Okay so before I start I just want to vent and say that I had this all written once and I went to copy a picture of Ford onto this blog and the internet stopped working. So this is my blog on The Good Soldier try two. As I attempted to post earlier, I am not a big fan of The Good Soldier. I think it's primarily because I cannot stand the narrator. John is boring and he just rolls over and takes that fact that his wife was cheating on him. He expresses next to no emotion over the incendent and still refers to his wife as "poor Florence". I find it ironic that though the book is called The Good Soldier, Captain Edward cheats on his wife which I would venture to say is most defiantely NOT good of him. I looked for a good character analysis and SparkNotes came to my aid. Here's the link: http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/goodsoldier/canalysis.html
I googled Ford Madox Ford as well and thought that the Encyclopedia Britanica might have something interesting but all it said was, and I quote: "English novelist, editor, and critic, an international influence in early 20th-century literature". That was it. The Literary Encyclopedia had a great deal more to say. The link is here: http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=1584
Ok I have to admit that I was almost waiting for someone else to post first because I didn't want to be the first to post saying that I didn't really like the book. I felt that the book was at times hard to follow and to keep up with. I, like you, also had a hard time with John being so matter of fact calm that his wife cheated on him. To me the fact that he never gets angry or hurt that his wife did this to him is more than aggrivating. Captain Edward was not a very likeable character in my opinion because of how often he cheated on his wife, although his wife wasn't a favorite to me, she knew and yet said nothing. The characters in this book were shallow to me. I didn't really find a character that I liked, which I usually look for in a book, it helps to make the book interesting and me wanting to keep reading. I find your quote of interesting facts about Ford funny, thanks for sharing. I am going to check out the other link you posted and take a look at what it has to say. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
ReplyDeleteI think the title is John's sarcasm coming out. He calls him a good soldier, when really he's just a pig. He was tortured and life was soooooo horrible for him, but come on, he's an adultering jerk. He takes advantage of his wife and his good name, AND he thinks he has a duty to do it. Sorry, but cheating on your wife, does not make you a good guy regardless of the women you are "saving."
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