I have, I am aware, told this story in a very rambling way so that it may be difficult for anyone to find their path through what may be a sort of maze. I cannot help it. I have stuck to my idea of being in a country cottage with a silent listener, hearing between the gusts of the wind and amidst the noises of the distant sea, the story as it comes. And, when one discusses an affair—a long, sad affair—one goes back, one goes forward. One remembers points that one has forgotten and one explains them all the more minutely since one recognises that one has forgotten to mention them in their proper places and that one may have given, by omitting them, a false impression. I console myself with thinking that this is a real story and that, after all, real stories are probably told best in the way a person telling a story would tell them. They will then seem most real. ( )

meh. this wasn't terrible or anything, but i had a really hard time caring about any of these people or their affairs enough to track who was sleeping with whom and why it should matter. ( )

bought at Powells read at Louisa cried buckets ( )

Was there ever such an oblivious man in literature as the narrator of this book? I realize it is set in a far different time from ours i.e. the early 20th century but I was incredulous that a man would not be in the least suspicious of a wife who kept him out of her bedroom while not one, but at times two, other men were in the same abode. Even when other people hinted that his wife was cuckolding him he apparently didn't suspect a thing.

Ford Maddox Ford wrote this book before World War I but it didn't come out until 1915. He wanted to call it The Saddest Story but his publisher told him that title would turn people off the book so he tossed off the suggestion of The Good Soldier. The Saddest Story makes more sense but that's water under the bridge now.
The narrator of the story is an American called Dowell. He is well-to-do and therefore sees no need for employment. When he meets Florence Hurlbird, a younger beautiful woman living with two maiden aunts in New England, he decides he must marry her. She accepts his proposal when she ascertains that he will take her to Europe for the honeymoon and the wedding is completed just before they set sail. On board the ship Florence has an attack of some kind and is thereafter an invalid taken care of by her husband. Although it is not explicitly stated it doesn't appear that the marriage was ever consummated. At the spa town of Nauheim where Florence is "taking the waters" they meet the British couple Edward and Leonora Ashburnham. Edward is on sick leave from the British army in India although we will learn later that this was a pretext to follow a young married woman who really was ill. Soon Edward has turned his roving eye to Florence and she reciprocated. Leonora knows all about her husband's proclivities and has already paid off a number of people who threatened to publicize previous affairs. The affair went on for years as the Dowells and the Ashburnhams met up at numerous places in Europe. Throughout all this time Dowell himself was unaware of the affair. It was only after Florence's death (suicide) that he learned the truth. It was Edward Ashburnham who told him in order to clear his conscience. He then killed himself. Dowell thought that he could then marry the Ashburnham's young ward, Nancy, but that plan fell through although he did end up looking after Nancy much as he looked after Florence. So, yes, it's a very sad story but one that I felt Dowell caused by his own naivety and inattention.

The introduction to this book tells me that it was autobiographical in many ways with Edward Ashburnham standing in for Ford. If so, then I'm quite glad he was safely in his grave before I ever graced this earth. Far from being "good" Ashburnham is portrayed as entirely without conscience where women are concerned. ( )

the saddest story for the good soldier ( )