The Good Soldier

By: Ford Madox Ford

Narrated by: Frank Muller

On the face of it Captain Edward Ashburnham's life was unimpeachable. But behind the mask where passion seethes, the captain's "good" life was rotting away.©1979 Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. (P)1986 Recorded Books, LLC

Even Frank Muller

Even Frank Muller, the superb reader, could keep my interest in this book. It is just dated. My wife gave it to me because it was one of the few readings by Muller I had missed, and I could not get through it. Sorry.

Treachery in the Troops

The saddest story my aching arse....

Ford may have given readers the ultimate *unreliable narrator* in 1915 when he published The Good Soldier. For all of my reading, I don't recall ever coming across a narrator half as guileful, or as entitled, as John Dowell -- or is he so inconceivably dim-witted and naïve the story IS actually sad? There in lies the brilliant pinpoint on which this story is balanced, and masterfully so by author Ford Madox Ford. Though, there was the peer group of his day that would have taken to task anyone that thought the writer *masterful*, or anything other than *unreliable* himself. His own *wife* -- or should we say biga-mistress (seems Ford didn't have any problem *marrying* or carrying on affairs in spite of his legal marriage to another never being dissolved) wrote that Ford had "a genius for creating confusion," and he himself stated that,"he had a great contempt for fact." So, it is with that insight to this author that one should approach this story; this is the magic that turns just an OK story into absolute brilliant writing -- and a top notch mystery in disguise that requires an efficient reader.

A wealthy American couple, Dowell and Florence, and a wealthy English couple, Edward and Leonora meet at a spa during an extended stay in Europe and become friends. Interestingly, Dowell narrates the story directly to the reader/listener, as if it is a tale he was told, "the saddest story I've ever heard in my life." Immediately you assume he was told this story and is just now recounting it to the reader, but as he goes on we learn it is his wife Florence and the Englishman, Edward, that have an affair that leads to her heartbreaking death on her and Dowell's honeymoon.

Dowell's story continues to twist like a hanky wrenching out the tears. But, is it her reported weak heart that killed the young bride...(weak enough that she warns her new husband she is unable to have sex because of her condition) or is it suicide (her medicine bottle smells strongly similar to a particular acid)? So it goes... where nothing is as it first seems, nothing can be taken at face value. The outward grace, the breeding, the money, the passion, blend into a swirl of colors that lose definition and become a muddied mess. Even our narrator repeats often, "I don't know, I don't know!," sharing doubts as to his competence to recall what happened.

The profiles of these characters are intriguing; illuminated by Dowell's shaky perspective they become outrageous, even contrarily uncivilized, extravagant, and completely without principles. I could only conceive of this caliber of persons by reminding myself, "how reliable is this narrator/participant, what hidden agendas, sociopathic befuddlements contort the players and twist this supposedly sad tale?"

If you were a keen-eyed detective taking Dowell's testimony, you would listen carefully to this one...ignore your colleague's protests of his innocence...put a tail on him...watch for those insurance policies, secret bank accounts, more missing bodies of people he crossed paths with...sit back and wait for this Keyser Söze fellow to make a wrong move. Or; did poor Mr. Dowell just tell you, truly, the saddest story you've ever heard...? This is a classic that needs to be read competently to be truly appreciated. If so, you'll see The Good Soldier draws out the kind of reader participation, where the text is "open to the greatest variety of independent interpretation" -- what Barthes said was the *ideal text.* Gosh, what a masterpiece; if I wasn't so disgusted by the whole lot of them, I'd turn around and read this again, right now.

A book to listen more than onece

This book is beautiful writing. The way that Ford Madox Ford describes every situation, they way he wrote every memory is amazing. I love to hear the voice of Frank Muller. I will listen to this book several more times, I know that each time I will hear something new, I will get more deeper in the story. Thanks.

ok

I am biased because I like this time period and can endure even some of the poorer books. This one was tough tough. This is very well-narrated, but is VERY hard to follow. I did not expect this stream-of-consciousness type story in a book so old. It gets tedious after a while. Like "Big Lights, Bright City," or others, it has a lot of interesting things going on, but no cohesive major story. Not to say that is a bad thing, but its not what I expected in this book. I got tripped up in the characters and who was doing what and why.

