The Forsyte Saga (Oxford World's Classics)

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The Forsyte Saga (The Forsyte Chronicles #1-3)

by John Galsworthy, Geoffrey Harvey (Editor)

4.14 of 5 stars 4.14 · rating details · 6,687 ratings · 382 reviews

The three novels which make up The Forsyte Saga chronicle the ebbing social power of the commercial upper-middle class Forsyte family between 1886 and 1920. Galsworthy's masterly narrative examines not only their fortunes but also the wider developments within society, particularly the changing position of women. This is the only critical edition of the work available, wit...more

Paperback, 872 pages

Published October 1st 2008 by Oxford University Press, USA (first published 1920)

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Apr 28, 2010 Christopher H. rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Christopher by: lonebearimages@gmail.com

Shelves: british-literature, historical-fiction, read-in-2009, favorite-rereads, british-authors-translators, favorites, my-western-canon, nobel-nba-booker-pulitzer

This is a titanic masterpiece of a multi-generational story of a fictional English family that spans the Victorian, Edwardian, and post-World War I eras. For the first one-hundred pages or so, I found myself having to frequently refer to the Forsyte family genealogical chart; however, by the end of the book I knew all of the characters and their place in the family intimately. Like all families, Galsworthy has created a world of very real and human characters in the Forsyte family; a family boun...more

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Feb 25, 2011 Petra X rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

Reread the week of 25th February 2011.

The first time I read this book I was going up the Amazon. I had just crossed the Atlantic with three friends on a yacht and got off in Fortaleza, Brazil. I thought this would be my one and only chance to see the Amazon so I stuffed a backpack full of the necesssaries, abandoned the rest and got a bus to Belem at the mouth of the Amazon. A month later having explored Belem, Santarem and a few other small places I found myself in Manaus, 1,000 miles up the Am...more Reread the week of 25th February 2011.

The first time I read this book I was going up the Amazon. I had just crossed the Atlantic with three friends on a yacht and got off in Fortaleza, Brazil. I thought this would be my one and only chance to see the Amazon so I stuffed a backpack full of the necesssaries, abandoned the rest and got a bus to Belem at the mouth of the Amazon. A month later having explored Belem, Santarem and a few other small places I found myself in Manaus, 1,000 miles up the Amazon. It took me a few weeks to sort out a guide I could afford as I didn't want to join a tourist party and although previously my travels had been on my own, I wanted to leave the towns, the river boats, roads and really penetrate the jungle and obviously I couldn't do that on my own. I was lucky enough to find an Indian who had been a tour guide but was now returning to his village on a lake several hundred miles away. He spoke English, Portuguese and Xingu and was happy, for a smallish fee, to take me along.

And this is where the Forsyte Saga comes in. Travelling by small boat, bus, river boats and sometimes walking miles to reach another place on the red laterite road to get to another tributary and another boat, several days later we reached the village. During that journey there there had been long periods of just waiting while trees were chopped down to bypass huge potholes - ones big enough to have 6' Victoria Regina water lilies floating in them - and I read the only book I brought, the 800+ page Forsyte Saga. Despite it being a big book, it wasn't really heavy as the pages were tissue thin. Which was good, because as I read them I ripped them out and used them. Tissue indeed!

Later in the village, which was about 40 houseboats and Indian houses on stilts spread out around a lake that took a motorboat two hours to go around, I was shown the local variant of toilet tissue. It was a largish, quite thick leaf whose furriness made it very soft and when crushed it released a very soothing, slightly scented liquid, a natural body lotion. I did learn the name in Xingu but never in English. I wish I could remember what it was because it was so much nicer than any toilet tissue I have ever used and I would grow it in pots in the bathroom.

So 5-stars to the Forsyte Saga for a brilliant story and being so damn useful in a time of great need.(less)

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Jun 05, 2007 Siria rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 19th-century, british-fiction

The Man of Property

The Man of Property is the first book in what would eventually turn out to be the nine volume Forsyte Saga, the work for which Galsworthy is chiefly remembered. It was made into a TV series not so long ago, which is how I'd heard of it, but I hadn't read it until I picked it up to read in an airport recently in order to pass the time thanks to interminable flight delays. It really did quite nicely.

