F. Scott Fitzgerald

As we both were reading F. Scott Fitzgerald novels (Ernie- The Great Gatsby and Sandra- Tender is the Night) we thought we would take this opportunity to write a combined post on him and these two novels. 

Ernie:  First of all, I cheated.  I did not read The Great Gatsby, rather I listened to it driving back and forth to work.  Every other time I have tried listening to an audio book, I have found it difficult to pay attention, my mind would wander and I would have to run it back to see where the reader and I parted company.  Not this time.

I believe Fitzgerald wrote The Great Gatsby to be read aloud.  The narrative sounded like a good friend sharing in confidence something that actually happened to him.  Fitzgerald’s ear for dialogue came alive and I found myself looking forward to finding out what was about to happen next.

You know something terrible is going to happen and it couldn’t happen to anyone more deserving.  These inhabitants of West Egg and East Egg, Long Island are despicable.  They are so rich and so bored and so self-absorbed that they can’t see just how miserable they really are.  I can’t say I ever came to care about any of these people but the story demanded my attention.  Every chapter was full of foreboding but not in a heavy handed style.

Of course the book revolves around Mr. Gatsby but we don’t really get to meet him until well into the story.  We meet Nick, who introduces us to Daisy, her husband Tom and their friend Jordan.  As we travel to and from New York City, we meet Tom’s mistress, most of her family, some underworld figures and a whole bunch of party people.  Gatsby loves parties and party people just adore Gatsby, even though no one really knows much about him.  But Daisy knows…and Tom wants to find out.

I had avoided reading The Great Gatsby mostly because I was never a big Robert Redford fan.  (It makes sense to me.)  I shouldn’t have, it’s a great story and very well written.  I recommend you read it or, better yet, get an audio copy and really enjoy it.

Sandra:  On Tender is the Night I haven’t been able to figure out what I make of it yet.  I had previously read The Great Gatsby and would call that a great book.  Tender is the Night not so much.  It is about an American couple living in Europe in the 1920’s.  Of course they have lots of money and go all kinds of magnificent places (Paris, Montreux in Switzerland, the French Riveria, Monte Carlo, etc.) but all that money can’t buy you happiness apparently.  It is written in three parts, the first part midway through their marriage, the second part recounts how they have come to be together and then picks up again where the first part left off and then there is a third part after Dick’s run in with the Italian police.   He is a psychiatrist and Nicole has been his patient and they have married and had a couple of children.  She has recurring bouts of mental instability and though they’ve allegedly got some great love for each other, they are not able to maintain it. 

I can’t deny that Fitzgerald writes in a way that sometimes connects with me as a reader

“—This is what I’ll get if I begin saying what I think, Dick said to himself.” 

“ Well, you never knew exactly how much space you occupied in people’s lives.”

“…the American Woman, aroused, stood over him; the clean-sweeping irrational temper that had broken the moral back of a race and made a nursery out of a continent, was too much for him.”

 but a good deal of the time I have very little to absolutely no idea what he is talking about.  And not just the parts that are written in French--with no English translation--like oh sure, we all read French fluently. 

I would have a very hard time recommending to anyone that they spend their time reading this book.  It wasn’t horrible, but I’m not sure I see the point.  It all seems rather self-indulgent on Fitzgerald’s part.   If you are familiar at all with the romance of Fitzgerald and his wife, Zelda you may remember something about her being mentally ill and institutionalized off and on and his drinking a lot.  I’m guessing this book was some sort of catharsis for Fitzgerald and people who knew the couple may have gained some sort of insight into their lives, but the rest of us might just take a pass.  For those really interested (I'm not, so I haven't but in case you are...) you might try reading Zelda Fitzgerald’s only published novel Save Me the Waltz which apparently gives her spin on their marriage much as Tender is the Night give’s F. Scott Fitzgerald’s take. He was apparently furious upon reading her novel, perhaps not because it revealed intimate details of their lives but because he was going to use much of the same material in his novel and I guess he didn’t want her stealing his thunder or some such nonsense.

Next week:  We jointly read another humdinger - "Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad.  If you are one of those who watch "American Idol" not to hear great singers but for the nasty things they say about people you'll enjoy our thoughts on this book!