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Tender Is the Night

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Tender Is the Night

By: F. Scott Fitzgerald
Narrated by: Therese Plummer
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About this listen

Published in 1934, Tender Is the Night was one of the most talked-about books of the year. "It's amazing how excellent much of it is," Ernest Hemingway said to Maxwell Perkins. "I will say now," John O'Hara wrote Fitzgerald, "Tender Is the Night is in the early stages of being my favorite book, even more than This Side of Paradise." And Archibald MacLeish exclaimed: "Great God, Scott...You are a fine writer. Believe it - not me." Set on the French Riviera in the late 1920s, Tender Is the Night is the tragic romance of the young actress Rosemary Hoyt and the stylish American couple Dick and Nicole Diver. A brilliant young psychiatrist at the time of his marriage, Dick is both husband and doctor to Nicole, whose wealth goads him into a lifestyle not his own, and whose growing strength highlights Dick's harrowing demise. A profound study of the romantic concept of character - lyrical, expansive, and hauntingly evocative - Tender Is the Night, Mabel Dodge Luhan remarked, raised F. Scott Fitzgerald to the heights of a "modern Orpheus".

©1933, Charles Scribner's Sons (P)2014 Audible, Inc. Classics Family Life Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Marriage Romance

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Critic reviews

"Plummer's skill with varied voices and accents is without equal. She navigates Fitzgerald's glamorous world with panache, immersing the listener in the intense characters' personalities. The result is an entertaining production in which the narrative is as alive as the characters themselves." ( AudioFile)
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I first read this many years ago, but on revisiting it I was disappointed. Too many sub plots that went nowhere (duel, shooting, murder). Found narrator very annoying too. Especially her attempts at American/Irish accent. Reminded me of Dick Van Dyke’s cockney accent in Mary Poppins. The English upper class accent even worse. I was relieved when I had finished it.

Disappointed

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I love the writing in this book and the narration was great. This was my second time reading it.

Beautiful writing

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Brought a nuanced world to life particularly good at the main characters
Recommended but with this reader.

Wonderful narration

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Fitzgerald has an elegant way with words that is very seductive. The plot in itself is quite layered, it brushes across the canvas with different strokes and colors. There’s a multitude of atmospheres and scenarios throughout the storyline that accompanies the characters not only through different cities around the world but also across distinct emotional landscapes. Unfortunately I found a great deal of it solely stylistic and graphically compelling. I realized that there’s a lot of personal investment from the author into this novel, the topics it leans over are also compelling to me but I didn’t love it. Perhaps I’ll manage to see through it differently on a secondary reading experience.
Towards the narration I feel a bit divided. Throughout the whole book I felt like she did a very good acting job, her male impressions were quite humorous and that allowed me to listen to longer stretches at a time and I valued that. But upon finishing the book I ask myself if that didn’t spoil a certain serious tone perhaps more suitable for the story.

Seductive, layered but not so fascinating

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This is one of those books you can re-read over and over, and get more from it each time.
Beautifully and intelligently read.

A merry-go-round of a book

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this really is a great book Therese narrates it perfectly I was a bit dissatisfied with the side story of Nicole's father though!

great

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impressive, very nice

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I managed to stay with it to the end and did derive some pleasure from it at times, but I agree almost 200% with the review left by Mark. I was left with a feeling of distaste towards all the characters to some degree.

A chore at times, not a pleasure.

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I knew nothing about this story and was frequently surprised by the sequence of events. It is an engaging and interesting story very well told

It is, in the main very well read by Therese Plummer who utilises a range of voices and accents to generally good effect. The one exception is the voice she gives to Dick Diver and given that he is the main character this is a problem. The accent changes frequently from full on American at some points all the way to something that sounds like a a bit like a comedy Scottish accent. I am not sure why she does this. The text refers to Dick's Irish heritage but a) this would not mean he would have anything other than an American accent given his birth and upbringing and b) the accent does not sound remotely Irish anyway.

A small complain maybe but unfortunately it really jarred!

Engaging story, beautifully crafted

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Language is superb & descriptive. Sad the story is finished.
Narrator great, so clear & concise.

Brilliant

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