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kaymarieplz's review against another edition
3.0
i found the story to be a bit confusing and jumbled but i think in yhe end i got the gist of it. two couples. one with a constantly cheating husband. the other a man oblivous to his cheating wife. death and meddling
mkiyxxmi's review against another edition
2.0
2.5 I guess?? It was just boring. To be honest, I didn't finish it. Don't tell the prof tho or he might call me an incel. Anyways.
rashikag's review against another edition
5.0
"In all matrimonial associations there is, one constant factor - a desire to deceive the person with whom one lives."
From the first page, you're thrown headfirst into the tangled web of relationships between the novel's four main characters , two couples (American & British) who meet a German spa town to maximize their joint oppression. One hand you have Edward (a serial monogamist) , his wife Leonara (a self righteous Catholic turned business major) then Florence who's into her hot girl summer era with her cuckhold husband John (the narrator).
Never before have i read a novel in which each character was so despicable & morally ambiguous that found myself constantly questioning who the "good" soldier really is.
The most impressive aspect of the plot is its portrayal of the human condition. Ford's exploration of love, loyalty, and betrayal is both timeless and universal & how he plays with time and perspective, leaves you feeling like you're on a wild goose chase through a hall of mirrors.
A must-read for anyone who loves their scandal on steroids. Just don't expect to come out of it with a clear understanding of what the heck just happened.
From the first page, you're thrown headfirst into the tangled web of relationships between the novel's four main characters , two couples (American & British) who meet a German spa town to maximize their joint oppression. One hand you have Edward (a serial monogamist) , his wife Leonara (a self righteous Catholic turned business major) then Florence who's into her hot girl summer era with her cuckhold husband John (the narrator).
Never before have i read a novel in which each character was so despicable & morally ambiguous that found myself constantly questioning who the "good" soldier really is.
The most impressive aspect of the plot is its portrayal of the human condition. Ford's exploration of love, loyalty, and betrayal is both timeless and universal & how he plays with time and perspective, leaves you feeling like you're on a wild goose chase through a hall of mirrors.
A must-read for anyone who loves their scandal on steroids. Just don't expect to come out of it with a clear understanding of what the heck just happened.
ajreader's review against another edition
2.0
Read my full thoughts over at Read.Write.Repeat.
The book fit well into the mold I have come to expect from the Modern Library list. Layered, rich, slow-moving, and enjoyable at times. Still, it just never pulled me in.
The book fit well into the mold I have come to expect from the Modern Library list. Layered, rich, slow-moving, and enjoyable at times. Still, it just never pulled me in.
justin_zigenis's review against another edition
2.0
He is without doubt a skilled writer. The time in which it took place, the “English gentleman,” the time period of flippant misogynistic anecdotes, the boorish meanderings of the wealthy, or maybe simply the disjointed style of storytelling is what made this classic “tale of passion” almost unbearable.
fictionjunky's review against another edition
5.0
i absolutely love this book. wow, i need to go back and re-read it.
briandice's review against another edition
4.0
Reading Hemingway's [b:A Moveable Feast|4631|A Moveable Feast|Ernest Hemingway|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1327879332s/4631.jpg|2459084] brought me back to Ford, an author whose most well known piece of fiction has been on my perpetual "to read" list. Hemingway's less than flattering portrayal of Ford was the tipping point, and I finally decided to read this novel while Papa's well depicted portrait of Ford was fresh in my head.
After the first 50 pages I was convinced that I had read this story. Tropes tried-and-true seemed to drip from the pages; I found myself sighing and noting frequently how much of the book I had left. But then things changed. And the narrative took a completely different course; characters that were paint-by-number a chapter ago suddenly bloomed in unexpected ways. Ford had me on the rod for the sucker I was, and when he pulled the line, the hook set and the next 150 pages were amazing.
But there came a point in the story, and I don't want to even talk about the action of the book for fear of giving away ANYTHING - there came a point where I just wished that the book had ended. Like [b:The Sheltering Sky|243598|The Sheltering Sky|Paul Bowles|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173066659s/243598.jpg|2287950], I felt that I had experienced the penultimate part of the narrative somewhere way before the ending, and was shocked that there was more to read. The last 1/2 (or so) of the book isn't bad, it's just ... unfortunate additional parts of the character's stories that, while completing their lives, detracted from what I loved about the first half of the book. Had the novel ended at that "Part", and if you read - or have read - this book, you'll know of what I speak, this book would have been 5-stars without a doubt. In any event, I can still recommend it without hesitation and understand more fully why it is considered a literary classic. Despite Hemingway's comments about Ford's halitosis and annoying habits...
