Resumen
Resumen de El buen soldado
Para quién es
For readers who enjoy a puzzle of character, a narrator you must question, and short novels about love, money, religion and deceit.
De qué trata este libro
The Good Soldier is a novel by Ford Madox Ford, first published in 1915. Ford wrote it in the years just before the First World War, when he was already an established editor and writer who had worked alongside Joseph Conrad. The book follows two married couples, one American and one English, who meet at a German spa town and stay close for nine years. On the surface they are the model of good manners. Underneath, almost nothing is what it seems.
The story is told by John Dowell, the American husband, who sets it down as he tries to understand it himself. He circles back, corrects himself and admits he may be wrong. You get a tale of love, money, religion and deceit, and also a lesson in how much a trusting person can fail to see. Ford planned a title about the saddest story, and you will see why. Let us begin with the narrator and the odd way he speaks to us.
En este resumen
- 1A narrator who tells it out of orderFree
- 2Two couples meet at Nauheim
- 3The Ashburnhams and their estate
- 4Hidden pressures beneath good manners
- 5What the novel is really about
- 6How Ford tells it
Idea clave 1 de 6
A narrator who tells it out of order
The novel opens with a famous sentence in which John Dowell calls this the saddest story he has ever heard. He is writing from a quiet distance, after the events, and he addresses an unnamed listener as if sitting by a fire. He says he does not know how to tell it, so he will just go on talking and let the order come as it may.
Dowell is a wealthy American from Philadelphia. He has spent years in Europe, mainly because of his wife Florence and her supposed weak heart. He describes himself as a plain man, even a dull one, who simply went along with what he was shown. He says the two couples were good people, and that for nine years he believed he knew them as well as one can know anyone.
But he soon says that he knew nothing at all. That one claim shapes everything that follows. He has been living inside a polite surface, and now he is trying to look under it.
The reader has to decide how far to trust him. He is sincere, yet he leaves gaps, changes his mind and sometimes contradicts what he said a few pages before. This is not carelessness on Ford's part. It is the method of the book. You are asked to read Dowell the way you would listen to a friend in shock, noting what he stresses and what he skips.
The pleasure is in piecing the truth together, long before Dowell himself is willing to say it plainly. One early lesson is that sad stories are rarely told in a straight line.
That’s 1 of 6 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Who’s who
- John Dowell
- A wealthy American and Florence's trusting husband, he narrates his friendship with the Ashburnhams while questioning what he understood.
- Florence Dowell
- John's wife travels through Europe with him for her supposed heart condition, while keeping her own aims hidden.
- Edward Ashburnham
- Leonora's husband is an English army captain and generous landowner whom John admires as a model of honour.
- Leonora Ashburnham
- Edward's Irish Catholic wife manages their household and watches over a marriage strained beneath its respectable appearance.
- Nancy Rufford
- The Ashburnhams' young ward is convent educated, gentle and sincere, and her presence alters relationships within their household.
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 77,000 words
- Reading timeAbout 5 h 10 min
- FormatseBook, large-print eBook, audiobook, 15-minute summary
- LanguagesEnglish and 13 other languages
Questions about El buen soldado
What is The Good Soldier about?
It tells of two married couples, one American and one English, who meet at a German spa and stay friends for nine years. The narrator slowly learns that their calm friendship hid many strains.
Why is the narrator in The Good Soldier unreliable?
John Dowell is sincere but poorly informed, and he tells events out of order, contradicts himself and leaves gaps. Readers must weigh what he says against what he seems to avoid.
Who is the good soldier in the book?
The title is ironic and open to debate. Most readers link it to Edward Ashburnham, an army officer who prizes honour, but some ask whether it fits other characters too.
When was The Good Soldier written and is it a true story?
Ford Madox Ford wrote it just before the First World War, and it appeared in 1915. It is fiction, though drawn from Ford's knowledge of English society and his own tangled private life.
Is The Good Soldier hard to read?
No. The prose is plain and conversational, like a friend talking by a fire, with short remarks and warm asides. The story is clear too: two married couples meet at a German spa and stay close for nine years.