vodkafan Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 Mods please merge if there is already a thread for this. Saga The Man Of Property (Forsyte Saga book 1) John Galsworthy I did not expect to enjoy this at all and began it dutifully. However it soon grew on me and I found it right up my street, I enjoy anything Victorian. The style of writing I found to be very similar to that of William Thackery in Vanity Fair, but without that author's device of breaking off the story and addressing the reader, which I detested. The Victorian world of the Forsytes is all about keeping up outward appearances and maintaining proper standards. The men are completely stiff and seemingly unable to express any emotion but at least they have the freedom to come and go as they please. The women are constrained to stay at home -sometimes for a whole lifetime if they do not find a husband- and their emotions and feelings do not matter much in the scheme of things. Galsworthy uses the Forsytes as a metaphor for that whole class of Upper Middle Victorian society and alludes to it often. Like the family in A Suitable Boy , I soon found the Forsytes grew into real people for me. They do not stay as they are at the outset but are changed by events in the book. One warning: if you do not want to know the main events of the book before reading, don't look at the family tree at the beginning of the book. I myself could not help it, but it did not in the event ruin anything for me. Young Jolyon has been ostracised for the last 15 years for divorcing his wife and marrying an actress. He has already put love before family so I liked him straight away, although he is only mentioned indirectly at the beginning. His father, old Jolyon, also as it turns has a very un-Forsyte like streak which comes out later in the book. He is capable sometimes of seeing both sides of a situation, but nevertheless has cut off his son from his inheritance and brought up his granddaughter alone . He was also a favourite character for me. The marriage of Irene and Soames, Jolyon's nephew (and the man of property of the title) is the main meat of the story and the catalyst for events that will change the family forever and also reflect the changes in British society at the time. I will certainly read the whole series of books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppy Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 Great review Vod, I read all the books quite a few years ago now and really loved them. Other authors I thought in a similar vein were RF Delderfield and Anthony Trollope. (we have a friend Jolyon, whose mother named him after Galsworthy's character, which In NZ is quite unusual. I put her pretty high on my 'impressed' list ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kidsmum Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 . we have a friend Jolyon, whose mother named him after Galsworthy's character, which In NZ is quite unusual. I put her pretty high on my 'impressed' list ) What a cool friend you have Poppy Looking forward to reading your reviews on the other books VF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SueK Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 (edited) That's interesting Poppy. My best friend at school was called Fleur after Soames' daughter. Edited November 1, 2012 by SueK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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