Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald

This month's book. I've read it before but reading it again is no hardship. I love this one.

Update: have been reading this in France where much of the novel is set. First, we're given a glimpse of the lives of the glamorous Divers - Dick and Rosemary - and the equally entertaining characters who are drawn in and drift out of their lives. On the face of it, their lives are on some level enviable. They're rich, beautiful, glamorous and entertaining. They live lives brimming with fun a pleasure.

Now that would be a dull book - like reading celebrity magazines back to back - I mean the first one might be mildly entertaining but after a while it's one photo and the same photo appears in the next mag and someone who knows just as much as you or me gives his or her interpretation - yawn...

TITN starts off by giving us a snapshot of this impossibly glitzy couple. And of course, it is impossible. When we are fed a little more, and as the story unfolds, we come to understand the extenuating and repellent circumstances upon which their relationship is built. We see that even the beautiful people are subject to the same pain we are and, with about a quarter of the book to go, nothing could induce me to be a part of their lives. To be continued.

UPDATE: We watch as the two main protagonists each change, act and react to their situations within the context of their relationship. As one grows stronger with an occasional dip, the other enters a slow, tortuous period of decline.

Out of interest - how many of us have a friend who, no matter how much we love him or her, drains us of our energy and good humour? To live with that and deal with it constantly must be incredibly hard work. Is this ultimately the effect Rosemary has on Dick or is he the master of his own destiny?

I think this is one of those books that alters your opinion of the situation with each reading.

The ending has a sad inevitability to it.

PS The language is rich and enriching. I occasionally need to reach for my dictionary but there's nothing wrong with that.