The writing is very much of its time - 1906 - and for those who are not used to...more The Man of Property

The Man of Property is the first book in what would eventually turn out to be the nine volume Forsyte Saga, the work for which Galsworthy is chiefly remembered. It was made into a TV series not so long ago, which is how I'd heard of it, but I hadn't read it until I picked it up to read in an airport recently in order to pass the time thanks to interminable flight delays. It really did quite nicely.

The writing is very much of its time - 1906 - and for those who are not used to late Victorian or early Edwardian prose, I think it could prove a little tough going at times. I grew up devouring books from that period, so as far as I was concerned, it was a very comfortable read. Galsworthy does veer a little towards what would be considered sentimentalism nowadays, but he avoids the overt mawkishness which now makes quite a substantial amount of the literature of that period nigh on unreadable - for me, at any rate.

The double focus of the book - on the Forsyte family, and on the marriage between Soames and Irene Forsyte - is interesting, and I think helps to reinforce what Galsworthy was trying to get at: the futility of acquiring money and material goods while neglecting the things which truly matter in life. The Forsyte family is drawn well, though at times it felt as if he was using too many examples for the reader to follow easily. The fact that there are ten Forsyte siblings, many of whom have children of their own, means that you really have to get the genealogy straight in your head before you can read on very far.

His depiction of the marriage of Soames and Irene was, I think, the most successful part of the novel. The levels of complexity he displays here are very impressive - both of them possess sympathetic qualities and repulsive ones. Despite Soames' rape of his wife, he shows such a complete inability to understand her, try as he might, that all my revulsion was mixed with pity; while Irene's state, though saddening, was tempered by her inability to break out of that wall of stone which seems to surround her personality.

There's really enough of a hook in this that I've got the next two volumes in the series lined up to read soon. If you've got any sort of interest in this period of history, I really would recommend these books.

In Chancery

Perhaps a little slower moving than the first book, and the plot moves in a way which is familiar and predictable in its Victorian-ness in a way which is very reassuring to me; especially since nineteenth century novels are my version of comfort reading. Although the resolution - Irene marrying young Jolyon; Soames marrying Annette - is obvious from very near the beginning of the novel, Galsworthy sketches out the movements of the novel with assurance and elegance. Thematically, the novel hangs well with the rest of the series, and is a wonderful sketch of a particular strata of English society around the turn of the last century.

To Let

I didn't like this one quite so much as the preceding two. Galsworthy follows the same formula as in the first two books - the tragedy of an unsuitable relationship, and how it can damage an entire family - with an added Romeo and Juliet style twist. However, I never really came to feel for Fleur and Jon the way I did for the characters of the preceding generations of Forsytes. Soames, Irene, and Young Jolyon still continued to be the characters I wanted to see more of. Still the same rambling, elegant Victorian-stye prose that I love, though.

I don't know if I would particularly recommend this as a book on its own; still, as a part of the series as a whole, its probably a good idea to read it, if only because it rounds out the characters' stories for you to a large extent.(less)

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Mar 05, 2012 Bekka rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical, favorites-of-all-time, uk

One of the greatest works of literature, there's a reason why Mr. Galsworthy won the Nobel Prize for Literature for this work. An epic saga of a single extended family which spans several generations, Galsworthy creates characters that are human and fallible, noble, kind and cruel. The story is deeply moving, funny, infuriating and completely compelling. This is a huge work, but, as with all great novels, the better it is, the more you want it to continue on and on. This one does! The Saga compr...more

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Dec 29, 2009 Paula rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Finally finished! Took a year of picking it up, putting it down, etc. but with my new work-out routine finally finished this care of my Kindle. This was recommended to me by Mike, and considering the number of books he recommends, I had to get it and at least attempt it!

The book tells the tale of several generations of Forsytes; their failures, their successes, their families, their relationships, their thoughts, their worries and dreams. The saga contains multiple love relationships, some doom...more

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Aug 23, 2008 Andrew rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Forstye Saga is a large family saga, spread over three generations of a Victorian family in London. The Forsytes are not titled or noblemen, but they are upper middle class, and they are good at one thing, making money. They aren't so good at many other things, like love and adapting to new ways.

