YMMV / Tender Is the Night

• Harsher in Hindsight:
  • The novel's ending, with Dick Diver fading into obscurity after Nicole leaves him and he's overcome by his alcoholism, is eerily similar to Fitzgerald's final fate. He eventually seperated from Zelda, his alcoholism grew out of control and he died in a state of relative obscurity.
  • The ending's sole happy aspect, that Nicole leaves Dick and becomes genuinely happy with a new husband, didn't reflect the final outcome of Nicole's inspiration, Zelda Fitzgerald. Zelda was locked up in an insane asylum for the rest of her days, then dying when a fire broke out in said asylum.
• Vindicated by History: Many critics disliked the novel's use of Anachronic Order on its first release, prompting Fitzgerald's plan to revise the entire work into a more conventional chronological narrative. This edition was completed by Malcolm Cowley after Fitzgerald's death and released in 1951 - by which time critics had warmed up to the original edition of the book. Cowley's version is now held in lesser esteem than the original.

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