Tender Is the Night vs This Side of Paradise: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: American Manuscripts, Facsimiles, Manuscripts, Romance, Fiction
Tender Is the Night
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A psychiatrist, Dick Diver, treats and eventually marries a wealthy patient, Nicole. Eventually, this marriage destroys him.
This Side of Paradise
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This Side of Paradise, F. Scott Fitzgerald's romantic and witty first novel, was written when the author was only twenty-three years old. This semi-autobiographical story of the handsome, indulged, and idealistic…
Side by side
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- This Side of Paradise is the quickest read — about 4 hours vs 7 for Tender Is the Night.
- Tender Is the Night has the widest readership — 153550 ratings behind its score.
- Tender Is the Night runs the darker storyline; This Side of Paradise stays the lighter read.
How to choose
Scores by source
| Tender Is the Night | This Side of Paradise | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 3.8 (153550) | 3.6 (81836) |
| Hardcover | 3.7 (148) | 3.6 (102) |
| Apple Books | 4.0 (163) | 4.0 (223) |
Reception
| Tender Is the Night | This Side of Paradise | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 153550 | 81836 |
| Editions | 312 | 631 |
| Citations | — | 3 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 239033 | 112497 |
| Reading it now | 10782 | 10247 |
| Written reviews | 8884 | 5892 |
| Wikipedia attention | 12232 | 7674 |
| Pages | 399 | 252 |
Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: Tender Is the Night or This Side of Paradise?
Tender Is the Night has the higher combined reader rating across sources (Tender Is the Night 3.8/5, This Side of Paradise 3.6/5).
Which is shorter to read: Tender Is the Night or This Side of Paradise?
This Side of Paradise is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: This Side of Paradise (252 pages, ≈ 4 h 40 m); Tender Is the Night (399 pages, ≈ 7 h 23 m).
Which is harder to read: Tender Is the Night or This Side of Paradise?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — Tender Is the Night: Challenging; This Side of Paradise: Moderate.
Have both books been made into films?
Tender Is the Night: 1 film adaptation; This Side of Paradise: no film adaptation on record.