I do enjoy sprawling family sagas, and I really enjoyed this one too, but did not love it. John Galsworthy creates a main character, Soames Forsyte, that is just disagreeable to me. I did not think m...more

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Oct 03, 2007 Bethany rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Anglophiles and Lovers of Fine Literature

Shelves: 2007

This volume contains 3 full novels and 2 short stories that chronicle the lives of the upper middle-class Forsyte Family. It begins in 1886 at the height of Victorian England and takes us through the Boer War and World War I to 1920. It is the subtle way Nobel Prize winner Mr. Galsworthy brings us through this rough, transitionary time that makes this saga (and it is a saga) great instead of just good or interesting. The larger scope shows us the changing status of women from possessions to full...more

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Mar 20, 2013 angie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book is amazing and I am so glad I stuck with it. Took me 6 months to read, and i sometimes abandoned it for weeks at a time to finish other, much lesser novels. But once half-way through I could not put it down. The characters, the descriptions of London and nature, the time period - everything so vividly depicted.I loved the characters, especially the men who are much more intensely realized than the women - chiefly the main female character Irene, whomthe reader only comes to know throu...more

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Jul 07, 2008 Maureen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Maureen by: Sophi

Shelves: novel

The Forsythe Saga is made up of three books: The Man of Property, In Chancery, and To Let, with interludes included after the first two books, Indian Summer of a Forsyte, and Awakening. This is a vast, sprawling soap opera of a series, with scandalous affairs, divorces, wrangling over money, births and deaths, clashes between younger and older generations,love redeemed and love scorned, or, in short, something for everyone. Although as the partriarch of the household for most of the books, Soame...more

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Jul 08, 2009 Linda J rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Ya gotta hand it to Soames Forsyte - hope springs eternal that Irene, his estranged wife, will suddenly realize the error of her ways and return to him.

This second volume of the Forsyte saga finds the first generation at the end of their time and the mantle is passing to their children and grandchildren. Set at the turn of the century in Victorian London, life is changing rapidly. Motorcars take the place of carriages, the Second Boer War is fought, and Queen Victoria dies. All this is a fascin...more

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Aug 14, 2007 Inder rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 19th-century, 1001-books, england, fiction

This is not a Victorian novel - it was written in the 1920s or 30s - but much of the novel takes place in Victorian times. It's the story of the Forsyte family, spanning several generations and several wars, and its obsession with "property." This has got to be one of the juiciest soap operas in print, and yet it is still full of substance and lessons for living. Watch out, it's a page turner! As much as I love reading Victorian novels, they rarely keep me up at night, but this one did on severa...more

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Nov 04, 2012 Nathan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Forsyte Saga is an endurance read - a sometimes desultory ride through four generations of Forsytes, which makes me cherish the latitude literature has to tell stories at whatever pace it chooses. There came a point midway through the first book (the Saga is comprised of three, with two interstitial novellas) when I settled in and embraced the way this story was going to present the world of an extended family and the changing England around it, and the rewards of that experience, while subt...more The Forsyte Saga is an endurance read - a sometimes desultory ride through four generations of Forsytes, which makes me cherish the latitude literature has to tell stories at whatever pace it chooses. There came a point midway through the first book (the Saga is comprised of three, with two interstitial novellas) when I settled in and embraced the way this story was going to present the world of an extended family and the changing England around it, and the rewards of that experience, while subtle, are deep and lasting.

It’s been a while since I’ve read Trollope, but he is the author I thought of while reading Galsworthy - not as much for the social commentary, though that is present in The Forsyte Saga, and only partially because of the considerable length, but for the deft handling of a story both so broad and so personal, it would fall to pieces (or never cohere to begin with) in the hands of a less skilled writer.

The Forsytes are a family that begins the Saga as part of a newly emerging, wealthy, non-aristocratic class in and around London at the end of the nineteenth century, and ends having established itself as a reputable if fading social institution by the 1920s. In the process, two of its branches turn against one another, ultimately creating a crossing of stars perhaps even more damning than those that plagued the Capulets and Montagues.

Everything works. The characters (and there are several handfuls) are finely etched, each with their own complexities and arcs. The relationships are both real and contrapuntal against other relationships, providing all manner of structural and thematic comparisons. The plots are both organic and meticulous, ultimately achieving the self-evidence of a crystal. The themes are both extremely personally experienced by the characters, and writ large against English society as it shifts from Victorian to Edwardian and beyond.

I am fond of saying that to be a good writer, one must be a good reader. So I read novels like this one on a number of levels. I treasure the transformational experience of literature, which truly changes the reader at the same time it entertains. I relish the thoughts the book prompts, and the way those thoughts filter into my daily life. And I am attentive to the master class, teasing out the way Galsworthy’s technique strengthens his story - how he tells it, and why he tells it the way he does.

