Cornflower Book Group 2011: Volume 7

 

    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 by Ford Madox Ford. First published in 1915, its opening line is a memorable one!

    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. Let's say we'll start our discussion on the book on Saturday, 23rd. July, but of course comments remain open indefinitely so you can have your say at any time after that date.