Old Books, New Readers discussion

Hello everyone!

This week's reading is about, Book 3: Chapters 1-13

Feel free to post your thoughts here.

Young Dick craves a crowd. Old man Dick (view spoiler)[goes from small town to smaller (hide spoiler)]

F. Scott put it best..."Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me."

After finishing this book I only gave it 3 stars. It was an OK book for me. Some good parts, and some parts I didn't care for. I'm not big on affairs, I guess. Dr. Diver had such a promising career as a psychologist, but then ended up not doing much of anything. Except help Nicole. That could be considered his greatest accomplishment. Well, that and his two kids... But, he did disappear out of their lives, so maybe not the kids... I thought Fitzgerald was a good writer so I would definitely try reading some of his other works. :)

So Gatsby told us to make more time for relationships... now Diver teaches us don't put so much into it you lose your career?

I'm getting mixed signals from this writer.

Frederick Frankenstein wrote: "So Gatsby told us to make more time for relationships... now Diver teaches us don't put so much into it you lose your career?

I'm getting mixed signals from this writer."

Maybe he's trying to say make time for them but don't let them become you consume you (i.e. co-dependence).

My feeling was that this book was interesting at times but it wasn't something that overall I loved.

Kimberly wrote: "After finishing this book I only gave it 3 stars. It was an OK book for me. Some good parts, and some parts I didn't care for. I'm not big on affairs, I guess..."

I just finished and felt the same as most of you! If you haven't looked up Scott and Zelda's story, it's an eye opener. Zelda wrote here own version of this story in her only novel, Save Me the Waltz. I wonder how autobiographical it is, and how similar it is to Tender Is the Night.

Here's my review:
This book is an open heart surgery and I'm afraid our patient is not going to survive. The writing is good in and of itself, but because he lived it, it is really raw and exposed. If this wasn't semi-autobiographical I would ask, "What is the point?" because there is little in the way of a plotline. But after looking up Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, knowing that it comes from his life makes the book a lot better. It was a little too tawdry for my taste--people getting drunk and ruining their lives, married people sleeping around, random murders. But the sickly sweet taste of soap drama is definitely cut but the tart and bitter emotion of it all. I think he's a brilliant writer and I would like to try another of his novels (since there are only five). Amazing writing, mournful story.

Any thoughts on the title? "Tender Is the Night"? I looked up the quote at the beginning (it's from Ode to a Nightingale by Keats) and found this on Wikipedia:

"The nightingale described within the poem experiences a type of death but does not actually die. Instead, the songbird is capable of living through its song, which is a fate that humans cannot expect. The poem ends with an acceptance that pleasure cannot last and that death is an inevitable part of life. In the poem, Keats imagines the loss of the physical world and sees himself dead—as a "sod" over which the nightingale sings. The contrast between the immortal nightingale and mortal man sitting in his garden, is made all the more acute by an effort of the imagination."

Here's the quote again from the book:

"Already with thee! tender is the night. . .
. . . But here there is no light,
Save what from heaven is with the breezes blown
Through verdurous glooms and winding mossy ways."

I hope that helps.

Daniel wrote: "Kimberly wrote: "After finishing this book I only gave it 3 stars. It was an OK book for me. Some good parts, and some parts I didn't care for. I'm not big on affairs, I guess..."

I just finished ..."

Nice review, thanks for participating. It's always nice to read a new or different perspective on a book. :)

Just finished Tender is the Night as part of my catch-up challenge. Interesting to see how close it mirrored many aspects of the lives of F. Scott Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda.

Trivia - also learned that F. Scott Fitzgerald was christened Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald and was a distant relative of his! Always wondered what the F stood for!