And April springs to a close...

Back in September I read How To Write a Sentence and How To Read One by Stanley Fish. I enjoyed his approach of practicing formats and began using it with my college students. Fish cites wonderfully written sentences from many authors, but it was an aside about The Good Soldier that stopped me in my reading: "...a novel nearly every sentence of which merits a place in this book." And so The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford was added to my reading list. I quickly found it in Hinkle Library at Alfred State College and borrowed the lovely, unread book. It became part of my temporary collection until end of the semester due dates demanded it be read. Now I need to buy my own copy.

In his introduction to the novel, Frank Kermode focuses on the unreliable narrator and the non-chronological approach which was apparently unusual for the time; The Good Soldier was published in 1915. This was the first time I was reading a novel recommended for its quality of writing. Approaching this novel, I did not think about the story line; it was an interesting experience reading a novel with the thought of the writing...not the story.

Because I read the introduction, I expected the novel to be a difficult read; however, that was not the case. And following the storyline was not as confusing as Kermode led me to believe, but the idea of telling a story out of chronological order is no longer new. The story involves the unreliable narrator, Dowell, his wife Florence and their relationship with Edward and Leonora Ashburnham. From the back cover:

Handsome, wealthy, and a veteran of service in India, Captain Edward Ashburnham appears to be the ideal “Good Soldier.” But for his creator, Ford Madox Ford, he also represents the corruption at society’s core. Beneath Ashburnham’s charming, polished exterior lurks a soul well-versed in the arts of deception, hypocrisy, and betrayal.  Throughout the nine years of his friendship with an equally privileged American, John Dowell, Ashburnham has been having an affair with Dowell’s wife, Florence.  Unlike Dowell, Ashburnham’s own wife Leonora is well aware of it.

John Dowell is telling the story in retrospect; he does not tell it chronologically.  The issue of unreliability is another twist in the story.  Is he truly naïve?  The reader must make a decision on that point.

I connect this novel with the writings of Edith Wharton and, perhaps, Henry James.  It is an American narrator written by a British author covering that time period of the Gilded Age with its privleged people living off family wealth.  This novel deserves a second read; I will have my own copy when that day comes.

 
Ford, Ford Madox. The Good Soldier. New York: Barnes & Noble, 2005, Print.