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114th out of 126 books
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8 voters
Some Do Not ... & No More Parades (Parade's End #1)
With his acclaimed masterpiece Parade's End, Ford Madox Ford set himself a work of immense scale and ambition: "I wanted the Novelist in fact to appear in his really proud position as historian of his own time... The 'subject' was the world as it culminated in the war." Published in four parts between 1924 and 1928, his extraordinary novel centers on Christopher Tietjens,...more
Hardcover, 327 pages
Published
by Sphere Books
(first published 1924)
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Upon reading this, the first novel in Ford Madox Ford’s tetralogy Parade’s End, I realized that far too many of my vital energies are dissipated in the observation and contemplation of boobs and asses. Not that Ford addresses this issue at any great length in Some Do Not…, but one character is described as having very little “sex instinct”, as a kind of compliment in that it allows her to engage in more fruitful activities unburdened by sexual politics and maneuverings. Ford of course did not ha...more
Some do not ... what? You must read it to find out. Parade's end may become my favourite of the great British 20th Century sequences, alongside the Balkan \ Levant trilogies, Raj Quartet, and more satisfying than A Dance to the Music of Time. Once in tune with the time shifting I savoured every page. And it's to be a BBC series ... http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pres...
http://fordmadoxford-conference.weebl...
http://fordmadoxford-conference.weebl...
What a stunning tour de force.
Although Ford is a bit confusing in his arrangement of parts, I read this book still with the haze of the recent HBO production of Parade's End in my mind, so I found the discontinuity manageable. The story is also an antidote to the currently popular and overly-hawked Downton Abbey, which I have just sworn off of.
What makes a novel good? Well, Christopher Tietjens is a fine hero: a younger son, a brilliant mind, and an out-moded and almost accidentally received m...more
Although Ford is a bit confusing in his arrangement of parts, I read this book still with the haze of the recent HBO production of Parade's End in my mind, so I found the discontinuity manageable. The story is also an antidote to the currently popular and overly-hawked Downton Abbey, which I have just sworn off of.
What makes a novel good? Well, Christopher Tietjens is a fine hero: a younger son, a brilliant mind, and an out-moded and almost accidentally received m...more
Originally published on my blog here in September 2000.
The character of Christopher Tietjens dominates the first novel of Ford's Parade's End sequence about the effects of the First World War as he does all four. His central place is because he represents much of the decent side of the old gentlemanly world destroyed in that conflict.
Strangely enough, in Some Do Not..., no part of the war is portrayed; it is mainly about the relationship between Tietjens and his wife Sylvia. This is what starts...more
The character of Christopher Tietjens dominates the first novel of Ford's Parade's End sequence about the effects of the First World War as he does all four. His central place is because he represents much of the decent side of the old gentlemanly world destroyed in that conflict.
Strangely enough, in Some Do Not..., no part of the war is portrayed; it is mainly about the relationship between Tietjens and his wife Sylvia. This is what starts...more
If you're too good, people will hate you - appears to be the theme.
Having almost scratched my eyes out with 'The Good Soldier', or I should
say I couldn't appreciate the convoluted style, I promised to focus even
more this time, and 'Parade' is a better read.
FMF likes to open scenes with no context, so you don't have any idea
what is going on and you have to figure it out from the conversation,
which makes it difficult reading at times.
England 1910, two good friends Tietjens & MacMaster are 30is...more
Having almost scratched my eyes out with 'The Good Soldier', or I should
say I couldn't appreciate the convoluted style, I promised to focus even
more this time, and 'Parade' is a better read.
FMF likes to open scenes with no context, so you don't have any idea
what is going on and you have to figure it out from the conversation,
which makes it difficult reading at times.
England 1910, two good friends Tietjens & MacMaster are 30is...more
This is the first installment of Ford Madox Ford's Quadrilogy, Parade's End, which is one of my more ambitious summer reading selections. The book's narration moves fluidly back and forth through time and follows protagonist, Christopher Tietjens, a man struggling with a set of old-fashioned English gentleman values in a rapidly modernizing world. Tietjens describes the first World War as a war between the 18th century and the 20th century. In this environment old-fashioned morals and social res...more
A difficult novel to read for two reasons:
Ford's structure took some adjusting to and when I eventually figured out that he would drop in a new part of the story which he wouldn't elaborate until 50 to 100 pages later, I settled into it. However, that didn't make it any more enjoyable.
Secondly, Christopher Tietjens sense of honour as an English gentleman of a very elite class, and as a husband and son in this narrow world, just became annoying.
Having persisted for just over 900 pages, it was fr...more
Ford's structure took some adjusting to and when I eventually figured out that he would drop in a new part of the story which he wouldn't elaborate until 50 to 100 pages later, I settled into it. However, that didn't make it any more enjoyable.
