This Side of Paradise

I must admit that it has been a few years since I last read any of F Scott Fitzgerald’s works, so it made a pleasant change to re-read this book. This particular novel was the last complete one that was published by Fitzgerald in his lifetime. In some ways this book is semi-autobiographical, that is if you look at what was happening in the Fitzgerald’s lives at around the time that this was first thought of and writing started.To most people The Great Gatsby is considered to be Fitzgerald’s masterpiece; however he himself considered this book to be, although it was met with some very mixed reactions by the reading public at the time. It has to be admitted though that as the yeas have gone by this book has met with a greater appreciation and enjoyment by later generations.Set in the Twenties we first meet Dick and Nicole Diver in a small relatively out of the place resort on the Riviera, a few miles from Cannes. As new film star Rosemary Hoyt and her mother come to the nearest hotel for a break so Rosemary comes across the Divers, and takes an instant liking to Dick. As we follow this episode we see that she starts to become aware of something perhaps a little strange in the Diver marriage.Quite complex in its structure, and taking in how Dick and Nicole came together this has a lot to offer readers. If you take away the Jazz Age and the wealth of the characters here, then the issues raised are still as relevant today as when this was first written. We have mental illness, child sex abuse, extra-marital relationships, keeping up appearances and people behaving badly abroad, all of which still goes on, and other subjects raised.With some really well fleshed out characters we also see how Dick Diver, who should be the most stable character here slowly becomes worn down, more introspective and turning to alcohol. The two leading ladies in this book, Nicole and Rosemary become much stronger and self confident as the story goes on, becoming more the type of modern woman that we are familiar with today. An ideal book to read any time, this also gives you more than enough to contemplate and discuss within a book group setting.

Well after years of citing The Great Gatsby as my favourite novel I thought it was time to read some more Fitzgerald to qualm feelings of Charlatanism. Not that I was expecting Gatsby to be surpassed in anyway, but I'd heard that this was the only other novel of F Scott's that can really be held up to it. Does it hold up?Well not really no. It is a work of moments rather than a consumate masterpiece in its own right. Not that those moments are fleeting or sparse. Although a work of rather grand ambitions in its seventy or so chapters, they are for the most short, concise and rich in content and emotion. I'm sure fans of Gatsby are so because of its near perfect structure and pace, with each sentance holding insight, drama and pure beauty in its verse like prose. It has no fat to be trimmed to be sure.This is where Tender has some failings. The three part strucutre feels a little needless. The real meat of the story lies in the second and third parts as we learn more of Dick and Nicole's past, future ambitions and ultimately the realisation of the failure of their respective needs in their doomed marriage. Part one by comparison does little but set the scene of idealism, through both the serene and virbrant Riviera backdrop and the virginal eyes of the young Rosemary Hoyt. And indeed Rosemary herself, despite being such a central and integral character in the story, never really develops beyond plot device. Her unfaltering imfatuation with Dick and her somewhat creepy obedience to her mother's wishes sits somewhat uneasy with the reader. It isnt until she leaves the story and the end of this first part, that the story and Fitzgerald's writing and insight picks up emotional pace.SPOILER ALERT!!By the close Dick Diver himself can be held in the same vein as Gatsby to some extent as a doomed and tragic figure, in the failure of his overeaching ambition and eventual demise (albeit not an actual deat this time). But while Gatsby is painted by Nick Carraway as somekind of enigma, an innocent of soul in a soceity of the morally redundant, by comparison Dick Diver's eventual decent into alcoholism and general misanthropy is somewhat more nasty and creul. There is no sugar to help this pill go down. Interesting that this was written toward the end of Fitzgeralds life, when commercial failures and personal demons plagued him, while Gatsby was written when he was younger, on the up and full of a burning ambition still. Maybe this is the point. Maybe I am still to young to fully appreciate this. I'll come back to it in twenty years maybe when I am as bitter and twisted as Dick Diver is by the end of his marriage and career.

Book arrived quickly. These Collins Classics are of lesser quality than you expect of a Penguin Classic for instance, but then they are usually cheaper.Just for your information - this is the original version of the book - the one that starts at the hotel - and not the later version with the potted history at the beginning. Most people think that this original version was the better one, and F Scott Fitzgerald should have left it alone.

I did not realise that great old classics such as this 'Tender is the Night' TV series would be available on DVD. And yet some lovely people have decided to transfer it to DVD from their VHS tapes. Considering what's involved, the quality is fairly decent, with a bit of adjustment as to brightness, contrast and colour of course! Very pleased to have it, I would recommend this seller without hesitation.

5 stars. Product arrived swiftly and exactly as advertised. A fantastic, but sad novel for a bargain.