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adholmes3's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
lisahopevierra's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I have only read Some Do Not. Plan to read the second novel, No More Parades in 2024
corisande_hopeful's review against another edition
4.0
Read this over such a long period (kept losing the book...) that I feel its true effect was somewhat lost on me. Nonetheless, the power of WW1 as an event that changed the habits, outlook, and very landscape of the (British) population is captured in this novel.
cseibs's review against another edition
4.0
Finally finished! A wonderful doorstop of a book. Knowing very little about WWI, I found this book fascinating. Ford painted such a vivid picture of the anguish of war, and aptly used Tietjen's social status to show the hypocrisy and callousness of the home front. Before there was such a thing as PTSD, Ford was vividly writing about the mind of a broken soldier. Sylvia remained a mystery and I would have appreciated more from her perspective. But, for all her malicious oddities, she was still a believably tortured character.
lauriestein's review against another edition
5.0
Demanding, beautiful writing. Nearly matchless descriptions of the humdrum horrors of trench warfare. Characters that stray freely between oh-too-real and inaccessible allegory. Subsequent paragraphs that left me marveling at Ford's intricate grasp of human nature and shortly thereafter wondering if he'd met and conversed with a human female person in his life, ever.
I'd love to reread an annotated version of this, since I know I glossed over plenty of references, quotations and French bits. I am very curious to see how the new film version adapts the novel's fragmented narrative, with its reliance on timeshifts, delayed reveals, flashbacks and general chronological dissonance.
I'd love to reread an annotated version of this, since I know I glossed over plenty of references, quotations and French bits. I am very curious to see how the new film version adapts the novel's fragmented narrative, with its reliance on timeshifts, delayed reveals, flashbacks and general chronological dissonance.
ajreader's review against another edition
3.0
Read my full thoughts over at Read.Write.Repeat.
In a novel that feels as long as the war itself, a British gentleman navigates an unhappy marriage and the monumental transitions that accompanied WWI.
In a novel that feels as long as the war itself, a British gentleman navigates an unhappy marriage and the monumental transitions that accompanied WWI.
oldenglishrose's review against another edition
4.0
There are no two ways about it, Parade's End is a truly spectacular book. It isn't always easy to read, enjoyable, interesting or even intelligible, but none of these things diminish quite how great an achievement this quartet of novels by Ford Maddox Ford is.
Parade's End is the story of the rapic change in attitudes covering the pre-War period, the First World War and its aftermath from the perspective of the British upper and upper middle classes. It does this not only through the plot, but through the writing itself, and this is what I found so unusual and so brilliant.
The books are written in a style somewhere in between stream of consciousness and regular narrative. There is no time when the reader is not inside someone's head, although the book is always in third person. Characters lose their train of thought and start contemplating something else; they reminisce on events that their thoughts remind them of; they digress for pages and pages before coming back to their initial starting point. It can be tedious, it can be baffling and it can seem pointless, but it is never anything less than a perfect mimesis of how people think expanded into words. Sometimes I find that effects like this can make me feel distant from the book, but I was surprised at how much I cared for some of the characters and how deeply I loathed others.
I started Parade's End back when the new BBC adaptation of it was shown on television last year. Someone at work asked me if I were going to watch it then, when I said I would wait and read the book first, replied with 'Ooh, it's a bit hard though'. Never able to resist a challenge, I went out a bought myself a copy only to discover that she was absolutely right: Parade's End is indeed 'a bit hard' to say the least. I'm also not sure how on earth they made a television drama out of this, because it's a book which focuses on interiority and thoughtfulness rather than action, but I'm looking forward to finding out. It will never be a favourite book of mine, but it was definitely worth the time and effort.
Parade's End is the story of the rapic change in attitudes covering the pre-War period, the First World War and its aftermath from the perspective of the British upper and upper middle classes. It does this not only through the plot, but through the writing itself, and this is what I found so unusual and so brilliant.
The books are written in a style somewhere in between stream of consciousness and regular narrative. There is no time when the reader is not inside someone's head, although the book is always in third person. Characters lose their train of thought and start contemplating something else; they reminisce on events that their thoughts remind them of; they digress for pages and pages before coming back to their initial starting point. It can be tedious, it can be baffling and it can seem pointless, but it is never anything less than a perfect mimesis of how people think expanded into words. Sometimes I find that effects like this can make me feel distant from the book, but I was surprised at how much I cared for some of the characters and how deeply I loathed others.
I started Parade's End back when the new BBC adaptation of it was shown on television last year. Someone at work asked me if I were going to watch it then, when I said I would wait and read the book first, replied with 'Ooh, it's a bit hard though'. Never able to resist a challenge, I went out a bought myself a copy only to discover that she was absolutely right: Parade's End is indeed 'a bit hard' to say the least. I'm also not sure how on earth they made a television drama out of this, because it's a book which focuses on interiority and thoughtfulness rather than action, but I'm looking forward to finding out. It will never be a favourite book of mine, but it was definitely worth the time and effort.
katiebrodt's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.5
kcdennett's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0