Tender is the Night

Hold on to your hats boys and girls, this book is a wonderful and exciting ride into the difficult and compelling relationship of Nicole and Dick Driver. Not to spoil the story or anything but the book is set into 3 parts, the first shows Dick and Nicole's relationship from outsiders eyes (though we do get to see their inner thoughts and feelings as well), the second goes a bit back in time to explain some of the queries the first part raised and the third is a conclusion of sorts. It is a powerful story and exploration into one of the big questions - is love ever enough. Relationships erode as we all know, but it is this underlying belief that some people have that love is all conquering, all powerful when really it isn't. Outside pressures and the true self (as Dick discovers) is more powerful than love, love is not something constant for the Driver's it is a battle sometimes.

I hope I don't ruin this for anyone, but the story is about Nicole who is schizophrenic and Dick is her doctor, or at least he was for a while and now he has married her, he is her full time carer. When understood in this light it is easy to understand Dick's own feelings and constant need to find amusement, a break from reality as well as his constant need for approval.

Well I'm not explaining this very well but I would definitely recommend it to anyone interested in Fitzgerald and his works. It is a fantastic piece of literature that is not pretentious but is honest and true to life's little truths. On finishing this novel I decided however, to take a break from Fitzy boy because one cannot read too many books of this nature, you would begin to loose faith in the human condition. Instead I am now reading a lovely hilarious books called The Moving Toyshop not to be confused with The Magic Toyshop by Angela Carter which is brilliant too, but not quite the same. I shall write about that one when I finish it, but for now good-bye I am off to the races (or well to do something else).

The Great Gastby

So my first Fitzgerald has come and gone, quick read to be honest and a rather heavy one after so many romance novels and easy reading. I liked it a lot though, while I may inherently dislike Daisy (even from the beginning) and her husband (ugh!) I enjoyed the narrators tone and the exploration of characters during a specific setting and time. Gastby himself is a mystery and I felt at the end that his death was a sad coincidence after all he had to deal with and I really wanted to hear more about his life. But that is what great literature can do. It can prolong out interest in a character after his death, after the end of the novel. Still I wonder about him in a haunting way. (if you hadn't noticed I seem to enjoy rather haunting characters and books that stay with you - its a flaw).

It has inspired me to read Tender is the Night (a book I am informed that is loosely based on Fitzgerald's own relationship with Zelda his wife) next. I have a very battered copy of it that has a creepy woman depicted twice as if she is reflected in a mirror or something, however her eyes and face look different in both images. Spooky!!!! I hope it is as good as Great Gastby, as I really enjoyed it.