One final thought: I was not expecting the solidly feminist message that emerges late in the final section. It had lingered there throughout, but Galsworthy eventually puts the words in one of his character’s mouths (or more properly, that character’s pen): as long as women are expected to enter into marriages without equal standing as their husbands - socially, economically, even sexually - all parties are disadvantaged, and the results can be disastrous. There is nothing didactic about this message; it has been expressed so forcefully throughout the story, one can only nod in agreement and ache for the characters who suffer because of it.(less)

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Sep 11, 2012 Natali Zarbabyan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Some books have specific ages, when you can fully enjoy and understand the author's (a.k.a. characters) point of view. I believe "The Forsyte Saga" might be boring for teens, and would be fully understanded by some one experienced in life. Galsworthy's personages are unique, and he never failed to describe their character. Every and each one has his/her own stories and reasons to act the way they act. "A little happy, a little misery - that's a family" (c)
A very important part of the book is t...more

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Jul 18, 2012 Billierosie Billierosie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I love the Victorians. Those generations of restrained, repressed men and women, that have provided writers and thinkers with such a wealth of material. I don’t supposed the Victorians recognised that they were repressed; we just see it now with the clarity of hindsight. I guess we are the backlash to the Victorians’ discourse of silence, with our counsellors and therapists. And if we can’t afford those, our friends are usually willing listeners.

Soames Forsyte doesn’t want to talk to anyone. He...more

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Jun 19, 2012 Resa rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Forsyte Saga, as the title implies, tells the story of the Forstye Family, members of the emerging upper middle class in England, and as is so often stated through the collection “men of property”. The story in particular focuses on Soames Forsyte, and man who is defined by his sense of possession but goes beyond trying to possess things and desires to possess people. His first wife, Irene, embodies a wild, almost bohemian beauty, the kind which can’t be properly possessed, at least not by F...more The Forsyte Saga, as the title implies, tells the story of the Forstye Family, members of the emerging upper middle class in England, and as is so often stated through the collection “men of property”. The story in particular focuses on Soames Forsyte, and man who is defined by his sense of possession but goes beyond trying to possess things and desires to possess people. His first wife, Irene, embodies a wild, almost bohemian beauty, the kind which can’t be properly possessed, at least not by Forsyte standards, and to say their marriage ends unhappily would be an understatement. The collection follows their marriage, divorce, remarriage, and ends with the love affair of their children, which also ends in tragedy. While the saga could be considered a tale of the trials and tribulations of the upper middle class, the plot is far from that shallow. This is not just the story about a family of means complaining about things they can’t have (although it does describe the lives of the 19th century upper-middle class in detail). Galsworthy goes into issues of possession and emotion, and the battle which often occurs between the two, an issue which is timeless and can be compared to the struggles of the rational vs. the creative minded.

As the Saga continues Galsworthy holds up the lives of Irene and Jolyon Forsyte against that of Soames and Annette Forsyte, lives of passion and love vs. lives of property and convenience. Soames still struggles to possess his new wife, a task which becomes impossible, and Irene tries to escape the ghosts of her past marriage. It’s difficult to really describe every story going on within this text as it is a massive work and contains many different stories and elements along with the main vein of Irene and Soames.

The saga tries to explore the difference between the old and the new generations, the transition of the new generation to the old, old money vs. new money (the aristocracy/titled and the rising upper middle class), property vs. land holdings, emotion vs. possession, and love vs. propriety. All of these themes are covered in depth within the saga, and while they run throughout the text they can been found in stronger or weaker form depending on which of the Forsyte’s is being focused on. While Galsworthy does do an excellent job of exploring all of these in depth the text is very long and very dense. It is not to be picked up by the feint of heart, and requires serious dedication to make it to the end.

