Gatsby had been on my iPad library for several months now. I started it one day while in a hair salon but couldn´t concentrate enough. Now, having finished it less than a week ago, I can say I really did enjoy this classic. For my personal taste it was a bit too short - I would´ve prefered a longer peak into the lives of Gatsby, Daisy, and the protagonist and first person narrator Nick. It was beautifully written, full of rather complex constructions so characteristic to Fitzgerald.
So, I reached for a book I didn´t even know I had in my bookshelf until my mum recommended it to me: Tender is the Night. I have to admit, it left a much greater impression than Gatsby and that on it´s own says a lot. Starting the book I found it interesting how the storyline mainly focused on the Divers but Rosemary was the narrator. I have always enjoyed stories that are pieced together from different bits, where the timeline is somewhat jagged and wrecked to make a beautiful whole in the end. This didn´t disappoint.
Tender is the Night is a sad book. Utterly devastating at times but brilliant. It contained much of Fitzgerald´s own life and the writer´s journey with his beloved wife Zelda. As she herself has said - and I quote - "it makes me very sad - largely because of the beautiful, beautiful writing."
It is a story of Nicole and Dick Diver, the handsome, rich and glamorous couple living in the French Riviera. This, though, is just the facade they are putting up for the outside world. Nicole is a diagnosed schizophrenic and Dick a psychiatrist who fell in love with the patient. Over the course of years well spent together the man grows tired of looking after his wife, ever so helpless and finds himself on a staircase of doom - spiraling down till the very bottom.
As I previously mentioned, the whole story is told in a very Fitzgerald-like way. I am sure many people are not the biggest fan of his style of writing and while I find it hard to follow at times it is also immensely enjoyable. Just an example: rather than say "he became relaxed" this great author writes "he assumed the posture of one relaxed".
"A man knows things and when he stops knowing things he´s like anybody else and the thing is to get power before he stops knowing things." Through these simple words Fitzgerald manages to phrase one of the most powerful quotes in the book. Power is the keyword in a way. Having power over your own feelings, actions, controlling your inner disputes and solving the conflicts of one´s mind.
In the last portion of the book Fitzgerald suggests that Dick had "found a delight in his own anonymity". It is a sad and a compelling idea at the same time. The once brilliant young doctor who yearned for attention had become one to feel happiness to be left on the background, to enjoy the pleasures of staying hidden and being the force behind the curtains. There is also a powerful quote from Nicole in the third and final book (Tender is the Night is sectioned into three books) which goes: "I´m not really complicated, I´m just a whole lot of different simple people". This sums her up. At the same time she both wants to know and already knows, loves and despises, adores and relents. She is a schizo. She is several people and that is what drives the wedge between her and her husband.
The main plot finishes with this section. "The cas was finished. Doctor Diver was at liberty." Nicole had become a burden. The love never leaves but the pain becomes just too strong to handle. It is said that Dick had chosen Ophelia. He had chosen a difficult life.
The story offers several interesting side characters that each deserve a spin off story of their own such as Tommy, Baby Warren, Abe and Mary.
I could talk about this book for hours and hours. It was an amazing experience.
0 comments:
Post a Comment