THE GOOD SOLDIER- Finished

THE GOOD SOLDIER, by Ford Madox Ford. The book was first published in 1915, after the start of the Great War. My book was published in 2005 for Barnes and Nobles Classics in New York. There is a timeline, an introduction by Frank Kermode and a letter to Ford Madox Ford's "wife" Stella, that he wrote in 1927, in actuality she was his mistress, his wife would not grant him a divorce. In the letter to Stella, we find out some interesting facts, one that this is supposedly a true story and that the author had to wait until all the characters in the story were dead before writing it. This is found on page 5 of the book: "I wrote it with comparative rapidity, I had it hatching within myself for fully another decade. That was because the story is a true story and because I had it from Edward Ashburnham himself and I could not write it till all the others were dead." This is why I am to believe that this book is semi-autobiographical, though the narrator of the story Dowell sets about trying to convince us that he is not like other males and their dalliances. We also find that the book started out called THE SADDEST STORY, but because it was published during the war, his publisher gave it a new title. So what is the story like, it is about the narrator being told about events that occurred that he was too blind to see at the time they are occurring. He does not find out about his wife until after she is dead, or the character Ashburnham's secret life until after he is dead. The narrator goes back and forth in his reflections, characters are introduced, but we do not find out their name or their importance until the book is almost done. The girl Nancy is always referred to as "the girl" (page 23-he told the girl and the girl told the wife.) Now Captain Ashburnham had other girls, so I it was hard for me to figure out at first who they were talking about, and if I am honest I had to read the footnote first. Captain Ashburnham is called sentimental and that is why he cannot help falling with pretty young things who will listen to him and make him feel good about himself. He is furious with his wife because she took over running his house and grounds, because he had an affair which cost him 20000 pounds with the Grand Dukes mistress. His wife Leonora took over the estate giving him a stipend, at the cost to her good looks, and got him a job as Captain in India, so they could make up the 20000 and other debts. Leonora only wanted to be loved but she would not lose all their money. She had been taught a different way to run things, which is why Captain Ashburnham, even though he was a good soldier, was not a good husband. He met another soldiers wife who would listen to him and ended up having to pay 300 pounds a year to keep her husband quiet. SO Leonora does a lot of scheming and trying to bide time till her husband comes around, but she is replaced every time you turn around with someone new. This includes the narrator of this sagas wife. Florence, who in herself is a piece of work, never having sexual relations with her husband because of her "heart", but having sexual relations with others behind his back, insisting they sleep in separate rooms so as not to cause her heart to act up. So the Narrator, Mr. Dowell is either a very naïve fellow or he is blind as a bat when it comes to things placed in front of his eyes. So I could go on and on about this book, the reason why August 4th is important, but I will let you read the introduction. Also there is a great amount of commentary on the Roman catholic and protestant differences and how that plays a roll in this book. Then of course the war. So if you like a little bit of history, a little bit of sabotage, and affairs of the heart, then read this book. It is a good one and I have my favorite character and it is not the narrator Mr. Dowell. Reading the authors timeline and the fact that he too had a mistress, that he was in the war, I wonder if it is not slightly autobiographical. Well, they say a good writer writes about what he knows, so who knows.