Forsyte Saga -- Buddy Read

[Sara, New School Classics]

Several of us are reading this book in April for our challenge lists. Everyone welcomed!

[Desertorum]

Good job Sara! I´m in! :)

[Andrea AKA Catsos Person]

I'd like to read this, but I may still be reading "Kristin Lavransdatter."

I'm going to put this down for April but I'll see if I can read as we get closer to April.

[Sara, New School Classics]

Andrea (Catsos Person) is a Compulsive eBook Hoarder wrote: "I'd like to read this, but I may still be reading "Kristin Lavransdatter."

I'm going to put this down for April but I'll see if I can read as we get closer to April."

Hope you can join us. Its a thick book so the discussion should go on for a while.

[Xan]

I'm in. Started reading sometime ago but couldn't continue. This is a second chance.

[Sara, New School Classics]

Xan Shadowflutter wrote: "I'm in. Started reading sometime ago but couldn't continue. This is a second chance."

Fabulous!

[Sara, New School Classics]

Stephanie wrote: "This one looks really good! Would like to join the Buddy Read."

Wonderful. We should have a good discussion.

[Julie]

I'm in too :-)

[Sara, New School Classics]

Julie wrote: "I'm in too :-)"

Great, Julie. That makes five already, with Andrea as a maybe.

[Laurie]

I would like to discuss this when all of you read it. I started reading it this month, so I will be finished by April. But I look forward to seeing some of your thoughts about it.

[Janice]

Hello all!

I'd like to join this book read for April, if I may...

[Sara, New School Classics]

Laurie wrote: "I would like to discuss this when all of you read it. I started reading it this month, so I will be finished by April. But I look forward to seeing some of your thoughts about it."

Great, Laurie, we will all benefit from the time you have had to think it over.

[Sara, New School Classics]

Janice wrote: "Hello all!

I'd like to join this book read for April, if I may..."

Absolutely, janice. We will be so pleased to have you. I think this is going to be a good discussion with a good number of participants.

[Janice]

Sara wrote: "Janice wrote: "Hello all!

I'd like to join this book read for April, if I may..."

Absolutely, Janice. We will be so pleased to have you. I think this is going to be a good discussion with a good ..."

I've always wanted to read this but it would be great to read it with buddies...looking forward to it. Will there be a reminder email going out?

[Cosmic]

Fantastic, i will get my book out! Looking forward to it!

[Sara, New School Classics]

Janice wrote: "Sara wrote: "Janice wrote: "Hello all!

I'd like to join this book read for April, if I may..."

Absolutely, Janice. We will be so pleased to have you. I think this is going to be a good discussion..."

I'm afraid I have no idea how to send a reminder e-mail, but I will put a reminder here on the thread and hopefully everyone will get it since we should all be "following the discussion".

[Holly]

I'm in! I've had this on my shelf for awhile, so this will be a good opportunity to give it a try.

[Sara, New School Classics]

Welcome aboard, Holly!

Yes, Stephanie, but lots of other things to entertain us until April arrives. :)

[Marlene]

I am currently reading it it will take to April to finish. I would like to join the discussion about it. After I finish I'm going to binge watch the original 1960s TV series and also the 2002 PBS mini series for comparison with the book.

[Sara, New School Classics]

I'll be anxious to hear your thoughts on all of them, Marlene.

[Candace]

Yes, I have wanted to read this for ages!

[Laurie]

I finished this today and I look forward to seeing what everyone else thinks. I would like to offer a piece of advice. My book has a family tree at the beginning. I looked at it several times in the first few chapters to keep the many Forsytes straight. It was helpful but since it shows spouses, birth dates and death dates, there are a few spoilers there if you look too closely. So just a fair warning.

[Marlene]

I've finished the book and watched the 2002 PBS miniseries . It was wonderful to see the characters come to life. Now I am going to watch the Original tv series. Look forward to discussion.

[Amy]

Andrea (Catsos Person) is a Compulsive eBook Hoarder wrote: "I'd like to read this, but I may still be reading "Kristin Lavransdatter."

I'm going to put this down for April but I'll see if I can read as we get closer to April."

Is there a group reading this? I just downloaded it and want to read it, and I'd love to have someone to chat with about it. It might take me a long time to read though.

[Amy]

Quick question for the Forsyte Read. If this is put as an "April" book, does that mean we should be finished with the book by April 1, or that we start reading then?