Secondly, Christopher Tietjens sense of honour as an English gentleman of a very elite class, and as a husband and son in this narrow world, just became annoying.
Having persisted for just over 900 pages, it was fr...more
Fascinating & intriguing read. I found it very funny in parts but then wondered if it was meant to be ironic? The streams of consciousness was so modern, the ideas and the mores examined complex and multilayered. Definitely rereading again just for the joy of the language. Love the main characters, too: Christopher saint or annoyng anachronism? Sylvie: banshee or just thwarted woman who supposedly can have evyrthing except what she wants? It made me spend lots of time thinking about what I'd...more
Beautifully written and a compulsive read. The characters are wonderfully drawn.
I learnt so much about how British society worked in the run up to, and during, World War One. The "Old Order" was destroyed forever, dramatically and, for many individuals, devastatingly.
I'm about to embark on the second book in the Parades End trilogy, "No More Parades". There is a fourth volume, which I believe is more of a sequel than it is a novel to complete a tetralogy.
I learnt so much about how British society worked in the run up to, and during, World War One. The "Old Order" was destroyed forever, dramatically and, for many individuals, devastatingly.
I'm about to embark on the second book in the Parades End trilogy, "No More Parades". There is a fourth volume, which I believe is more of a sequel than it is a novel to complete a tetralogy.
This had a lot in common with War and Peace, the whole saga-like atmosphere focusing on a few related characters and their lives as they take place during wartime or leading up to it. I really enjoyed the segues back into time that, according to the introduction to my copy of the volume, are supposed to show how a mind is confused after being at war and also how it shows how events interrelate and remind one of other events in one's life. I look forward to reading the other three volumes, esp. a...more
Watched BBC adaptation and then bought the book. I had a holiday and it took a week to read but it was excellent. The characters are complex and rounded and the portrayal of the Great War is funny and heartbreaking by turns. must be one of the greatest novels of the last century. The BBC series is a fabulous adaptation with great production values - just a bit too condensed!
If the measure of a book is how easily it transports you to another place, then Ford Maddox Ford's novel, 'Some Do Not', is certainly a masterpiece. For full review see: http://www.mybookaffair.net/2012/09/s...
I adored this book. Absolutely stunning prose in highly original structure. Not the easiest read but worth the effort. Read it over 10 years ago and still rates as my favourite - recommend highly.
Had the Vintage paperback for well nigh on twenty years. Should be in my line but could never quite get a hold of it somehow. Pity. Still, try again someday I expect.
These are extraordinary books. I first read them about 25 years ago and was very impressed. then inspired by the very good TV version retread them September 2012. I have yet to read the fourth one and am interested to see whether some of the scenes in the Stoppard screenplay come up in the final book.
The three books are beautifully constructed, with dramatic flashbacks and changes of pace.
The characters are so deeply portrayed - they are real human beings: even the dreadful Sylvia is not whol...more
Ford fans, watch this video.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/6...
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/6...
Extremely elliptical - not quite The Good Soldier.
Not an way read but. Very absorbing ....and some great nasty characters. Will def read the other 3 ...eventually !
Very good emotional
Loved this book, beautiful prose, if a bit strenuous due to constant consultation of the dictionary. Definitely merits re-reading. Great insights into England of the early 20th century.
"No More Parades", the second part of the tetralogy "Parades End" would be as brilliant as the first had it not been for the tedious descriptions of army life on the supply lines to the Western Front, and the confusing military acronyms. Ford Madox Ford continues, otherwise, to draw vivid descriptions of the behaviour, thoughts and motives of his main characters and elaborates upon on how British society, and its attitudes, changed irrevocably during World War One.
I think my heart is broken.
This book deals with Teitjen's time as a captain at a supplies depot, close to the Front during World War One. He has left Valentine and England behind, but Sylvia, on the war-path, follows him to France and stirs up a world of trouble in the process. To read my full review see: http://www.mybookaffair.net/2012/10/n...
More coherent than the first Parades End novel. Wonderfully scathing about the command structure of the British Army in the trenches.
Very hard to read, but totally worth it.
May 20, 2013
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Ford Madox Ford was the author of over 60 works: novels, poems, criticism, travel essays, and reminiscences. His work includes The Good Soldier, Parade's End, The Rash Act, and Ladies Whose Bright Eyes. He worked as the editor of the English Review and the Transatlantic Review and collaborated with Joseph Conrad on The Inheritors, Romance, and other works. Ford lived in both France and the United...more
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“It was an odd friendship, but the oddnesses of friendships are a frequent guarantee of their lasting texture.”
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14 people liked it
“She had always known under her mind and now she confessed it: her agony had been, half of it, because one day he would say farewell to her, like that, with the inflexion of a verb. As, just occasionally, using the work “we” - and perhaps without intention - he had let her know that he loved her.”
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2 people liked it
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