The Good Soldier: A Tale of Passion in Constant Reader

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The Good Soldier: A Tale of Passion

Ford Madox Ford

Start date: February 1, 2011

Finish date: March 1, 2011

Discussion: Classics Corner

Discussion leader: Gabrielle

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What Members Thought

Jul 17, 2010 David rated it it was ok

Shelves: read-in-2010, hideously-vile-protagonists, disappointing

The evidence that I am a complete Philistine continues to accumulate, as yet another acknowledged classic sails right over my head. I did not like "The Good Soldier", for various reasons. Here are a few:

# The plot was an awkward mixture of implausible contrivance and overwrought melodrama, and seemed fundamentally not credible, from start to finish. The basic setup (Serial philanderer Edward cheats on controlling Leonora and cavorts with Florence, the slutty wife of the book's narrator John) was The evidence that I am a complete Philistine continues to accumulate, as yet another acknowledged classic sails right over my head. I did not like "The Good Soldier", for various reasons. Here are a few:

# The plot was an awkward mixture of implausible contrivance and overwrought melodrama, and seemed fundamentally not credible, from start to finish. The basic setup (Serial philanderer Edward cheats on controlling Leonora and cavorts with Florence, the slutty wife of the book's narrator John) was OK - this kind of love quadrangle is hardly unusual. But the way the plot unfolds from the basic premise seemed ludicrous, even allowing for the fact that the account of events is being delivered as the recollections of possibly one of the most unreliable narrators in all of 20th century fiction. The plot was little more than a series of random, largely implausible events, lurching from one improbable crisis to the next. Prussic acid capsules in the vanity case? Suicide by penknife? Telegram-induced catatonia? Give me a break.

# The silliness of the plot had a lot to do with the complete lack of depth of the protagonists. You never get the feeling that any of these characters are real people, so their weird antics never seem like anything other than the jerky behavior of cartoonish puppets. Though most puppets have more character than these annoying stick figures. The most annoying of the stick figures being, hands down, the idiot narrator, John Dowell. A man allegedly so stupid that he doesn't notice his wife is cuckolding him with his best friend and hero for 8 years . Or that her "heart condition" is pure invention and that she's healthy as a horse. Who is apparently the only person on the planet unaware that she committed suicide by ingesting prussic acid. There was an enormous sense of relief upon finishing the book, because at least one didn't have to suffer the idiocies of the obtuse narrator any longer. (Dowell wasn't just idiotic; he was also completely without charm, probably a virgin, and likely a closet case)

# My final objection to the book was the profusion of passages like this one:

And, proud and happy in the thought that Edward
loved her, and that she loved him, she did not even listen to what
Leonora said. It appeared to her that it was Leonora's business to save
her husband's body; she, Nancy, possessed his soul--a precious thing
that she would shield and bear away up in her arms--as if Leonora were
a hungry dog, trying to spring up at a lamb that she was carrying. Yes,
she felt as if Edward's love were a precious lamb that she were bearing
away from a cruel and predatory beast. For, at that time, Leonora
appeared to her as a cruel and predatory beast. Leonora, Leonora with
her hunger, with her cruelty had driven Edward to madness. He must be
sheltered by his love for her and by her love--her love from a great
distance and unspoken, enveloping him, surrounding him, upholding him;
by her voice speaking from Glasgow, saying that she loved, that she
adored, that she passed no moment without longing, loving, quivering at
the thought of him.

Between this book and "Mr Peanut", it's been a bad month for marriage. But at least "Mr Peanut" was interesting. For me, "The Good Soldier" was kind of a snooze.

# ...more

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Feb 14, 2011 Mary Ellen rated it it was ok

I know this is a classic, and one particularly valued for the structure of the writing. So my complaints may derive more from my shortcomings as reader than Ford's as writer. But the book struck me as a rambling narration by an unpleasant person who seems stranger and less reliable as the book goes on. I did not give a darn about him or the other 4 principal characters (one of whom, Nancy, has all the substance of smoke), none of whom we come to know well - not even our shifty narrator, John Dow ...more

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Aug 20, 2019 Barbara rated it really liked it · review of another edition

What a frustrating book! The structure is very modernist, not at all what I would expect to have been written in 2015. Everything reveals itself very much as it might in "real" life. That is what kept me involved and reading. I don't usually require that characters in a book be likable as long as they are interesting. Unfortunately, these characters were not only not likable but fairly boring as people. I finally decided to give it four stars for that structure but I wish I could give it three a ...more

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Oct 28, 2013 for-much-deliberation ... rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: classics

Well I guess, yes, you can call this tale sad but its actually quite depressing... The tale enters the lives of two couples over a period of time then explores varied events affecting them giving the eventual depressing results.

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Mar 02, 2016 Robert rated it really liked it

I think this was an exceptional book in terms of the degree of insight from the author's perspective as regards the subtleties motivating the characters. This was not a novel of action and great events, but a novel of intense and subtly detailed human interaction.

My first reaction as I read came as a negative to the pointless idleness of this wealthy class of people. I had little sympathy for their trials and tribulations. As the narration continued, and the psychological dynamics emerged, I pu ...more

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Oct 30, 2007 Gail rated it it was amazing

Shelves: classic-british

I loved this depressing tale of two couples who become totally enmeshed in each other's lives, leading to a messy, messy storyline. The narration is cleverly done, revealing a bit, then a bit more...then some more...until the last crash. The characters aren't likable, but they're not supposed to be. I think Ford did a superb job in writing exactly the story he meant to write, and in a very "modern" form for its time. Just a great book, well worth the time and effort. ...more

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Oct 15, 2009 Kristin rated it really liked it

I haven't decided what I thought of this story yet. It has a wit and a playful side, reminding me a bit of Pale Fire, but it was also quite dry and depressing. It is hailed as the greatest English novel by some, but it's just too perfectly assembled for me to love it. The passion of the writer seems lacking, which is pretty much what I usually have to say about Nabokov, too. ...more

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