Reviews

No More Parades by Ford Madox Ford

manwithanagenda's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

 War, man.

Review: Parade's End 

kateofmind's review against another edition

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5.0

Even better than the first book. Full review on my blog.

Side note, I do miss cross-posting here but cannot on principle after GR has gotten so heavy handed about deleting reviews.

lnatal's review

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4.0

Free download available at eBooks@Adelaide.

Opening lines:
When you came in the space was desultory, rectangular, warm after the drip of the winter night, and transfused with a brown-orange dust that was light.


It is becoming better and better....

The sequel of this book is A Man Could Stand UP.

eddie's review

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3.0

Disappointed; but perhaps that’s just me. One hundred years of literary activity have created an expectation of what a WWI novel should be: although written in the shadow of that war by an ex-combatant this does not conform to those expectations.

The first book of the series seemed to set up a corrupt and decadent civilisation on the brink of disaster: Book two (this one) to me should therefore cover that disaster. However, Ford just repeats the drawing-room melodrama of Book one but now against the backdrop of the thundering guns on the Western front. The result seems ultimately to trivialise the war - or maybe this effect was part of Ford’s objective?

I’m annoyed with Tietjens, annoyed with Sylvia - cannot be annoyed with Valentine as she does not appear in this book. However, I know from my experience of The Good Soldier Ford requires huge amounts of patience and super-aware reading, so no doubt my responses will develop throughout books three and four.

He writes astonishingly, and with such control. He carefully, indirectly, builds up a devastating picture of British incompetence and chaos, but not one which is foregrounded.
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