[Sara, New School Classics]

For everyone who was irritated by the misspelling of the name of this book in the header, I have corrected it. Sorry it took me so long to realize that I could.

Amy, my goal is to have the book read and be ready to discuss it by April 1st, but I might still be reading because it is quite long. It is fine if you are at any other stage in the reading cycle, not everyone gets to the same place together. We will use spoilers in the discussion if we are going to give away anything to readers who are at an earlier stage of reading and it is a good idea of note the chapter or page before the spoiler so others will know whether to read it or not depending on where they are in the book. Hope that helps. BTW, glad to have you aboard.

[Amy]

Thanks! I have this on my shelf (along with SO many others) that I want to read. I have a HUGE list of books I want to read, including Crime and Punishment, An American Tragedy, The Jungle, plus Kristin Lavransdatter, and I also want to finish reading all of the novels by Charles Dickens this year, and I've only already read 2 of them, so that is 13/15 I need to read by the end of the year.

[Sara, New School Classics]

That is a very ambitious list, Amy. I'm doing Dickens two novels a year, but also trying to get all the Hardy's I haven't read and all of Edith Wharton and George Eliot. I have Daniel Deronda and Bleak House in addition to this novel that are quite long...but lots of time to go. Crime and Punishment is one of my favorites, hope you enjoy it.

[Amy]

I also decided long ago I wanted to do all of the George Eliot books as well. I also want to reread MiddleMarch (I joined WAY too late to read with the current group that is reading it). I read enough Edith Wharton after The Age of Innocence. Maybe I'll do House of Mirth. Hardy is great, he is so tragic, honestly, it's almost ridiculous. I've read Return of the Native and Jude the Obscure, and every time a character has a dream or ambition or a glimmer of hope, I want to say "Sorry, hate to burst your bubble, but it's not going to happen." I do want to finish all the Hardy novels as well. I think of these goals as "extreme reading". I kind of invented the idea in high school when "extreme sports" were becoming popular. I want to read all of the books people look at and think "Wow, I could NEVER get through that (War and Peace, Moby Dick, Don Quixote, etc.). I want to have several authors where I've read all their novels.

[Katy, Old School Classics]

Amy wrote: "I also decided long ago I wanted to do all of the George Eliot books as well. I also want to reread MiddleMarch (I joined WAY too late to read with the current group that is reading it). I read eno..."

Not too late -- we are reading Middlemarch through March & several members are still reading.

[Desertorum]

Sara wrote: "For everyone who was irritated by the misspelling of the name of this book in the header, I have corrected it. Sorry it took me so long to realize that I could.

Amy, my goal is to have the book re..."

Ok! Somehow I thought we would read this together starting April 1st but good to know that everybody read at their own time and the discussion is in April. Right?

[Amy]

I will try to find my copy of the novel and start reading it.

[Sara, New School Classics]

Desertorum wrote: "Sara wrote: "For everyone who was irritated by the misspelling of the name of this book in the header, I have corrected it. Sorry it took me so long to realize that I could.

Amy, my goal is to hav..."

I will still be reading in April for sure. I have not started yet and it is quite long. Everyone will be at a different stage, but if we use spoilers everyone can read them as they get there. We should all use chapters/pages/something to indicate what part of the book the spoiler is about. We will figure it out, I'm sure.

[Amy]

Great. That's one reason I'm skipping Middlemarch, even though people are still reading it. It's so long, from what I remember, and very dense. I have two books I'm reading right now that I want to finish before I get into some of these challenges.

[Cosmic]

I am also in! I hadn't started yet. Thanks for the reminder of looking at the family tree to keep characters straight. I am going to be listening to this but i may want to get a copy from my library!

I will be starting this in April as well.

[Marlene]

Highly recommend the TV series after you read the book. 'Ive now finished the 2002 PBS mini series as well as the original TV series--well worth it. Reading the book first was so helpful. Although the PBS version is shorter, it brought the book vividly to life. The TV series goes past the books and introduces new characters. I won't give out any spoilers but Soames ......Now read the entire book and get ready for a great discussion! I agree one needs to refer to the family tree to follow whose who in the book.

[Cosmic]

Getting my book dusted off. Getting excited!

[Desertorum]

I was just going to start this little early, since my read my other books before for this month. And I thought I would need the extra time with this one!
Well...I just got sucked in...and I couldn´t stop reading. I have now 80 pages left (from 1060). Whups!

