The Good Soldier – Ford Madox Ford

2 Responses to The Good Soldier – Ford Madox Ford

1. Mr Green says:

   January 2, 2016 at 9:41 am

   The high reputation enjoyed by this disjointed but mercifully short book is somewhat surprising. But Madox Ford could write, as the many excellent passages in his sprawling Parade’s End demonstrate. Were it not for that tetralogy, the notion that Madox Ford was a trusted collaborator of no less than Joseph Conrad would be hard to believe. The Good Solider contains many of the themes – social convention and class expectation against the background of the Great War &c – and the techniques – uneven chronology of narration – which would come to fruition 10 years later in Parade’s End but it fails to evoke the passion of its subtitle or consistently to involve the reader; we do (or at least I did) not care what was happening.

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2. Mr Orange says:

   April 13, 2016 at 10:37 am

   Ford’s cold, Edwardian style does not work in conveying the emotion of the subject matter which is, at best, a bit thin.

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