John Galsworthy (1867–1933)

Enjoyable insofar as it gives me more insight in the characters from tv-series The Forsyte Saga (2002), which are all relatively flat. This novel is the first of three books upon which the series is based. I love how the book tries to explain the emotions and considerations of all characters (and it turns out there are even more Forsyte family members than appear in the television series) involved in the plot. Galsworthy occasionally goes of into a philosophical rant about the London fog, leaves on trees, or the mysteries of human nature. These tangents are hard for me to follow. Another reason the book is difficult to read is that parts of the plot are communicated implicitly to the reader, by characters alluding to events in the most circumspect manner possible -- the characters being British and Victorian and true Forsytes. I've not decided whether I will continue with book 2. On the one hand, the book feels like bonus material for one of my favorite costume dramas. On the other hand, the writing style is not superenjoyable.… (more)

This book starts out very slow. A snooty British family, wealthy elites but not aristocratic, more upper-middle class than upper-class, is having issues because one of the girls in the family is engaged to a young architect. The architect is hired to build a house for the girl's uncle, and winds up having an affair with the uncle's young, pretty wife. The story starts out in the late 1800's and society is starting to change towards a world of expanded women's rights and a less rigid class structure, so while the older members of the Forsyte family react with the expected horror and disgust their class ought to feel for scandalous entanglements, the younger members of the family are not so convinced.
Over the next few years even more scandalous things happen, and at the same time the world around the Forsytes is changing more rapidly.
This was a long novel, and it felt long for the first 300-400pgs, but the second half was well paced and engaging. I liked the way this book explored how much society changed over the decades leading into WW1. This book was in fact first published just at the end of WW1, so the book's characters can have no real idea how much their world would be changing once the Great Depression and WW2 had their effects.
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