If you’re willing to put in the effort and you know what you’re getting into, you’ll be in for a treat. Once you’ve managed to figure out which Forsyte is which (a task made much easier by the Family tree listed in the back of the saga) you’ll start to pick which characters you sympathize with and who you dislike. While the trend is to take the side of Irene (which I did while reading), you could make an excellent argument for taking Soames’s side in the argument. It all depends how you chose to think about things. I’m glad I took the time to finish this book and check it off my list, but I’m also very excited that it’s finished and I can go on to lighter reading for a while. My next big “classics” read will probably be Bleak House by Charles Dickens. But that’s going to wait for awhile. After finishing off the Forsyte’s I’m reading for some fluff novels…
(less)

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Jun 14, 2012 Julia Miele Rodas rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: bcc-reading-challenge

I've been meaning to read this series for a long time, but always wound up daunted at the start. Now, through the miracle of free digital access (thanks for the Kindle, Mom!) and (shamefully) priming the pump with a little Forsyte Saga miniseries action (thanks, Netflix!), I managed to ease my way past the obstacle of Galsworthy's introduction to the Forsyte family and dig my way into the real interest of these books, the dissection of rising middle class family psychology, with all its warts an...more I've been meaning to read this series for a long time, but always wound up daunted at the start. Now, through the miracle of free digital access (thanks for the Kindle, Mom!) and (shamefully) priming the pump with a little Forsyte Saga miniseries action (thanks, Netflix!), I managed to ease my way past the obstacle of Galsworthy's introduction to the Forsyte family and dig my way into the real interest of these books, the dissection of rising middle class family psychology, with all its warts and pimples foremost.

I'm only getting to the end of the first volume now (A Man of Property, 1906), but I'm struck by how very different the focus of the novel is from the focus of the Masterpiece Theatre series that I've been watching simultaneously. The broadcast adaptation gears itself, very successfully, toward the suspense-driven "romantic" plot--the love triangle between Irene Forsyte, Soames Forsyte, and Philip Bosinney. (And I'm thoroughly taken with the striking Gina McKee in the role of Irene, despite the radical departure from the way she's described in the books.) Galsworthy's text, however, is far more ruthlessly analytical than the film version, picking apart the hypocrisies of bourgeois complacency and self-affirmation with an almost unbearable relentlessness. It's not that the writing is strictly satirical or that the characters are flat, but rather that they seem haunted by the their own dimensionality. The narrator pries into their potential for personal authenticity (Old Jolyon's love for his son and granddaughter, for instance, or Soames' hopeless ardor for his wife), but these moments of complex interiority fail to redeem the humanity of the individual character. Where Anthony Trollope or Henry James or David Lodge would work to generate self-doubt in a judgmental reader, Galsworthy's acerbic rendering of homo bourgeois drives home the inescapable materialism of "Forsytes" as a class, encouraging the reader's contempt, or, as in the case of this particular reader, self-loathing. It's pretty engaging reading, but not for the faint of heart.(less)

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Jun 02, 2012 Jean rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classic

A gorgeous, generations-spanning story. And, even though Galsworthy leads us through about three generations, his characters don't get lost in the shuffle. Each generation has its stand-out individuals--the ones that represent their era, and either try to buck against or hold onto the ways of the generation that came before.

My favorite has to be Soames. He's a thoroughly awful man, in many respects--most of them personal (abuses his wife, sees everything in terms of property, can't truly compre...more

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Apr 30, 2012 Tony rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction-mainstream

IN CHANCERY. (1921,1922). John Galsworthy. ****.
This is the second novel in the Forsyte Chronicles, and centers, still, upon the activities of Soames and Irene – the focus of the first novel. The two have been separated for years now, but Soames, at his advancing age, has decided that he needs a son – an heir to pass his wealth on to. He is still deeply in love with Irene, but she still will have nothing to do with him. He even asks her to come back to him and she can have any type of marriage...more

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Jan 13, 2012 Holly rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Back in the Jurassic age---when the heart was young!--- I first saw the black-and-white version of The Forsyte Saga on PBS. For me it was love at first sight. And being a bookish kid I immediately ran out and bought the trilogy. I found it to be a massive volume, initially intimidating to any youngster who had not yet tackled Tolkien. It was composed of 3 novels: THE MAN OF PROPERTY, IN CHANCERY and TO LET, linked by two short "interludes." But after awhile I just sat down and tackled the thing....more Back in the Jurassic age---when the heart was young!--- I first saw the black-and-white version of The Forsyte Saga on PBS. For me it was love at first sight. And being a bookish kid I immediately ran out and bought the trilogy. I found it to be a massive volume, initially intimidating to any youngster who had not yet tackled Tolkien. It was composed of 3 novels: THE MAN OF PROPERTY, IN CHANCERY and TO LET, linked by two short "interludes." But after awhile I just sat down and tackled the thing. And now, over 40 years later, I still remember it as one of the best reads I've ever had.

