Originally posted by Anna
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. I might read that first.
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Much put out. I really wanted to read The Good Soldier but, well ordered though my bookshelves are, I couldn't find it. So being in the vicinity of Wassersteins a couple of days ago I bought Parade's End instead. In spite of the fact that I really don't like long books. And to make matters worse, I was browsing my shelves earlier today - and there was The Good Soldier, exactly where it ought to be: between F Scott Fitzgerald and EM Forster. I might read that first.
It isn't given us to know those rare moments when people are wide open and the lightest touch can wither or heal. A moment too late and we can never reach them any more in this world. -
I have enjoyed it a great deal - proper grown up TV for people with an attention span longer than that of a gnat for once !
Which is no doubt why it is on BBC2 on a Friday rather than BBC1 on a Sunday . The effluent against which it comes up against on BBC1 beggars belief . Mrs Brown's Boys ought to bring shame to anyone with an Irish passport .Comment
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Having watched the Alan Yentob/Culture Show special about Ford, I'm greatly looking forward to reading The Good Soldier - not least because it's relatively short (under 200 pages) and it sounds wonderfulOriginally posted by french frank View PostMuch put out. I really wanted to read The Good Soldier but, well ordered though my bookshelves are, I couldn't find it. So being in the vicinity of Wassersteins a couple of days ago I bought Parade's End instead. In spite of the fact that I really don't like long books. And to make matters worse, I was browsing my shelves earlier today - and there was The Good Soldier, exactly where it ought to be: between F Scott Fitzgerald and EM Forster. I might read that first.
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There's a free download on Amazon Kindle.
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I really enjoyed that programme. For one thing, it explained why - if you'd asked me a few weeks ago - I'd have said FMF was an American author, had you asked me the question. I thought the same about 'The Good Soldier'Originally posted by amateur51 View PostHaving watched the Alan Yentob/Culture Show special about Ford, I'm greatly looking forward to reading The Good Soldier - not least because it's relatively short (under 200 pages) and it sounds wonderful
"...the isle is full of noises,
Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears, and sometime voices..."
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In fact, reading more & more about Ford, I realise that there is huge catalogue of interesting-sounding writing in his oeuvre (hope that doesn't have ff and vints spitting tacksOriginally posted by Caliban View PostI really enjoyed that programme and thought the same about 'The Good Soldier'
). He's obviously someone of great interest as a person and as a writer & I feel complete putz for having got to sixty without investigating his life and works.
Still, the journey of a thousand miles etc ...
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I learned most of what I know about Ford Madox Ford from the recent exhibition of the work of his grandfather, Ford Madox Brown:
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I see that this exhibition has long since past ... and I know very little about FMBrown too -Originally posted by jean View Post
such ignorance! 
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In the case of Parade's End, yes: for The Good Soldier, more like a hundred ...Originally posted by amateur51 View PostStill, the journey of a thousand miles etc ...
Ford said in the preface that he thought it was the his best novel - but that was before the Tietjens tetralogy. Retrospectively, Walter Allen in The English Novel wrote: "Judged as a technical feat alone The Good Soldier is dazzling, as near perfection as a novel can be. It is amazingly subtle, this account, by one of them, of the lives of four people who appear to have lived in harmony and friendship for more than ten years .."
Ford reported that one of his friends had commented to him: "It is the finest French novel in the English language!" It has his preferred title as sub-title: The Saddest Story Ever Told, but TGS was substituted because in the middle of a war the original title would 'render the book unsaleable', according to his publisher. Which might have been one of the few good outcomes of WWI.
It isn't given us to know those rare moments when people are wide open and the lightest touch can wither or heal. A moment too late and we can never reach them any more in this world.Comment
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When searching for TGS, I actually resorted to looking under the Bs in case I'd had a moment of mental aberration. Not that I know anything of FMB except "The Last of England".Originally posted by jean View PostIt isn't given us to know those rare moments when people are wide open and the lightest touch can wither or heal. A moment too late and we can never reach them any more in this world.Comment
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All interesting stuff, ffOriginally posted by french frank View PostIn the case of Parade's End, yes: for The Good Soldier, more like a hundred ...
Ford said in the preface that he thought it was the his best novel - but that was before the Tietjens tetralogy. Retrospectively, Walter Allen in The English Novel wrote: "Judged as a technical feat alone The Good Soldier is dazzling, as near perfection as a novel can be. It is amazingly subtle, this account, by one of them, of the lives of four people who appear to have lived in harmony and friendship for more than ten years .."
Ford reported that one of his friends had commented to him: "It is the finest French novel in the English language!" It has his preferred title as sub-title: The Saddest Story Ever Told, but TGS was substituted because in the middle of a war the original title would 'render the book unsaleable', according to his publisher. Which might have been one of the few good outcomes of WWI.
I confess that I'd been put off even approaching FMF by the advocacy of Anthony Burgess in the 1970s, knowing what a bloody minded show-off Burgess could be at times. My stupid loss
Still, I have an outward and return journey of some 6 hours each to my week in France coming up so what better solution can there be to address this act of folly on my part
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... or you might have needed to look under H ?Originally posted by french frank View Post
One of my contemporaries at university impressed me (I was easily impressed in those days) by filing his Stendhal under B and his Molière under P...
Nowadays I usually try to file authors chronologically rather than alphabetically...Comment
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I assume that the English spelling of Ford's father's name, Hueffer, is in fact Hüffer in the German. Why then do all the bods on the Culture Show who pronounce it, pronounce it as Hooffer?Originally posted by vinteuil View Post... or you might have needed to look under H ?
One of my contemporaries at university impressed me (I was easily impressed in those days) by filing his Stendhal under B and his Molière under P...
Nowadays I usually try to file authors chronologically rather than alphabetically...
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Originally posted by vinteuil View Post... or you might have needed to look under H ?
One of my contemporaries at university impressed me (I was easily impressed in those days) by filing his Stendhal under B and his Molière under P...
Nowadays I usually try to file authors chronologically rather than alphabetically...
Classic stuff !"...the isle is full of noises,
Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears, and sometime voices..."
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You're right.Originally posted by amateur51 View PostI assume that the English spelling of Ford's father's name, Hueffer, is in fact Hüffer in the German. Why then do all the bods on the Culture Show who pronounce it, pronounce it as Hooffer?
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