Reviews

A troubling portrait of a marriage, and a man in disarray. Fitzgerald is as insightful as ever, but this text is particularly weighed down by his almost clinical view of others

and perhaps by being too close to a similar dissolution of his own marriage

The ending is indicative of how I feel about the novel. It’s realistic, it does seem like Dick Diver is destined for mediocrity. But Fitzgerald failed to elevate that realism into great literature. I felt hollow, and wrung out more than anything, even as I found myself agreeing with the realism.

Content Warnings

colinmcafee's review against another edition

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4.0

It’s really quite good. It’s not the to-the-point perfection that is gatsby but it’s still incredible. I really loved taking my time reading this one. It’s sweeping, powerful, and just so interesting. I love reading about authors discussion mental health in a time before it was commonplace.

barbarabarbara's review against another edition

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lighthearted fast-paced

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

2.0

readhikerepeat's review against another edition

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4.0

I recently read Villa America by Liza Klaussmann, which was about Sara and Gerald Murphy. The Murphy’s were two ex-pats who more or less started the 1920’s lifestyle of parties and glamour on the French Riviera and, coincidentally, served as the inspiration for F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Tender is the Night. Having never read this classic, I was inspired to read it because I had the Murphy’s on my mind and I had a lot of fun making parallels to Klaussmann’s novel.

Tender is the Night is about Dick and Nicole Diver, the well-to-do American couple living in Paris who throw fabulous parties. They live lives of decadence that others merely dream of and are the envy of all of their friends, including young Rosemary, the Hollywood starlet that Dick falls in love with, thus kicking off a story so tragic that it’s difficult to read and yet impossible to put down.

The book started out great, but around page 100 it started to slow down a bit. Just as I was getting to the point where I was struggling to pick it up, there was a revelation that captivated my attention and I raced through the rest of the book. It remained dreary, which was to be expected given the subject matter, but I found myself with an incredible amount of sympathy for Dick, which surprised me because I expected to have more sympathy for Nicole. I’m still sorting out my theories about certain motivations and actions of the characters (why did they get married? What does it mean to be in love? How sick is sick?), but the fact that I’m still thinking about these things is proof that there is a reason this book is on the 1001 Books to Read Before You Die list.

For the full review, visit The Book Wheel.

thejenjineer's review against another edition

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4.0

Part of my 2017 reading challenge was to pick a book where the main character is a different ethnicity than myself. I've been wanting to read another Fitzgerald, so why not pick the mysterious world of ludicrously wealthy white people? They are not like us, these insanely rich folk. Even universal problems, like mental illness, are not handled in the same way. So I did not see myself or any of my friends or family in these characters. But the people who seem to enter your life just ruin something or someone you care about? I did see them here. Fitzgerald perfectly captured the selfishness, and the complete blindness of one's selfishness, in this book.

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