THE FORSYTE SAGA begins in 1886 with a lengthy description of this upper middle-class English family. The Forsytes are practical, self-serving, determined, stubborn, greedy and highly acquisitive. Epitome of the "type" is Soames Forsyte, nicknamed the man of property. Soames has married a beautiful, artistic girl named Irene whom he treats as a possession; but Irene has a mind of her own and soon comes to hate him. It may even be said that the entire trilogy is about their mismatched union and its far-reaching, often tragic consequences. Ultimately Soames rapes his unwilling wife, thereby precipitating the series of events that culminates in her leaving him.

By volume 2 Irene is living apart from Soames, who nonetheless tries to move heaven and earth to lure her back. He fails. Instead she turns to his widowed cousin Jolyon, the free thinker of the family who is, in many ways, Soames' polar opposite. Yet Jolyon himself has Forsyte blood---the will to HAVE, to POSSESS---and he must make a conscious effort not to "appropriate" Irene. By 1900 there is a messy divorce, with Irene marrying Soames' cousin soon afterwards. Soames, wanting an heir, then weds a French girl half his age, mostly because he sees her as a good potential breeder. Yet ironically, the second Mrs. Soames nearly dies in childbirth and is unable to bear any more babies in future. And it's a DAUGHTER that she produces, not the son he had so hoped for. Notwithstanding, as soon as Soames sees the beautiful infant Fleur he melts. Volume 2 ends on a note of surprising tenderness and pathos with Soames regarding the newborn and thinking: "By God! This---this thing was his!"

Volume 3 of the trilogy is a Romeo-and-Juliet tale. In the spring of 1920 Fleur Forsyte has a chance encounter with her handsome cousin Jon, Irene's son. Predictably, the two callow kids fall in love. And it is then that Irene's true nature becomes apparent, along with her cowardice and hypocrisy. For Irene opposes the union yet refuses to tell Jon the reasons why. She doesn't want her son to know the details of her own sordid past. Understandable, that, but it's disturbing to see the way she consistently puts her own happiness ahead of Jon's. And Jolyon humors her in this wrong-headed behavior because...well, because Irene's still beautiful, you see, and he's still very much under Irene's spell!

But Irene's worst nightmare turns out to be Fleur, a true Forsyte who's greedy and determined and single-mindedly obsessed with having Jon. In the subsequent tug-of-war only Soames appears to any advantage. He is now mellowed by age, a lonely old man who dotes on his daughter and just wants to see her happy. How ironic that Soames, former villain of the piece, should behave more unselfishly than "goddess of love" Irene in the end!

Ultimately Jolyon keels over dead from all the stress that Irene has caused. Jon abandons the girl he loves---again, because of Irene---and leaves the country. Fleur on the rebound marries her other suitor, the aristocratic Michael Mont. In the final chapter Soames attends the funeral of a centenarian uncle, "last of the old Forsytes," and broods on his own mortality. The trilogy ends with the man of property still wondering what he did wrong, all those years ago, and why he never could claim Irene's heart and soul. "He might wish and wish and never get it---the beauty and the loving in the world."

THE FORSYTE SAGA is a soap opera, yes, but brilliantly written and conceived. By today's standards it may seem rather sentimental...and Galsworthy himself is apparently blind to the faults of Irene, whom he hopelessly romanticizes. The character is purportedly based on his own wife Ada, who left a loveless first marriage to be with him in, as we say, "real life." But how much did Ada Galsworthy resemble Irene? Irene is depicted as self-indulgent, cowardly and passive aggressive. Her "sexual shrinking" from Soames seems a tad absurd, even by Victorian standards. But then love is blind, so we can only assume that these defects matamorphed into virtues in the author's mind! Read this book and decide whether you support Team Soames or Team Irene. As for me, I know which side I'm on! (less)

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Nov 18, 2011 Lindsey Strachan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: desert-island-books-my-all-time-f

The Forsyte Saga has been on my "to read" list for a long time but has always been one of the books I never quite got round to. Still, recently I finally got there and I wish I had done so earlier, for it has become one of my all time favourites. I wont summarise the story as other viewers have already done so very well. Suffice to say this is an epic saga covering the late Victorian and early 20th century period in London, through the lives of the Forsyte family (and this version only covers Vo...more The Forsyte Saga has been on my "to read" list for a long time but has always been one of the books I never quite got round to. Still, recently I finally got there and I wish I had done so earlier, for it has become one of my all time favourites. I wont summarise the story as other viewers have already done so very well. Suffice to say this is an epic saga covering the late Victorian and early 20th century period in London, through the lives of the Forsyte family (and this version only covers Volume 1 of the story of the Forsytes!).

