Tender Is the Night

Tender is the Night is a novel about the corruption that festers underneath the gilded surface of the rich and the glamorous. Fitzgerald's descriptive abilities are on full display here, painting a detailed portrait of expatriate life on the Riviera. But, as much as Fitzgerald's prose is a joy, the characters really make the book. They are flawed, often destructive to both themselves and others,...more

Tender is the Night is a novel about the corruption that festers underneath the gilded surface of the rich and the glamorous. Fitzgerald's descriptive abilities are on full display here, painting a detailed portrait of expatriate life on the Riviera. But, as much as Fitzgerald's prose is a joy, the characters really make the book. They are flawed, often destructive to both themselves and others, and ultimately responsible for their own demise, but one cannot help but desperately wish they would turn themselves around (I found this especially true with Abe North, and later on with Dick Diver). The one complaint I have is the ending. I was expecting it to end with a memorable, moving phrase like The Great Gatsby's "so we beat on, boats against the current...", which is one of my all-time favorite lines for its emotional punch. Tender is the Night ends with a comparative wimper; the final chapter felt too rushed, too abrupt, and surprisingly (and disappointingly) detached.   hide

The war is everywhere, at back, having rotted the only value system but money. What theme could possibly be less "outdated?" Can we honestly say that today's rich have solved the conundrum facing the Divers? Detachment, one of the key complaints about this book, was for me thematically significant. It demonstrates the ways in which great sums of money make claims on our virtue through the...more

The war is everywhere, at back, having rotted the only value system but money. What theme could possibly be less "outdated?" Can we honestly say that today's rich have solved the conundrum facing the Divers? Detachment, one of the key complaints about this book, was for me thematically significant. It demonstrates the ways in which great sums of money make claims on our virtue through the utter absence of industry. This sort of perception provides great context for Conrad's ethic of labor. Self-important and self-indulgent characters . . . but are we really expected to feel sympathy for these characters? I think Fitzgerald fairly obviously hopes to demonstrate the pain of an entire way of life, rather than involve us in the melodrama of a few players. The super wealthy are as rotten now as they were in the twenties, and this book is still gently compelling. I did not find it boring at all; it leads the reader through the agonies of the bored, but she is sustained by Fitzgerald's aesthetically perfect language.   hide

Much different, and slower, than the more beloved Gatsby, but still absolutely brilliant. If you don't appreciate it for its astute insights and wonderful character studies of Nicole's reassertion of her strength and Dick's tragic demise, you still can't deny Fitzgerald's incredibly lyricism and amazing way with words. As a whole, the novel isn't just a masterpiece in terms of its intelligence,...more

Much different, and slower, than the more beloved Gatsby, but still absolutely brilliant. If you don't appreciate it for its astute insights and wonderful character studies of Nicole's reassertion of her strength and Dick's tragic demise, you still can't deny Fitzgerald's incredibly lyricism and amazing way with words. As a whole, the novel isn't just a masterpiece in terms of its intelligence, but in terms of its beauty, as well. “We won’t go into that. Listen to me—this business about a girl is a delusion, do you understand that word?” “It’s always a delusion when I see what you don’t want me to see.”   hide

This book captures what those moments that lead up to the end of those train -wreck relationships; the ones that end in one or both partners cheating. It showcases the vanities that can cause what was once beautiful to corrode and turn ugly. It is sure to have special meaning to anyone betrayed by a lover. Fitzgerald once told his editor that compared to the Great Gatsby, this book was "...a...more

This book captures what those moments that lead up to the end of those train -wreck relationships; the ones that end in one or both partners cheating. It showcases the vanities that can cause what was once beautiful to corrode and turn ugly. It is sure to have special meaning to anyone betrayed by a lover. Fitzgerald once told his editor that compared to the Great Gatsby, this book was "...a testament." Any book is what the reader makes it, and for me this was a testament; a testament to the heart's fortitude in times of trial and betrayal. It was simply moving. I'll own a copy as long as I am able, to remind me of my own past.    hide