Other editions of book The Good Soldier

“I know nothing - nothing in the world - of the hearts of men. I only know that I am alone - horribly alone.” --- Ford Madox Ford, The Good Soldier The Good Soldier: A Tale of Passion is a 1915 novel by English novelist Ford Madox Ford. It is set just before World War I and chronicles the tragedy of Edward Ashburnham, the soldier to whom the title refers, and his own seemingly perfect marriage and that of two American friends. The novel is told using a series of flashbacks in non-chronological order, a literary technique that formed part of Ford's pioneering view of literary impressionism. Ford employs the device of the unreliable narrator to great effect as the main character gradually reveals a version of events that is quite different from what the introduction leads the reader to believe. The novel was loosely based on two incidents of adultery and on Ford's messy personal life. The novel’s original title was The Saddest Story, but after the onset of World War I, the publishers asked Ford for a new title. Ford suggested (sarcastically) The Good Soldier, and the name stuck. In 1998, the Modern Library ranked The Good Soldier 30th on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century.

This classic book by Ford Madox Ford is a tale of romance and manipulation set shortly prior to the outbreak of World War I. Edward Ashburnham is a military man whose personality and appearance is outwardly perfect. In a stable marriage, well-liked, and with friends - Edward is apparently a pillar of society. Curiously however the novel begins with a declaration that the story is 'the saddest ever told'. Famous as a popular example of unreliable narration, The Good Soldier slowly unfurls an embellished plot which follows the misadventures of Edward and his wife Leonora with the narrator and other women. It is revealed that Edward is a serial adulterer, and that the complex relationships between the narrator and their lovers are anything but perfect. Partly modelled upon the author's own chaotic personal life, The Good Soldier masterfully uses unreliable narration and purposely weaves inconsistencies into the plot. In the end we are unsure exactly what has transpired; and herein lays the excellence of the novel - it is left to the reader to decide what is true, what is omitted, and what is false. Considered a classic, The Good Soldier has received adaptations for television and radio, and remains a favourite of early 20th century dramatic literature.

The Good Soldier is Ford Madox Ford's most famous novel. The action centers around the sad story of Edward Ashburnham. The book is unique for its use of flashbacks and it was loosely based off Ford's personal life and other real-life events. The Good Soldier is often near the top of lists ranking the best novels of the 20th century. Ford Madox Ford was an English novelist, poet, and critic. Ford often collaborated with other writers during his time including Joseph Conrad. Today Ford is best remembered for writing The Good Soldier and The Fifth Queen Trilogy.

Handsome, wealthy, and a veteran of service in India, Captain Edward Ashburnham appears to be the ideal "good soldier" and the embodiment of English upper-class virtues. 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. When The Good Soldier was first published in 1915, its pitiless portrait of an amoral society dedicated to its own pleasure and convinced of its own superiority outraged many readers. Stylistically daring, The Good Soldier is narrated, unreliably, by Dowell, through whom Ford provides a level of bitter irony. Dowell's disjointed, stumbling storytelling not only subverts linear temporality to satisfying effect, it also reflects his struggle to accept a world without honor, order, or permanence. Called the best French novel in the English language, The Good Soldier is both tragic and darkly comic, and it established Ford as an important contributor to the development of literary modernism.

Using pre-First World War Europe as its stage, The Good Soldier is the unforgettable story of Edward Ashburnham, his wife Leonora, and their friends, John and Florence Dowell. The eponymous Good Soldier, Edward embodies upper-class English values but behind closed doors carries on a long-running affair with Florence. When Florence’s husband, John, discovers the affair, he sets in motion a series of events both tragic and unavoidable.

How is this book unique? Font adjustments & biography included Unabridged (100% Original content) Illustrated About The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford "The Good Soldier is a novel by English novelist Ford Madox Ford. It is set just before World War I and chronicles the tragedy of Edward Ashburnham, the soldier to whom the title refers, and his own seemingly perfect marriage and that of two American friends. The novel is told using a series of flashbacks in non-chronological order, a literary technique that formed part of Ford's pioneering view of literary impressionism. Ford employs the device of the unreliable narrator to great effect as the main character gradually reveals a version of events that is quite different from what the introduction leads the reader to believe. The novel was loosely based on two incidents of adultery and on Ford's messy personal life. The Good Soldier is narrated by the character John Dowell, half of one of the couples whose dissolving relationships form the subject of the novel. Dowell tells the stories of those dissolutions as well as the deaths of three characters and the madness of a fourth, in a rambling, non-chronological fashion that leaves gaps for the reader to fill. The ""plot"" is not then the real story; the reader is asked to consider whether they believe Dowell and what part he truly played in how this ""saddest story ever told"" actually plays out. "

How is this book unique? Font adjustments & biography included Unabridged (100% Original content) Formatted for e-reader Illustrated About The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford The Good Soldier is a novel by English novelist Ford Madox Ford. It is set just before World War I and chronicles the tragedy of Edward Ashburnham, the soldier to whom the title refers, and his own seemingly perfect marriage and that of two American friends. The novel is told using a series of flashbacks in non-chronological order, a literary technique that formed part of Ford's pioneering view of literary impressionism. Ford employs the device of the unreliable narrator to great effect as the main character gradually reveals a version of events that is quite different from what the introduction leads the reader to believe. The novel was loosely based on two incidents of adultery and on Ford's messy personal life. The Good Soldier is narrated by the character John Dowell, half of one of the couples whose dissolving relationships form the subject of the novel. Dowell tells the stories of those dissolutions as well as the deaths of three characters and the madness of a fourth, in a rambling, non-chronological fashion that leaves gaps for the reader to fill. The "plot" is not then the real story; the reader is asked to consider whether they believe Dowell and what part he truly played in how this "saddest story ever told" actually plays out.

In 'The Good Soldier' Ford uses the theme of adultery among his four main characters to examine the basis of social reality, the difference between 'normal' and 'strange', between what is 'good' and what 'evil'. His narrator gradually comes to realise that while 'normality' is useful in maintaining social cohesion, there is nevertheless an "irresolvable pluralism of truths in a world that remains essentially dark." 'The Good Soldier' has been described as the Perfect Novel, and Ford himself called it his "auk's egg", the best thing he had ever written.