A review by katadamz
Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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
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.
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