Showing results for title "The Good Soldier", by author "Ford Madox Ford" in Literature & Fiction

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.

The Dowells, a wealthy American couple, have been close friends with the Ashburnhams for years. Edward Ashburnham, a first-rate soldier, seems to be the perfect English gentleman and Leonora his perfect wife, but beneath the surface their marriage seethes with unhappiness and deception. Our only window on the strange tangle of events surrounding Edward is provided by John Dowell, the husband he deceives. Gradually Dowell unfolds a devastating story, in which everyone's honesty is in doubt.

The tragic story of two couples, one American and one English, traveling together through Europe for an extended amount of time told by a seemingly unreliable narrator John Dowell.

Igennem ni år har det amerikanske ægtepar John og Florence tilbragt deres somre på et mondænt kursted i den tyske by Nauheim. Det samme er tilfældet for det engelske par Edward og Leonora. Et venskab er spiret frem mellem ægteparrene i en verden styret af etikette og pli. Ren idyl, tilsyneladende, men krusninger begynder snart at vise sig på den ellers så verdslige overflade.

Two couples, two marriages; both seemingly perfect, both falling apart. Beneath the surface gentility of the American John Dowell with his wife Florence and the landed grace of Edward and Leonora lie fictions and deceit. There are secret desires, hidden power-games, suicides and madness. Everyone is hiding something; even the narrator can’t be trusted. Brilliantly inventive, tragic and ironic, The Good Soldier is one of the great novels of the 20th century.

What does it mean to be "just good people?" That is how the two couples—one British and one American—in this story are described. But what happens when you look deeper, peeling back the layers of politeness and civility? It is a tale of love, of disappointment, of miscommunication, and missed opportunities.