I finished reading this a couple nights ago. It's my third Fitzgerald book and my least favorite so far. It had a strong Hemingway feel to it with the story about expatriates lounging around all the time somehow never having to work but always having money to do whatever they want, drinking booze, and being otherwise awful humans. The book is still really well written because it's Fitzgerald. And the characters are very complex. And Fitzgerald's observations about people and their interactions are top notch. And there were some interesting moments here and there. But I just can't get past the boring storyline and extremely dislikable characters. This book was finished during Fitzgerald's heavy alcoholism and after dealing with some of his wife's mental health issues and it comes out pretty clearly on the page and has a strong autobiographical feel to it. It's a pretty dark book.
My Fitzgerald book rankings are as follows:
1. The Great Gatsby (one of the all-time greats)
2. This Side of Paradise (a very impressive first novel)
3. Tender is the Night (well-written, but not enjoyable at all)
Some random quotes:
"Obviously he had created his wife's world, and allowed her few liberties in it."
"Most people think everybody feels about them much more violently than they actually do - they think other people's opinions of them swing through great arcs of approval and disapproval."
"Trouble is when you're sober you don't want to see anybody, and when you're tight nobody wants to see you."
"Sometimes it is harder to deprive oneself of a pain than of a pleasure"
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