The book had me gripped right from the start, where we are introduced to most of the main protagonists at a family gathering. There are a lot of characters in the book and so it does take a little while to really get to grips with who they all are, but right from this first scene the characterisation is brilliant and many of the characters just seemed to leap off the page at me. The characters contain such a wide range of personalities, but Galsworthy brilliantly develops them and gives them all their own charm, and describes their feelings with real detail and intricacy. He even manages to make Soames, whose actions at times are deplorable, seem likable and make you feel empathy for him. The internal monologues of the characters which he uses to help the reader get to grips with their actions and feelings are wonderfully composed.

The story itself has many twists and turns which would not be out of place in a soap opera, but the story never seems sensationalist, distasteful or unrealistic because of the elegant but accessible writing style. For those who have not read a classic before and are a bit intimidated by the writing style and language of some of those novels, this is a perfect starting place as the writing is elegant, precise but very accessible and understandable. This is one of the very few books which has actually brought me to tears. This was when Old Jolyon dies, and a combination of the beautiful description of his passing, alongside the characterisation of him which has made him very human and likeable, really moved me.

The novel is very worthwhile not just as a story which is very readable, but as an examination of the character of a certain class of people in this period of British history. The examination of the Forsyte family is used as a window into the character of a whole group of British society in this time, who Galsworthy refers to as the "Forsyte" type. This examination is brilliantly judged and an excellent critique of the behaviour and beliefs of this section of society.

All in all, this is a brilliant read which I would highly recommend to anyone, and I will be purchasing volume 2 very soon!(less)

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Nov 04, 2010 Loralee rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classic

Six and a half weeks! This book took me six and a half weeks to read! I cannot remember the last time I spent so much time with one book.

Having said that, I really enjoyed the book. The language is beautiful. The characters are memorable. This book deals with three generations of the Forsyte family. There is a family tree in the beginning of the book which I frequently referred to. It helped me keep the relationships straight--especially at the beginning of this book. As I began studying the fam...more

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May 27, 2010 Cynthia rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Whew !! This book was a great undertaking for me, as it was almost 900 pages long. The Forsythe Saga is made up of three books: The Man of Property, In Chancery, and To Let, with interludes included after the first two books, Indian Summer of a Forsyte, and Awakening. The language is quite rambling and it took me a while till I got on to the style. It is the saga of a large family, covering several generations. In the first chapter I had to refer to the geneology chart quite often, so I could ke...more

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Nov 09, 2009 Myridian rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classic, fiction, e-book

This book follows the Forsyte family through the Victorean and into the post-Victorean era. It primarily follows Soames and his wife Irene. The book comments on the British upper middle class, the principles of ownership, and the ways in which beauty affects individuals with different natures. Soames represents the desire for ownership in its purest form, while Irene represents beauty. One of the problems I had with this book is that I felt it was too harsh on the upper middle class. The name Fo...more

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Apr 28, 2013 Becky Haegele rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The story is good but it is so wordy at times. I actually preferred the TV Mini Series to the book which is unusual for me. However, the series strays from the story the further along it goes.

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Apr 23, 2012 Cian O hAnnrachainn rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The plot is spectacular, as cluttered as a Victorian side table, complex and lush.

Beyond that, however, is John Galsworthy positively skewering the upper middle class of late Victorian-era England. To read "The Forsyte Saga" today is to pull the past forward, and drop it down in the modern era.

You will recognize these characters, the author having made the family name a synonym for the whole mentality of grasping, of buying, of entering into the elitist sphere.

The nouveau riche with their McMans...more

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Jul 31, 2011 Irene rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I thoroughly enjoyed this family saga. Over the span of 1,000 pages, we watch four generations of a family in mid-nineteenth century England through the inter-war period. Through the eyes of two cousins, this family comes alive, and through the eyes of this family, we see the birth, maturation and transformation of the “middle class”. England is changing from a society built on a two class system of nobility and commoner into a three class system with a newly created moneyed class that aspires t...more

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Apr 14, 2012 Connie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, challenge2013, challenge, challenge13, around-the-world-tbr, around-the-world-challenge, favorite-books, ylto-alphabet-challenge, around-the-world, book-vipers-a-z-challenge

This is the story of three generations of the upper middle class Forsyte family of England. Galsworthy makes them irresistible because they are so flawed yet so noble and lovable at the same time. I could not get enough of this story and these characters. The mess they make of their lives while at the same time making loads of money makes an irresistible story. Some of the characters in this book are my favorites of all time.

