This classic novel was Fitzgerald's favorite of all that he had written and with good reason: the main characters were modeled after him and his wife Zelda. Set mainly on the Riveria and in Switzerland, it shows how the small crack in a marriage widens causing the marriage to fall apart, perhaps irrevocably.
The book opens in 1925 with Rosemary Hoyt going to the beach at the Riveria. She is traveling with her mother touring Europe's warm climate after suffering an illness doing a movie. She is just about to turn eighteen and gets invited to join the Divers' party after spending a day with the boring other crowds of Americans there. The Divers, Nicole and Dick are captivating, especially Dick. But there is also Mary and Abe North, who is a musician who hasn't composed anything in years and drinks too much, and Tommy Barden who keeps running off to a war somewhere to fight and is in love with Nicole.
Rosemary and her mother had only planned on staying for a few days, but Rosemary finds herself falling in love with Dick, so they extend their stay. Dick resists her for as long as he can but soon he gives in as long as Nicole never knows and there's a reason why she must never know. The book is divided into three parts and the second part goes back and shows how Nicole and Dick came to be together.
You don't want to feel sorry for Dick and pull for him, but for a while, you kind of do. Maybe it's because the point of view becomes his. Also, Nicole is seen as a bit of a succubus who sucks the life out of Dick. But Nicole is the wronged party and the one hurt by these events. This situation will have long-term repercussions that will continue to affect their marriage and widen the crack further. This book is a classic for a reason, it is well written with beautiful colorful language that drips from the page. It is very well worth reading.
Quotes
Tell a secret over the radio, publish it in a tabloid, but never tell it to a man who drinks more than three or four a day.
-F. Scott Fitzgerald (Tender Is the Night p 75)
It was often easier to give a show than to watch one.
-F. Scott Fitzgerald (Tender Is the Night p 89)
Sometimes it is harder to deprive oneself of a pain than of a pleasure.
-- F. Scott Fitzgerald, (Tender is the Night p 167)
No Aryan is able to profit by a humiliation; when he forgives it has become part of his life, he has identified himself with the thing which humiliated him—an upshot that in the case was impossible.
-F. Scott Fitzgerald (Tender Is The Night p 234)
Either one learns politeness at home or the world teaches it to you with a whip and you get hurt in the process.
-F. Scott Fitzgerald (Tender Is the Night p 255)
Link to Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Tender-Night-Golden-Deer-Classics-ebook/dp/B076QDZXP6/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1512999860&sr=8-13&keywords=tender+is+the+night
No comments:
Post a Comment