After the first 50 pages I was convinced that I had read this story. Tropes tried-and-true seemed to drip from the pages; I found myself sighing and noting frequently how much of the book I had left. But then things changed. And the narrative took a completely different course; characters that were paint-by-number a chapter ago suddenly bloomed in unexpected ways. Ford had me on the rod for the sucker I was, and when he pulled the line, the hook set and the next 150 pages were amazing.
But there came a point in the story, and I don't want to even talk about the action of the book for fear of giving away ANYTHING - there came a point where I just wished that the book had ended. Like [b:The Sheltering Sky|243598|The Sheltering Sky|Paul Bowles|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173066659s/243598.jpg|2287950], I felt that I had experienced the penultimate part of the narrative somewhere way before the ending, and was shocked that there was more to read. The last 1/2 (or so) of the book isn't bad, it's just ... unfortunate additional parts of the character's stories that, while completing their lives, detracted from what I loved about the first half of the book. Had the novel ended at that "Part", and if you read - or have read - this book, you'll know of what I speak, this book would have been 5-stars without a doubt. In any event, I can still recommend it without hesitation and understand more fully why it is considered a literary classic. Despite Hemingway's comments about Ford's halitosis and annoying habits...
irreverentreader's review against another edition
2.0
It's truly a disappointment when the summary on the back of the book is of more interest and excitement than the book itself. The Good Soldier promised an insightful look into human flaws and an intriguing plot of betrayal and friendship, and in the end, it delivered very little.
The unreliable narrator is not my favorite, but when it is done well (ie Gone Girl), I can still enjoy a novel. However, that paired with a stream of conscious narration, a non-linear plot that has much in the way of backtracking and repetition, and characters that range from unlikeable to despicable...well, that is a guaranteed recipe for me to not like a book. Personally, I thought the method of storytelling was the most detrimental, for I thought the twisted relationships and plot could have been interesting if we saw any dialogue or scenes at all, or if the audience was guided more naturally though it.
I also thought that the second half of the book was much less interesting than the first. By the time you get there, much of it is just the narrator elaborating about things you've already been told, and the whole plot of Nancy was just strange and jarring to me. The rest of the characters felt at least somewhat flushed out, but the narrator's love for her, Nancy's love/hate for Edward, and her interactions with Leonora all felt very thrown together, like a fever dream. Half of the time, it felt liek it didn't even make sense, and I had to look at the Sparknotes to piece it together.
Perhaps that is what the author wanted, since the narrator is so unreliable, perhaps even mentally unwell, but in the end, it just wasn't for me.
The unreliable narrator is not my favorite, but when it is done well (ie Gone Girl), I can still enjoy a novel. However, that paired with a stream of conscious narration, a non-linear plot that has much in the way of backtracking and repetition, and characters that range from unlikeable to despicable...well, that is a guaranteed recipe for me to not like a book. Personally, I thought the method of storytelling was the most detrimental, for I thought the twisted relationships and plot could have been interesting if we saw any dialogue or scenes at all, or if the audience was guided more naturally though it.
I also thought that the second half of the book was much less interesting than the first. By the time you get there, much of it is just the narrator elaborating about things you've already been told, and the whole plot of Nancy was just strange and jarring to me. The rest of the characters felt at least somewhat flushed out, but the narrator's love for her, Nancy's love/hate for Edward, and her interactions with Leonora all felt very thrown together, like a fever dream. Half of the time, it felt liek it didn't even make sense, and I had to look at the Sparknotes to piece it together.
Perhaps that is what the author wanted, since the narrator is so unreliable, perhaps even mentally unwell, but in the end, it just wasn't for me.
jwf's review against another edition
4.0
Conventions and traditions I suppose work blindly but surely for the preservation of the normal type; for the extinction of proud, resolute and unusual individuals.
citizen_noir's review against another edition
2.0
I’ll grant you that THE GOOD SOLDIER, by Ford Madox Ford, has one of the great first lines in all of literature (“This is the saddest story I have ever heard.”). Alas, this isn’t a sad tale at all, but it does have the sorriest narrator I’ve ever encountered in a book, much less a celebrated classic such as this one. John Dowell is weak, cuckolded, and pathetic. While celebrated for being an excellent example of an “unreliable narrator,” I just found him to be whiny and irritating.