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3.47 AVERAGE
3.47 AVERAGE
The story was interesting but the meandering narrative was quite tiring to read.
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
After waiting for the story to really start for about 50 pages I realized that there was no real plot and the story was never going to "start." Then I started enjoying the strange, slow, twisted disillusionment of what must be the most clueless man in the history of literature. But I loved the uniquely British reticence, the strict and brutally heartless "passions," and Ford's bizarrely pretentious penname. What a thoroughly strange book.
sad
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Sad, but in a pathetic sort of way. The story is revealed in fits and starts, going backward and forward. Each thing we learn about the story and the relationships in it makes it all more miserable.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship
Moderate: Infidelity
Minor: Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Death, Suicide, Terminal illness, Religious bigotry, Colonisation
I would like to write a book as deeply investigated and hotly debated as this one. Written during the outbreak of the first World War, this is a novel about two enmeshed couples, marital affairs, passion and the forbidden object of passion. One of the marriages is between a tart and an asexual man (the narrator). The other marriage is between an uptight woman and a man who is generous of spirit and body (courtly knight or lech, depending on your view). But the beauty of this book, for me, isn't as much in what it's about as in how the story is told. Continued here
reflective
sad
medium-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
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Yet another novel which made no-particular-impression on me. It took me a while to get into and I had to re-start about a sixth of the way in because I had no idea what was going on. I didn't quite find it boring; it was able to hold my attention without much effort on my part, although I don't think I was ever particularly curious to find out what would happen next. It's quite interesting: some novels really suck you in so that you need to expend effort to stop reading/listening. Some novels are slogs which require renewed effort every step of the way. This one sat comfortably between these two poles. It was effort-neutral.
I've heard that the narrator is unreliable. If this is true it went over my head.
Ford Madox Ford is a neat name. It makes me think of moustaches and smoking jackets.
So what's it about? I dunno. Some guy has a string of affairs. One of his affairs is with the narrator's wife. Lessons learned? New sociological or geographical frontiers explored? Empathy invoked? NOPE.
But the important thing is that I've almost completed my first column on my "100 Essential Novels" poster. I've just got to read "The Golden Notebook" and I'm there.
"It occurs to me that some way back I began a sentence that I have never finished."
"In all matrimonial associations there is, I believe, one constant factor—a desire to deceive the person with whom one lives as to some weak spot in one's character or in one's career. For it is intolerable to live constantly with one human being who perceives one's small meannesses."
I've heard that the narrator is unreliable. If this is true it went over my head.
Ford Madox Ford is a neat name. It makes me think of moustaches and smoking jackets.
So what's it about? I dunno. Some guy has a string of affairs. One of his affairs is with the narrator's wife. Lessons learned? New sociological or geographical frontiers explored? Empathy invoked? NOPE.
But the important thing is that I've almost completed my first column on my "100 Essential Novels" poster. I've just got to read "The Golden Notebook" and I'm there.
"It occurs to me that some way back I began a sentence that I have never finished."
"In all matrimonial associations there is, I believe, one constant factor—a desire to deceive the person with whom one lives as to some weak spot in one's character or in one's career. For it is intolerable to live constantly with one human being who perceives one's small meannesses."