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Jun 21, 2011 David Lentz rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The writing evident in this epic is masterful and engaging: it is even and substantive and elegant. The rich irony about the lengths that men strive to acquire property in all its forms and then find their acquisitions useless, meaningless and certainly not worth the price. Galworthy was focused upon property in so many different varieties: the sense of possession that men had of their wives in his time amid archaic laws about divorce; the building of a home that ends in unexpected expense in ch...more The writing evident in this epic is masterful and engaging: it is even and substantive and elegant. The rich irony about the lengths that men strive to acquire property in all its forms and then find their acquisitions useless, meaningless and certainly not worth the price. Galworthy was focused upon property in so many different varieties: the sense of possession that men had of their wives in his time amid archaic laws about divorce; the building of a home that ends in unexpected expense in chancery; the elusive value of works of art; the subtleties of property from family crests, clubs, colleges and occupational status and cuts of mutton to the blatant futility of fighting over land in South Africa during the Boer War -- it's all shallow and empty materialism in the end. The property is never worth the cost of the trouble to acquire it. Young people slave to gather possessions only to regret in old age that they have traded so much of life away to gain them and must undergo the painful rigors of its redistribution through wills after death. Galsworthy seemed to me like a sort of British Tolstoy writing in England for property reform. Because when property is involved, men tend to objectify about it and in the course of things they tend to lose their sense of humanity. This troublesome pattern of life seems to repeat itself often like a lesson men never learn -- as the objectifying I-It relationship of Martin Buber replaces the humane I-Thou. Yes, it's a long novel but when the writing is this compelling in its style and substance, you can luxuriate in the beauty and wisdom of the words. Every character is finely and individually drawn like a character in a Velasquez portrait of a large family. You may regret that this edition isn't longer when it ends but fortunately there is more of his work in which to indulge. Galsworthy's work earned him a Nobel Prize -- it's easy to see the astonishing depth and range and virtuosity that the Nobel judges found in his writing. Don't pass up the chance to bask in this epic saga of Galsworthy. It's easily one of the top ten novels ever written in the English language -- it's really that good. (less)

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Dec 22, 2012 Daisy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audio-library-books, england

Having finished it:
This would've been harder I think to read (and stick with) than it was to listen to; listening to it was seductive like a radio soap opera or something. I'll miss it. It took a long time to get through and I'll miss its vivid characters and descriptions. I'm pretty attached to this family and all the eras they pass through. (Still not quite sure why Irene marries Soames in the first place.)

(Sweet, respectful references to pets.)

During reading:
This is great fun to listen to but...more

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Jun 19, 2009 Joanne rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book is noted for being a Masterpiece Theatre presentation. Although I never saw the series (a co-worker said it was wonderful), this novel is truly a masterpiece. The story starts with the Forsyte Family in 1886 and ends in 1920 following the generations of a family noted for acquiring “property” and not just in the homestead fashion. Complex themes demonstrate different generations and what is important to their lifestyle. There are marriages, forbidden love, adultery, problem spouses, di...more

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About John Galsworthy

John Galsworthy was an English novelist and playwright whose literary career spanned the Victorian, Edwardian and Georgian eras.

In addition to his prolific literary status, Galsworthy was also a renowned social activist. He was an outspoken advocate for the women's suffrage movement, prison reform and animal rights. Galsworthy was the president of PEN, an organization that sought to promote intern...more

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The Man of Property: The Forsyte Saga (Wordsworth Classics)

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“Love is not a hot-house flower, but a wild plant, born of a wet night, born of an hour of sunshine; sprung from wild seed, blown along the road by a wild wind. A wild plant that, when it blooms by chance within the hedge of our gardens, we call a flower; and when it blooms outside we call a weed; but, flower or weed, whose scent and colour are always, wild!” — 30 people liked it

“It was such a spring day as breathes into a man an ineffable yearning, a painful sweetness, a longing that makes him stand motionless, looking at the leaves or grass, and fling out his arms to embrace he knows not what.” — 15 people liked it

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