Tender Is the Night in Who Doesn't Love a Classic?

Jun 06, 2014 Jen rated it really liked it

Shelves: 1001, 1001-challenge

Tender is the Night is the story of the gradual deterioration of a relationship set in 1920s Europe. On the surface, the Dick and Nicole Diver are the perfect couple and exemplars of elegance and sophistication. As the novel progresses, cracks in the surface start to appear in their seemingly perfect relationship and lives. We first see the couple through the eyes of Rosemary Hoyt, a young Hollywood actress who becomes infatuated with Dick Diver when she meets the Divers in the French Riviera. F ...more

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Mar 22, 2017 Lynn L rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 1001-challenge, audio-book

Slow in some places for me.

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Dec 14, 2011 Book Concierge rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: concierge, library, classic, italy, audio, france

The novel tells the story of the Nicole and Dick Diver, a wealthy, American couple living in Europe in the early 20th century. As the story opens they are introduced to a young movie actress, Rosemary, who is infatuated with Dick and with the lifestyle the Divers and their friends enjoy. Slowly Rosemary, and the reader, watches the Divers鈥� marriage disintegrate, and Dick, in particular, descend into alcoholic despair.

There is no question that Fitzgerald could write brilliantly. It is a complex ...more

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Nov 15, 2014 ~Calyre~ rated it liked it

Shelves: movies, read-in-2014, 1001-books, american-literature

Contrairement aux amants, ils n'avaient pas de pass茅. Contrairement aux 茅poux, ils n'avaient pas d'avenir. ...more

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Apr 13, 2013 Sara rated it really liked it

Shelves: america, 1001-books, modern-classics

In typical Fitzgerald fashion, Tender is the Night, is a novel of both excess and haunting tragedy. It tells the story of a much loved couple, the Divers, living a life of leisure in the French Riviera. Dick is a well-respected psychologist and his wife Nicole, the wealthy daughter of an important Chicago family. The spend their days lounging on the beach, surrouned by a cotierre of friends, and it is there that they first meet a young American actress, Rosemary. She instantly falls in love with In typical Fitzgerald fashion, Tender is the Night, is a novel of both excess and haunting tragedy. It tells the story of a much loved couple, the Divers, living a life of leisure in the French Riviera. Dick is a well-respected psychologist and his wife Nicole, the wealthy daughter of an important Chicago family. The spend their days lounging on the beach, surrouned by a cotierre of friends, and it is there that they first meet a young American actress, Rosemary. She instantly falls in love with them both, a spends a magnificent summer with the two of them. Yet by the time all are ready to leave their summer playground, it has become apparent that not all is as it seems with this perfect couple.

I found myself quite conflicted about this novel. It is broken down into three parts. The first book tells the story of the summer Rosemary met and spent with the Divers, while the second flashes back to the past when Dick and Nicole first met, the early years of their marriage, and finally five years into the future. The final book brings its all together, connecting all the pieces.

I really struggled with the first portion of this book. It seemed nothing more than a tedious description of one silly party, shopping trip, or trite private exchange after another. I was unsure if I could even continue, but this is Fitzgerald, and I know from my past experiences reading his novels, there is always more than you first realize. So I put the book down and did a little research into the background of the book, hoping it would compell me to continue. What I learned was that is considered by some to be a semi-autobiographical account of his marriage and that was enough to give me a sense that there really would be more if I just kept going. I found the second two sections, in utter contrast to the first, completely compelling, renewing my faith in Fitzgerald. If like me, you find yourself reading this book and saying what is the whole point, I strongly urge you to continue. That first book is definitely tiresome, but it the linchpin upon which the whole denouement rests. Without it, this novel wouldn't be half the beautifully romantic tragedy that it is. ...more

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Jun 19, 2014 Lara rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: classic, psychology, mental-illness, marriage, wealth

Fitzgerald鈥檚 last novel is a tale of Dick and Nicole Diver. We are introduced to them through the eyes of Rosemary, an actress who is as naive as she is young and sees them as the ideal couple. Soon though we learn that they are far from it. Dick is a doctor of psychiatry and Nicole his patient. In what was inevitably a very unwise decision, Dick married her in an attempt to be her treating doctor for life and also to fulfill some father-figure role that both Nicole and he have the need for in b ...more

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Jan 25, 2016 Mark rated it it was amazing

Shelves: social, commentary, psychology, relationships, marriage

This was a moving, tender (sic) story that makes me wish I had never read The Great Gatsby and been so disillusioned by Fitzgerald. Sad but wonderful story.

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