Good, but has it lost something?

A good book, excellently written. You will alternately love and hate the characters and take sides and then turn on your hero and wind up perhaps not liking any or loving them all again at the end, who knows? That being said, while the skill in writing remains, the shock of stripping away the layers of proper English etiquette and society are probably somewhat lost. The modern reader won't be dropping their monacle in alarm that Ford Maddox Ford "went there", thinking "no he can't" or "he daren't" or that sort of thing. So a bit dated, but structurally adept and interesting. Well-narrated and you can do it in a day or certainly a week. Perhaps not brilliant, but intelligent and stirring. I would compare Ford I think to Virginia Woolf, who I like better, especially Mrs Dalloway, of similar size and length, and Faulkner, for the psychology aspect and the twists and the turns. For a deeper, darker, longer, more ferocious whirlwind, try "Absolom, Absolom!", one of my favorite books, if you don't think this will float your boat.

Where’s the action?

I read it because it is on every must-read list. It did not hold my attention because it was like reading the diary of someone with less than average writing skills and a very uneventful life.. It was all description and nothing really ever happened. No more Ford Madox Ford for me. The best thing going for it was Frank Muller who is a great narrator.

Like Driving by a Horrific Auto Accident

This was perhaps one of the worst books I've ever read....yet.... It was the worst, because, I think at some level I like to like at least some character in a book I read....or at least relate to them. Every character in this book was detestable. The narrator was one of the most pathetic creatures in all of literature. This was a tragedy, only in the American sense of the word...not in the Greek sense...for there wasn't an ounce of hubris. They say pride goeth before the fall....this was just the fall.
So why did I give it 3 stars, instead of one. This book was incredibly well written....and way ahead of it's time in narrative. The narrator rambles unbelievably...I would say he is one of the worst story tellers....but through him, Mr. Ford shows himself to be one of the best. He reminded me of the "idiot" from Faukner's The Sound and the Fury, or the way things unfolded in the movie Memento. The story unfolds, so oddly, it is really quite incredible....and all of this after he has essentially told you the end of the book at the beginning....Yet the full import doesn't hit until later....and then it hits again...and again...and again.
The story was totally depressing...the characters, totally without redeeming qualities....what happens...pretty awful....yet somehow the art of telling this story...was quite a sight to behold....or listen too.
Before when I talked about the Narrator, I meant the character in the story who tells the entire story. The narrator of this book, Mr. Frank Muller, was quite outstanding. I hated him....he had a smarmy aristocratic condescending tone....which exactly matched the character who narrates the book! His voice, his attitude, his intonation, was perfect for this book.
So basically it was a perfectly told story that I happened to hate, yet will probably not forget for some time to come.

A true tragedy

A tragic story of two couples and the history of the end of each relationship by infidelity and lies.

This WAS a Great Book

This WAS a great book, it was an iconic first at non-linear timeline, existential despair, stream of consciousness, and modern unreliable narration. Written just before WWI it was originally titled “The Saddest Story” and all the characters are unlikeable, no one gets what they want, and the closer the protagonist looks, the less he finds to believe in. The book is bleak from start to finish.

This felt to me somewhat more experimental than artistic, exploring writing about meaninglessness, and does this quite well, but I only found it only meta-enjoyable as I deconstructed the unreliable story and watched as the protagonist uncovers everything he believed in as false, even himself. The Saddest Story indeed.

I would only recommend this to those interested in this book’s place in the history of modern literature.

The narration was clear enough, and perhaps it was appropriate in tone for this text, but I found it a bit soporific.

A Classic Done Classically

The Good Soldier is a book that might require several readings or listenings. I listened to sections over and over---and actually started from the beginning several times. Modernist writing requires this kind of effort from the reader If you are willing to make the effort, even enjoy making the effort, you'll have a true literary experience with this book.

It will make you uncomfortable. It's edgy. You'll see glimpses of the dark of yourself.

Brilliant.

Chris Reich
TeachU.com