This coming Saturday, the Cornflower Book Group (which is open to all, so please join us, if you'd like to, by reading along) will be discussing Babette's Feast by Isak Dinesen/Karen Blixen. For our July book I've chosen The Good Soldier: A Tale of Passion 
Here's what the back cover of my copy says: "... The Good Soldier tells of the complex social and sexual relationships between two couples, one English, one American, and the growing awareness of the American narrator John Dowell of the intrigues and passions behind their orderly Edwardian façade. It is the attitude of Dowell, his puzzlement and uncertainty, and the seemingly haphazard manner of his narration that make the book so powerful and mysterious. Ford called it 'the only novel of mine that I considered ... at all to count' and it has perplexed and delighted commentators since its publication. The novel has many comic moments, despite its catalogue of death, insanity and despair, and has been read as both a comedy and a tragedy. It has inspired the works of many later, distinguished writers, including Graham Greene."
The Good Soldier should be readily available from libraries and shops, but if you can't find it locally, Amazon UK (link above) and US have it, The Book Depository carries the Oxford World's Classics edition shown here and the cheaper Wordsworth Classics one (with free worldwide delivery), and it also comes as an e-book
Karen,
Not sure I will be able to join in for Babette's Feast, but I definitely will for The Good Soldier. I've been waiting a long time for the right opportunity to read it, and this seems ideal.
Sharon
Posted by: Sharon Goforth | 22 June 2011 at 05:24 PM
This is more like it! Twelve copies currently available in my university library. I hope it lives up to its billing, so far the CBG books which have had "comic moments" have not found much favour with me. On my way to get a copy right now.
Posted by: Dark Puss | 22 June 2011 at 05:25 PM
That's great, Sharon!
Posted by: Cornflower | 22 June 2011 at 05:33 PM
Excellent, DP. I'm not sure how comic any 'moments' will be given the rest of the book's subject-matter, but we shall see!
Posted by: Cornflower | 22 June 2011 at 05:36 PM
I was just thinking I'd like to reread The Good Soldier so here's my alibi. I'd be delighted to join in. Susan E
Posted by: Susan E | 22 June 2011 at 05:37 PM
I've been having trouble lately keeping up with reading, but hopefully I'll be able to rejoin y'all in July. This is one of those that's been on my TBR shelf for quite a while (and it's skinny!) so here's hoping! Hope your summer is off to a good start.
Posted by: Susan in TX | 22 June 2011 at 06:38 PM
That was fortuitous, Susan - glad to give you an excuse for a re-read.
Posted by: Cornflower | 22 June 2011 at 08:18 PM
Thanks, Susan. Glad I chose a skinny one in the end - I was considering something almost twice as long!
Posted by: Cornflower | 22 June 2011 at 08:24 PM
Like Sharon above, I am going to have to give Babette's Feast a miss but I am off to the library for a copy of The Good Soldier .
Posted by: Barbara MacLeod | 22 June 2011 at 09:37 PM
Oh what a good choice! Just reading the first lines you quote on the other side of the blog made my heart soar. I've discovered from my book list that it's not even a year since I first read The Good Soldier, but I'll be delighted to read it again. I see your link for the ebook takes us to Amazon where it costs 69p but it's absolutely free from Project Gutenberg.
Posted by: B R Wombat | 23 June 2011 at 11:30 AM
Sharon, You can read Babette's Feast in under an hour. That is, if you have a copy!
Posted by: Julie Fredericksen | 23 June 2011 at 05:03 PM
Karen-
By your choices (most of them anyway) you are conducting a class on English literature and I mean the kind of English - or should I say British - literature I was never exposed to as an "English" major in college. What fun - The Good Soldier id already ordered and on its way.
I was so disappointed that so many people chose not to read Babette's Feast. Were they not aware that this is not a novel or even a novelette, but a short story easily read by everyone in a short period of time?
Posted by: Julie Fredericksen | 26 June 2011 at 05:09 AM
Thankyou, Julie. Yes, it is surprising that comparatively few people read Babette's Feast; I suppose you can take a horse to water, but...!
Posted by: Cornflower | 29 June 2011 at 05:48 PM
I found this book available free from Project Gutenberg and have downloaded it for the Kindle.
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2775
Posted by: Sandy | 07 July 2011 at 02:25 PM
Many thanks for that link, Sandy.
Posted by: Cornflower | 07 July 2011 at 04:30 PM