McNally Jackson independent bookstore in New York City

The 12th book I read in 2023 was ‘Tender is the night’ by F. Scott. Fitzgerald. This is a beautifully written tale of moral complexity, human relationships, and their seemingly inevitable decline.

While I love The Great Gatsby and read it every year, it occurred to me that I haven’t read much else of Fitzgerald. As it happened, this book was recommended by ChatGPT to read as the next Fitzgerald book. It really enjoyed it. It can get difficult to read at times as Dick’s behavior becomes increasingly difficult to comprehend. He leaves so many broken in the wake of his ambition and alcohol addiction. There are too many parties and a lot of alcohol and not enough plot but that might be a part of the point. This book, published in 1934, 9 years after Gatsby, is significantly different in tone but very similar in characterization and themes. What ‘Gatsby’ has going for it is that it is tight whereas ‘Tender’ is more exploratory and circumspect specially of its hero but also of its intent.