The Forsyte Saga

The mini-series has nothing on this

I met the Forsytes through a modern mini-series. Perhaps you did, too. That mini-series makes Irene the centre of attention, and therefore has to invent incidents and conversations. That said, the differences between screen and book probably made that a necessity. The book in fact makes the Forsytes the centre of attention, and is not at all chronological (in the way the mini-series is). In the book, you see Irene entirely through Forsyte eyes. And the book (and she) are all the more alluring for that. It is an effect that could not be realised on the screen, and yet another reason why great literature will always have to be read. It is a dark secret, known only to Soames, Irene, Jollyon and (briefly) Bossinney that binds this book, through three generations. I have often questioned the rightness of the ending of 'To Let', the third novel in the saga. But I can only have felt the same revulsion toward Soames, and thus his progeny. The fact is that life does not always have simplistic endings. There are inconquerable problems that sometimes make what seems obvious and perfect, utterly unobtainable. You will read and re-read.

6 out of 7 people found this review helpful.

Great novel, poor translation to eBook

There are plenty of recommendations and reviews for Galsworthy's classic family saga. Be guided by the ones which rate it highly. This is a great novel that focuses on the inner life to the characters rather than on the action. You won't regret reading it. The B&R Samizdat Express rendition has its problems. Each page has at one or more errors where words are not correct. The conversion to eBook was obviously not proof read. Encountering so many errors on the page detracts from the reading experience.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

This Book Takes You Back...

If you were ever wondering about 19th century British upper middle class, this book is for you. The little details of each character is brought out, but not drawn out. You get into each character to see what make him/her tick: pride, hate, love, compassion, rage, jealousy and greed are just wonderfully exposed and felt as each one is explored.

At the end, I even felt sorry for Soames, because he was a product of how he was raised. He was the only one, who could not see that what he wanted was mearly window dressing and appearances. He lived under a Victorian illusion of what his life truly was, and never quite understood until the very end that money cannot buy true love or happiness.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Fascinating Saga

This book was a quick read. I recommend this novel to anyone who saw the new Masterpiece Theater version. The characters are extremely complex and fascinating.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Greatest classic

Enjoyable reading, Very comparable to the War and Piece, brittish version of High Society saga

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

i love this book!!!

galsworthy speaks the truth regarding life and human nature. many beautiful scenes involving the english country side. just read it and see for yourself. its a wonderful family drama

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

i adore this book

every thing in this book is wonderful from the descriptions of english country life to all the love and hate relationships. love it!! so many themes are encountered in this book -love, life, family relationships, money, loyalty, art, and passion

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

A story to read and re-read!!

What a wonderful novel to read and re-read. Yes, there is a 2nd PBS presentation and it is very complimentary!!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Terrfic! PBS is bringing new version to TV in fall

Hard to resist being caught up in the Forsythes lives, and why would anyone? First class depiction of life 100 years ago, and in aspects not too far removed from our own times.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Great Book. Pleasant Reading.

Gives you wonderful picture of the life and love in England of the Last Century.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Page-turner

The writing in this epic is masterful, engaging, substantive, and elegant. The story follows a family through three generations beginning in the late 1880s up the in 1920s. The characters are extremely well-developed and really come to life. The subtleties of the characters and the twisting lives of the Forsyte family are fascinating and makes for quite a page turner. I was hooked immediately. I recommend this book to people of all ages. I know that sometimes that novels taking place in this particular era can seem daunting for those of us who crave more modern, or action/adventure books, but there is no lack of excitement here. I urge you to give it a shot!

Highly Recommended

This trilogy set in turn-of-the-twentieth-century England, chronicles the lives, loves, and tragedies of several generations of the Forsyte family. Distinguished by their "sense of property" and individualism in a rapidly shifting England, each Forsyte attempts to find a measure of happiness despite war, divorce, death, and deception. The focus of each book, however, is Soames Forsyte, a unique character in fiction. However, it's not actually Soames Forsyte himself who is interesting, but the ways in which Galsworthy uses him as the lens through which the reader views all of the other characters. For Soames Forsyte, we quickly learn, is basically a cold, shrewd, narrow-minded, selfish man. And yet, his nearly forty-year attempt to understand why his wife (and then ex-wife) Irene so despises him makes the reader, despite herself, actually sympathize with his frustration. Why, Soames asks himself several times in these 800 pages, does Irene hate him so much? Why, when he has given her all the material possessions she could want, respectability, and stability, does she shrink from his touch and refuse to share his bed? What, Soames asks himself and Irene many times, is wrong with him (in Irene's eyes)? Of course, Soames never gets an answer, and just once does Galsworthy refer obliquely to a instinctive repugnance that each one of us has for certain people, something that we cannot explain. The fact that Irene has an affair with one man and then marries another, after her divorce from Soames, only adds salt to his wound. One of the lessons of The Forsyte Saga, then, is that we can never really understand other people, trapped as we are in our own minds, with our prejudices, instincts, desires, and hatreds. How many times have we all wondered why a certain person doesn't desire us as we desire them, or why we can't stand a certain person even when they've never given us cause to dislike them? How many times has each of us wondered if there was something wrong in ourselves, something that everyone else can see but us? Ultimately, Galsworthy shows us the futility of trying to force love or friendship, and suggests that we find that which does make us happy and learn to live in a sometimes hostile, sometimes indifferent world.

Superb Writing

It has been a very long time since I have read such a superbly written book. The prose is outstanding and any given page in this long story is a treat! The description of the characters and the settings in the story were so wonderful that they stayed in my mind long after I put my NOOK down at night. I found myself dreaming about the people who inhabit this classic story and wondering how it would all turn out. When I finished the story, I found myself not wanting to turn the last page and surrender these characters for whom I had so much empathy and affection. The tragedy of the relationship of Soames and Irene and how it affected their decendents is the best of storytelling. Galsworthy was a genius!

Life story so touching

This book has everything. Great character and plot development... When you start reading you just want to go till you all through. Its a great book all together

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