"The Night is Tender" by Francis Scott Fitzgerald is a novel divided into three "books". In the first part, the action takes place on the French Riviera in the 1920s and introduces the reader to the main characters through the prism of their seemingly ideal lives.
My notes.
The plot
Young Hollywood actress Rosemary Hoyt arrives at the resort and falls under the spell of a brilliant couple — Dick Diver, a talented American psychiatrist, and his wife Nicole Warren, the heiress of a huge fortune. Dick and Nicole embody glamour, generosity and intelligence, and their villa becomes the center of social life. However, behind the facade of luxury, there are disturbing notes: Nicole suffers from mental disorders related to trauma from the past, and Dick, being her doctor and husband, is gradually losing himself, trying to maintain the illusion of stability. Rosemary falls in love with Dick, and becomes an unwitting witness to the growing contradictions in their relationship.
In the first book, under the masks of fun and beauty of everything around, one feels (I feel) that it will soon collapse. Anxiety increased slowly during reading, the reader realizes that nothing good is worth waiting for.
Interesting words and terms
«Dissipation» (распутство, растрата)
Часто используется для описания светской жизни героев. У Фицджеральда это не просто вечеринки, а метафора растраты души, таланта, времени.
«Fey»
«Проказливый», «призрачный» — так характеризуют Николь. Слово отсылает к её психической неустойчивости и почти мистической хрупкости.
«Anemic» (анемичный, бледный)
Применяется к атмосфере вечеринок, подчеркивая их искусственность и истощение («anemic gaiety» — «бледное веселье»).
Stylistic devices
Metaphors
«The beach, washed clean of yesterday’s footprints»
«The sun, drunk on its own power»
«Her smile was a crack in a porcelain vase»
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