Reviews

Tender Is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald

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heartsneedle's review against another edition

3.0

3/5
Glamour, Decline, Depression

“I have to go back to the clinic. It’s not raining now.”

Overall: There were moments of beautiful observations of people and life. Ultimately, I found the plot too elusive, in-and-out to be enjoyed.

Pros:
-- the psychiatric subplot, especially that of Nicole and Rosemary
--Adore this cover

Cons:
-- bored characters
-- evocatively vague narration

mattiedancer's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Writing: 4.25⭐️/5

A well-crafted, well-controlled novel. Fitzgerald is a master of prose when it comes to pairing life’s finest luxuries with those who least deserve it. At many intervals, I thoroughly enjoyed the beauty of the writing. At a few moments, the writing seemed to hold the plot back a bit, adding little to the story or character, and seemed to exist to be beautiful without substance. Overall, a fine read.

Characters: 4.25⭐️/5

The characters in this novel are not all (or always) good or moral people. But they are fascinating. I thought Dick Diver was missing a little something – substance, motive, characterization – and yet he was still interesting to read. Nicole Diver was a fascinating creature, as was Rosemary. Both women were deeply described and written with good depth. I think I also would have loved a bit extra from Nicole’s family, to fully understand both Nicole and Dick’s turmoil and relationship.

Plot: 4⭐️/5

The plot is really there to support the characters, and yet I still wish a little more occurred throughout the novel. Don’t get me wrong, the writing and characters made up for the lack of plot, but I would’ve loved the drama that followed Rosemary at the beginning to weave thoroughly throughout the novel. Instead, it disappeared, and the characters took the main stage.

Who Should Read This Book?

Fans of F. Scott Fitzgerald

Content Warnings?

Mental illness, murder, incest, gun violence, alcoholism, child abuse, racism, racial slurs, adult/minor relationship, psychosis, ableism, death of parent, sexual assault, homophobia, sexism, misogyny, police brutality, toxic relationship, toxic friendship, infidelity

Post-Reading Rating: 4⭐️/5

Fascinating.

Final Rating: 4⭐️/5

Content Warnings

lus's review against another edition

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reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

sophgould's review against another edition

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3.0

a dragged out story of some world war I vet's fall from grace who cheats on his schizophrenic wife with progressively younger women. also married his patient g r o s s. well written and beautiful though

anaphabetic's review against another edition

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1.0

This book has been super hard to get through: the characters were not likeable at all (they weren’t even good dislikeable characters!); the prose was good… at times; the plot dragged a lot; the 3 books that compose the novel felt kind of disjointed, they just weren’t connected; there was a strong misogynist vibe going on which really bugged me because the narrator is an omniscient narrator, so it really serves no end since I doesn’t reflect any character way of think or anything; and, in my opinion, the novel felt kind of purposeless. Fitzgerald, I’m quite disappointed with this.

And I really wanted to love the novel because the tittle is AMAZING (oh, it is just so beautiful), the location seemed ideal (“Yeah! French Riviera in the 20’s, how much better can it get?” I though while reading the back on the bookshop), even the plot seemed interesting when I read the description and I really liked The Great Gatsby , but no. Tender is the Night has been such a no-no for me. Nothing really interested me in the plot or the characters. I wasn’t even able to connect with any of them.

I wouldn’t recommend this novel to anyone, but I still plan on reading Fitzgerald’s other novels at one point.