Tender is the Night - F. Scott Fitzgerald

Several years in composition, Tender is the Night was F. Scott Fitzgerald’s final completed novel. It is generally considered one of his more accomplished works and is currently available in two versions; my edition being the original 1934 one. The later version, published posthumously in 1951 by Michael Cowley, rearranges the events of the book into chronological order, thus altering much of the text. Fitzgerald himself had already started to revise his novel before his death, presumably due to negative public opinion on the temporal structure. After reading the impeccably crafted Gatsby, I was somewhat disappointed with Tender is the Night. By no means a bad novel, it simply could not stand up to the brilliance of its predecessor. The theme of consumerism and major economic change as symbolised by the disintegration of a relationship failed to provoke my interest. Unlike Gatsby, I found the central character of Dick Diver immensely unlikable, effectively obliterating any sense of pathos I may have felt.

The novel starts on a beach in the French Riviera where the wealthy Divers, Dick and his wife Nicole, share a luxury villa. Young actress Rosemary Hoyt arrives at the resort during a European tour and instantly falls for the charismatic Dick, as the other characters are similarly charmed by the couple’s simple elegance and the magnetism they exude. It soon becomes apparent that there is a sinister and troubled past behind the Diver’s seemingly harmonious relationship, one which gradually becomes revealed via the long flashback section in part two. Themes of incest, paedophilia and repression permeated the text, forming the fissures which threaten the flimsy facade of sanity and prosperity. The book is divided into three parts, each focusing on one of the main characters, first Rosemary, followed by Dick and then Nicole. Unable to relate to any of these characters, I subsequently failed to care what happened to them and found it difficult to engage with the plot. In short, it was not the page turner I had hoped for.

Aside from personal gripes about theme and content, the novel is as expertly written as Gatsby, although markedly inferior in format. The book came across as one that had been edited too many times over too long a period of time, losing its sheen and ‘tightness’ in the process. Perhaps the fragmented quality of the narrative was intentional to mirror Nicole’s mental illness but it made for some jarring reading. Now and again there would be passages of sheer abstraction which I struggled to make sense of and many of the subtler metaphors were lost on me. This elusiveness does encourage repeated readings and it would be interesting to compare the two different versions at some point. There is no getting around the fact that Tender is the Night is cleverly composed and beautifully written, so my personal indifference to the narrative will not prevent me from recommending it to others. For those with a biographical interest in Fitzgerald’s personal life, Tender is a veritable trove of insight. 

Rating: 2/5