Tender is the NightF. Scott Fitzgerald
1934
This edition published by Alma Classics.
Read for Jazz Age January and the Classics Club.
'Oh, we're such actors - you and I.'
I'm usually the first person to put my hand up and say 'I don't get it' (I'm looking at you, Joyce), and there were several points during my reading of Tender is the Night when I almost did find myself about to stick my hand in the air and say exactly that. Having said that, I can't deny that I enjoyed the experience. It was a tough slog occasionally, but overall not a slog I resented.
Tender is the Night is the story of Dick and Nicole Diver and their passionate but tumultuous relationship. One day Rosemary Hoyt, a young actress, arrives in their lives and sparks a series of events that reveal the cracks in their relationship and change their lives forever.
I found I was drawn to Nicole as I read Tender is the Night. The more I read, the more I wanted to know about her. Through the first part we see her from the perspective of various characters and I initially felt a bit puzzled by her (as, I think, many of the characters do). She seems quite enigmatic but at the same time very personable - an odd combination really. It was when I got to the second part of the novel that I really connected with her (and him) and started to feel like the novel was going somewhere. This second part goes back to the start of their relationship and how they met (in slightly dodgy and definitely frowned upon these days circumstances). Nicole is getting treatment for schizophrenia when she strikes up her friendship with Dr Dick Diver (who else adores that alliteration?!). This relationship structure (patient and doctor) is something that never goes away even after their marriage which leads to a restlessness and unhappiness felt by both. I couldn't help but think they were doomed from the start.
Fitzgerald's writing is, as ever, vivid and beautiful, but also incredibly sad. Particularly the ending. It is so quiet and understated - more like a winding down than an ending - and so suffused with melancholy that I actually felt a bit emotionally effected (I think empty describes the feeling well). I had another read of the final chapter before writing this and I'm still surprised by how powerful it is given that it isn't a shocking or dramatic ending. The final image of Dick living 'somewhere' in America, seemed such an apt way to end a novel that essentially follows the downfall of a man through his marriage.
I found I was drawn to Nicole as I read Tender is the Night. The more I read, the more I wanted to know about her. Through the first part we see her from the perspective of various characters and I initially felt a bit puzzled by her (as, I think, many of the characters do). She seems quite enigmatic but at the same time very personable - an odd combination really. It was when I got to the second part of the novel that I really connected with her (and him) and started to feel like the novel was going somewhere. This second part goes back to the start of their relationship and how they met (in slightly dodgy and definitely frowned upon these days circumstances). Nicole is getting treatment for schizophrenia when she strikes up her friendship with Dr Dick Diver (who else adores that alliteration?!). This relationship structure (patient and doctor) is something that never goes away even after their marriage which leads to a restlessness and unhappiness felt by both. I couldn't help but think they were doomed from the start.
Fitzgerald's writing is, as ever, vivid and beautiful, but also incredibly sad. Particularly the ending. It is so quiet and understated - more like a winding down than an ending - and so suffused with melancholy that I actually felt a bit emotionally effected (I think empty describes the feeling well). I had another read of the final chapter before writing this and I'm still surprised by how powerful it is given that it isn't a shocking or dramatic ending. The final image of Dick living 'somewhere' in America, seemed such an apt way to end a novel that essentially follows the downfall of a man through his marriage.
The more I think about this book, the less I am able to form actual coherent thoughts about it. I think my whole not getting it is part of that but I also feel like I just don't know how to think of it. I couldn't even tell you whether I liked it or not. How's that for a book review?! I think, in a nutshell, I am happy to have read it. It was a interesting experience and I think it is fascinating as a 'his' version alongside Zelda's 'her' version, Save Me the Waltz.
'I didn't mean that. But you used to want to create things - now you seem to want to smash them up.'
Have you had a more coherent response to Tender is the Night? If you have written a review leave the link below, I'd love to make more sense of it!
