At first, I didn't like this book at all. I found all the rich, pretentious, beautiful people lounging away on the French Riviera extremely annoying. Only with about fifty pages or so left does Fitzgerald begin to reveal that the character of Dick Diver is just as tragic as the great Gatsby. Moreover, Nicole is treated well, also - she is not the shadow-thin shallow ghost of a green light that Daisy was. She is also easy to sympathize with. Of course, I will always have to fall on the side of the Jay Gatsbys and Dick Divers, if my loyalties must be tested. With the possible exception of Nicole, Fitzgerald's women seem to only be downfall-bringing sirens, strident birds that chirp too loudly, or flat cardboard cutouts of actual human beings.
Tolstoy still did adulterous relationships among unstable adults best in Anna Karenina. It's hard not to sympathize with everyone in that book.
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2 comments:
I love Fitzgerald's books. I hardly remember Tender is the Night, but the Great Gatsby and This Side of Paradise are among some of my favorite books ever.
I think I just have a thing for the Jazz age.
if you have a thing for the jazz age, you should try Twilight Sleep by Edith Wharton. it's so satirical and humane at the same time. not as delicate as her other works, not subtle at all, but rather in your face mockery.
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