“ The drink made past happy things contemporary with the present, as if they were still going on, contemporary even with the future as if they were about to happen again. ”
F. Scott Fitzgerald, Tender Is the Night (1934). copy citation
| Author | F. Scott Fitzgerald |
|---|---|
| Source | Tender Is the Night |
| Topic | past drinking memory |
| Date | 1934 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | |
| Weblink | http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks03/0301261h.html |
Context
“A little later, with the exquisite manners of the alcoholic that are like the manners of a prisoner or a family servant, he said good-by to an acquaintance, and turning around discovered that the bar's great moment was over as precipitately as it had begun.
Across from him the Dane and his companions had ordered luncheon. Abe did likewise but scarcely touched it. Afterwards, he just sat, happy to live in the past. The drink made past happy things contemporary with the present, as if they were still going on, contemporary even with the future as if they were about to happen again.
At four the chasseur approached him: "You wish to see a colored fellow of the name Jules Peterson?"
"God! How did he find me?"
"I didn't tell him you were present."
"Who did?"” source
Across from him the Dane and his companions had ordered luncheon. Abe did likewise but scarcely touched it. Afterwards, he just sat, happy to live in the past. The drink made past happy things contemporary with the present, as if they were still going on, contemporary even with the future as if they were about to happen again.
At four the chasseur approached him: "You wish to see a colored fellow of the name Jules Peterson?"
"God! How did he find me?"
"I didn't tell him you were present."
"Who did?"” source
Meaning and analysis
