Tender Is the Night

De: F. Scott Fitzgerald

Narrado por: Therese Plummer

Published in 1934, Tender Is the Night was one of the most talked-about books of the year. "It's amazing how excellent much of it is," Ernest Hemingway said to Maxwell Perkins. "I will say now," John O'Hara wrote Fitzgerald, "Tender Is the Night is in the early stages of being my favorite book, even more than This Side of Paradise." And Archibald MacLeish exclaimed: "Great God, Scott...You are a fine writer. Believe it - not me." Set on the French Riviera in the late 1920s, Tender Is the Night is the tragic romance of the young actress Rosemary Hoyt and the stylish American couple Dick and Nicole Diver. A brilliant young psychiatrist at the time of his marriage, Dick is both husband and doctor to Nicole, whose wealth goads him into a lifestyle not his own, and whose growing strength highlights Dick's harrowing demise. A profound study of the romantic concept of character - lyrical, expansive, and hauntingly evocative - Tender Is the Night, Mabel Dodge Luhan remarked, raised F. Scott Fitzgerald to the heights of a "modern Orpheus".

©1933, Charles Scribner's Sons (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

Reseñas de la Crítica

"Plummer's skill with varied voices and accents is without equal. She navigates Fitzgerald's glamorous world with panache, immersing the listener in the intense characters' personalities. The result is an entertaining production in which the narrative is as alive as the characters themselves." ( AudioFile)

A Perfect Prelude to The Tour

After struggling through Henry James' "The Ambassadors", I was pleasantly relieved to discover that the next book on the list of the Modern Library Top 100 was to be a Fitzgerald work. Having endured two James works in a row where every character was tedious and unlikeable, Fitzgerald's characters are, if nothing else, interesting.

It may be unfair to tear so harshly into James as his writing is so beautiful but his characters are utterly disdainful and calculating. With Fitzgerald, even if the characters are terrible, they are at least terribly interesting. Like James, Fitzgerald draws so many characters from real people in his life. But unlike James, at least they are living life.

if merely by chance or by design, James' Ambassadors and Fitzgerald's Tender being placed adjacent to each other on the Top 100 list , provided an opportunity of contrast. Both are set in the South of France about 30 years apart. And though both are drawn from autobiographical elements of each writer's lives, the span of time, the separation of a generation, reveals very different types of Americans abroad .

James' characters are the children of the post American Civil War industrialists who've sent their children abroad for education in medicine and the arts while Fitzgerald's Americans are those in Europe in Post World War I. While the earlier generation of Americans were becoming Europeanized, these Americans are thriving in a Europe that seems to be growing more Americanized.

As psychiatry has bred new opportunities to draw wealthy Americans to Europe for discreet and very expensive spa centered therapies, the vulgarities and excesses of Americans, once a great embarrassment to the previous generation, have becomes monetized oddities as displayed by the accommodation of U.S. sailors laying a 12 hour seige to a French Riviera town of debauchery because of the massive cash windfall from well paid sailors who would leave behind months of pay in half a day.

Tender Is the Night was Fitzgerald's last novel and what he considered his masterpiece though initially given a lukewarm reception. The deteriorating mental state of his wife Zelda and the care she was undergoing are an inspirational theme of the relationship between the central characters Dick and Nicole Diver.

While concerned that I was going to have to endure another tedious Americans abroad tale, the generational shift, these 20th century versus 19th Century Americans, reveal the profound change Americans had on the space they occupied. By example, a minor and somewhat negative subplot was the acknowledgement of African American thriving in Europe whereas they weren't even acknowledged by James.

Likewise, while a sprite two horse carriage was the height of transportation with James, fast moving luxury cars and reckless drivers punctuate the action in Tender.

On a personal note, I was finishing Tender is the Night just prior to the start of this year's Tour de France and was pleasantly surprised by a reference to the event passing just outside the Diver's South of France hotel. It just lended a sense of connection to the story and the characters for me.

See past the overt racism for masterful character development

Poetic and livid descriptions of humankind, you must consider the era in which it was written to see past the overt racism. Much like Twain in that regard but nobody breathes life into a character better than Fitzgerald.

Deep and emotional

if you we're looking for more Gatsby, then this is not that.
What it is is considerably deeper and much more focused on individual character growth over the course of the 5+ years the story takes place in.

Fitzgerald did do an excellent job analyzing and portraying individual characters, emotions and their actions based on their past and current situations.
I'd recommend it overall, but it's definitely more of an adult read than teen based on depth alone. Subject matter isn't anything gruesome or explicit.

As for the audioboook, I found it hard to follow at times, and that could be due to the complex nature of the introspective way the story is told.
The narrator was not bad, but to me not especially wowing in my mind. I would on occasion lose track of who was talking.

A complex novel of adult themes

Fitzgerald struts his narrative prowess in Tender is the Night with richly crafted scenes and lively characters that feel constructed from realistic depths of understanding. It's a very complicated story just like most human lives, one that deals with adult relationships, the essence of attraction and love, and also the guilt of transgression. It's a very finely written work, and while no character in it is as memorable as Gatsby, you come to know Nicole Diver, Richard Diver, somewhat more intimately.

Absolutely stunning

Therese Plummer elevates Fitzgerald’s beautiful prose to godliness. I enjoyed this audiobook even more than my first read of the novel. A masterful performance.

Very Fitzgerald

I liked this more than I liked The Great Gatsby,but that is not saying much, as I didn't like the Great Gatsby. I find the characters one dimensional and unbelievable and unsympathetic. The story seems true to life, but true to life is not necessarily moving or interesting. The narration was very good and appropriate for the material.

I don't particularly love Hemingway but I always can see why those novels are considered great, and I appreciate that greatness. I just don't see or understand the greatness of Fitzgerald.

Captivating

Narrator fit this story perfectly and hats are flying off to F. Scott's conclusive work. In my honest opinion, his greatest work and worthy of any reader's attention!

I’ m a sucker for Fitzgerald

Fantastic! A story about money, cheating, loving—all wrapped up in shattered idealism. I really enjoyed the woman who narrated it. She acted it out wonderfully.

Great Novel

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes. This is a book about a life - the good, the bad, the relationships, the triumphs and the disasters. It is beautifully written and has so many phrases that stick in your memory.

What other book might you compare Tender Is the Night to and why?

There is no other book quite like this one. It is totally a 20th century book. Maybe the best of Henry James.

What about Therese Plummer’s performance did you like?

Yes. She managed to convey all of the emotional intensity of the pivotal moments in the story.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The end of the book is as moving as literature can get.

Any additional comments?

Too often, Fitzgerald is thought of as a one-book author, but this book deserves to be read and re-read.

Perfect Pair

Another great audiobook! A beautifully written story by one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century - it's a little long, but I sped it up with 1.25x. Therese Plummer (on of my favorite narrators) told an amazing story.