of wealth ... The Fortunate Ones can feel like it’s reflecting elite society’s breakneck pace — making characters, events, and settings blur together ... Unvarnished in its look at a society that pours as much pressure onto people as it does spectacle and riches, The Fortunate Ones is a moving exposé — in the same vein as The Great Gatsby and Great Expectations — of how gilded appearances can siphon the luster from one’s innermost self and pressure individuals into keeping up with the breakneck cycle of monetary gain — and spiritual loss.
There's a girl they both love, there are mansions and swimming pools, alcoholics and adulterers, bigots and snobs, and most important, there are dark secrets warping hearts and lives. Despite this perfect list of ingredients, I didn't love The Fortunate Ones as much as I expected to ...The Gatsby-esque plot suggested by this comment — a tale of white men and their struggles — feels a bit dated in 2020. And while there are Black characters, they are primarily plot devices, as are the women ... The underdevelopment of characters is a sign of another problem with the book — an unusual one. It is too short. I think the reason my literary gaydar did not detect the closeted character is that the seeds are not adequately sown. Some of the biggest decisions the characters make didn't seem to flow from their personalities, at least as I understood them. And when the plot moved to San Miguel de Allende, it barely stayed a chapter. I enjoyed the writing, and I would have been happy to spend more time in Mexico, and in Nashville, too.
A hefty political page-turner about what it means to have money and how we fall in love with it ... Tarkington is a gifted storyteller, largely because he knows how to let his finely developed characters do the heavy lifting. The novel is concerned with what lies beneath both the best intentions and worst impulses. There’s a tantalizingly thin line between love and desire here. Mistaking one for the other is easy. It’s also catastrophic. An impressive literary balancing act that entertains as it enriches.
While there’s no shortage of melodrama, the author skillfully unpacks Charlie’s uneasy feelings about helping Arch, who abandoned his principles for political gain, and Charlie’s reaction to learning the truth behind why he was offered the scholarship. Tarkington’s strong story of loyalty and the corruption of privilege transcends the familiar set-up.
