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The Good Soldier | 
pickI listened to the audiobook of this book. I wanted a book to listen to when I am working on my blanket that I am crocheting. I enjoyed the narrator a lot. I like the book too. I wanted to try this author out before I read so more of his books. I rated this book a 3.75 out of 5 stars.
pickPublished in 1915 and regarded by many as his masterpiece this novel reflects upon the damage done by prewar sexual conventions. The story is told in a meandering way by an unreliable narrator and can be difficult to follow. Nonetheless a worthwhile read with beautiful writing and complex observations. I think FMF was advocating polyamory and that there is a touch of misogyny - the women shoulder the blame for the tragedies in the story
It is very difficult to give an all-round impression of any man I wonder how far I have succeeded with Edward ashburnham. I dare say I haven‘t succeeded at all. It is very difficult to see how such things matter. Was it the important point about poor Edward that he was well built , carried himself well, was moderate at the table and led a regular life-that he had in fact all the virtues that are usually accounted English
Picked this up in a charity shop and stopped in the sun to read a few pages on my cycle home. Instantly compelling!
pickThe narrator of this short novel, the hapless, yet somewhat suspicious John Dowell, charts the series of infidelities between another couple and his wife and the tragic deaths which befall many of the involved parties. Dowell seems to be both bystander and participant and possibly worse, although much is left to the reader to decide. Is Dowell a victim of tragedy or a serial murderer? What are his and the others' true motives? It's worth a read.
I am continuing to think a lot about this book, the characters and the relationships. It reminded me a lot of what Tolstoy amazingly did in “Anna Karenina”. Ford amazingly portrayed the full complexities of human emotions and relationships...all of the good, the bad and the ugly. Human nature is really, really difficult to understand and is in reality very messy. I will keep trying to figure this out but know I never fully will.
pickI found this book to be amazing. The psychotherapist part of me loved it the most. I may be wrong in this but I think those who do not do my job may not be aware that such toxic, incredible, unbelievable...people and relationships actually exist undercover among seemingly “normal”people. This novel is fiction but, truly, as Dowell says, “It‘s a queer and fantastic world...with broken,tumultuous lives” ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
#1001Bookstoreadbeforeyoudie
Lord knows, I wish I could stay home and finish reading this book. It is sooooo enjoyable!
I found another great book, written in first person narrative, that I am really enjoying. I am not trained in English literature and do not know what kind of writing this is but I love his descriptions of people and things.
pickI‘ve read two of Ford‘s novels now and they were both so good. It‘s so surprising to me that Ford has basically been forgotten at this point. His books deserve to be more widely read.
#maymoviemagic #younevercantell
#younevercantell what‘s at the heart of a novel when your protagonist narrator is naive of the truth himself! John Dowell‘s recollections of his role in the unravelling of a relationship may also be unreliable.
I loved this when I read it many years ago. But you know me, mad for a slow atmospheric classic with some awe inspiring sentences. 😋 I also loved The Fifth Queen. Any other fans out there?
pickI imagine this book would have been very scandalous for its time. Our narrator, John Dowell, tells the tale of he & his wife‘s friendship with the Ashburnhams & the subsequent affair between his wife & Edward A. He goes on to talk about many of Edward‘s dalliances and you get the feeling John at times envies Edward. While there is some tragedy, on a whole this book reads with lots of dry humor and naïveté.
⭐️⭐️⭐️?
#LitsyAtoZ #classic #LetterF
pick“This is the saddest story I‘ve ever heard” begins this novel, which talks about two couples and their disintegration as the world changes around them. It‘s a very short novel, but it manages to involve you in the world of this health spa and pre-WWI Europe in general. There‘s interesting gender dynamics in both relationships, considering the context of early 20th century.
#RoryGilmoresReadingChallenge
pickI was astonished by how much I liked this after struggling with Parade‘s End. A conversational tale of infidelity between one American and one English couple, told by the long-suffering American husband, or at least that‘s what he‘d have you believe....
#modernlibrarytop100
#tbrbingo update since I‘m not going to finish anything else by the end of the month
Progress is still slow! The biggest mistake I‘ve made is not including free spaces for #bookclub books.
Society must go on, I suppose, and society can only exist if the normal, if the virtuous, and the slightly deceitful flourish, and if the passionate, the headstrong, and the too-truthful are condemned to suicide and to madness.
@Kaye via @tournevis
1️⃣ This is the saddest story I have ever heard.
2️⃣ 239
3️⃣ superstitious
4️⃣ Florence, Jimmy, Mrs Maidan
5️⃣ grey
6️⃣ classics, probably
7️⃣ the, moment
8️⃣ red
9️⃣ FMF
🔟 4th of August, different years
1️⃣1️⃣ 1915
1️⃣2️⃣ Graham Greene (if I understand this correctly)
1️⃣3️⃣ Nope, about 30%
1️⃣4️⃣ ???
1️⃣5️⃣ Yep, half of Parade‘s End. Like this one better.
Started last night for #modernlibrarytop100
I think I‘m going to like this one.
panSorry for the lit-vomit! I was horribly busy during the semester and am just now getting around to posting all the things I've read.
This book felt like Lord Jim and The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Maybe I'm not a fan of modernist work after all, or maybe it's the time period. I wouldn't say you'd regret skipping this book unless you love the time period and the writing style.
so-soThis could also be titled, The Bad Husband. Yes, it‘s an interesting exploration of marriage and people and attractions and lust. The story is told in an interesting way—as though I (as silent reader) am really sitting in a room by the fire with Dowell. He‘s telling the story but forgetting bits and pieces of the story along the way. It‘s told in a haphazard non-linear way that‘s actually difficult to read... I‘m going to think more on this. 🤔
And I finally completed my Bingo challenge! The tagged book is on the Rory Gilmore reading list. #bingo, #litsyreadingchallenge2017, #lrc2017
Two classics with #occupationintitle. #fallintobooks @RealLifeReading
I know @LeahBergen also choose this one but Ford Madox Ford was a great modernist but is sadly under-recognised and I love his work. Despite its flaws I think Parade's End is his masterpiece but the Good Soldier is full of human weakness and contradiction, he constructs his characters' psyches in a way few writers manage #aprilbookshowers #goodinthetitle
How's that for a compelling first line? #TitleWithGood #AprilBookShowers
The original unreliable narrator.
Before Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train there was Ford Madox Ford. And everyone else pales in comparison.