I will definitely check the TV series after reading. I checked already how the cast looked in the 2002 version, but Soames didn´t look anything I imagined in my head :/ well, that´s how it usually happens.

[Sara, New School Classics]

I started early because I was afraid one month would not be enough. I forced myself to stop when I realized it was going to be easy to get lost in this one. I am starting back up today and looking forward to the discussion.

[Cosmic]

The characters:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_F...

Family Tree
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/f...

[Cosmic]

The characters:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_F...

Family Tree
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/f...

[Sara, New School Classics]

Wow. I am loving this book! Closing in on the end of A Man of Property and what a telling title that is. The phrase keeps popping up throughout the book and it has more and more meaning as it goes along.

Man of Property: Part III, Chapter 6 (view spoiler)[While I can understand the attraction between Bosinney and Irene, I cannot think much of Bosinney as he is so unfeeling and cruel to June. Wouldn't it be better if he broke off the engagement instead of saying nothing to her and having her humiliated in front of everyone.

I feel sorry for Soames, who thinks everything is for sale and can be bought. Irene is pretty cold and it always seems wrong to me that women make these kinds of bargains for wealth and then resent keeping their end of the bargain. She is not under any illusion that she loves Soames or ever will. Of course, he makes the deal that she can go if the marriage is not successful, but his definition of success is surely different than hers.

This does not excuse Soames raping her. What is amazing is that he is so dense that he actually tries to convince himself that this is the first step toward a reconciliation. He also believes that she will never risk losing the money and position by leaving him. In his own eyes he is a man of property, and she is part of the property he owns.

Leaving the jewels behind is her ultimate repudiation of him and who he is and he cannot understand that at all. She leaves the note in the place she knows he will go. I cannot believe he would ever want to spend a moment in the house. How could it not be full of the memories of her and Bosinney and the betrayal? How could it not be a symbol of her rejection? How could it not be a trigger for the memory of her crying while being taken against her will? (hide spoiler)]

[Marlene]

Its April, Could someone explain how the discussion works? This is my first Goodread Discussion I have joined. Curious if we post random comments or will there be specific questions to address. Hope everyone is enjoying the books!

[Erica]

I'm new to the group, but finished The Forsyte Saga in January. I cheated and listened to it on Audible, at 1.5x speed. I have young children so getting into dense books can be difficult but listening to them on the drive to work is indispensable.

I loved this book so much. The layers and the characters; it is a description in how Type A and Type B people do or don't get along. I found out there are about a half a dozen more books after what is typically the end of most Forsyte Saga books at To Let, and they are on Audible as well. I'm hoping to pick them up at some point.

[Desertorum]

Sara wrote: "Wow. I am loving this book! Closing in on the end of A Man of Property and what a telling title that is. The phrase keeps popping up throughout the book and it has more and more meaning as it goes ..."

I truly agree with you Sara with all that you said!

(view spoiler)[ I didn´t like Bosinney and felt sorry for June. That´s why I didn´t like how Irene acted. At first I felt that she didn´t try with her marriage at all. But as the book goes on I do start to feel sorry for her. And also my irritation for Soames grows. Sometimes I felt they should have talked about it, maybe Soames would have understood that money is not everything. But I do understand that the time was not very open for that kind of conversation and they were both pretty private people. I keep wondering if Irene would´t be so cold, could things go differently than they did and will. (hide spoiler)]

So finished this couple weeks (?) ago and really liked it! Looking forward to hearing more thoughts about it.

And sorry Marlene my english so bad that I think somebody else will do better job explain things. I think mostly just use spoiler tags if there is something about the plot, since everybody is in different places with the reading. And maybe later we can discuss about the whole book.

[Sara, New School Classics]

Marlene wrote: "Its April, Could someone explain how the discussion works? This is my first Goodread Discussion I have joined. Curious if we post random comments or will there be specific questions to address. Hop..."

Generally people just comment with their feelings about the book as they go. Use spoilers if something you will say might give away the plot to someone who isn't as far along as you are. Otherwise, anything you want to talk about is fine. If you don't know how to do a spoiler...here is the best explanation around, compliments of Jean: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
You can pose questions if you would like and see how others reacted.
Hope this helps. Main idea is just to share thoughts on the book and have some fun.

[Cosmic]

I have just gotten to book two. I will comment tomorrow.

[Sara, New School Classics]

Just finished "A Man of Property"

(view spoiler)[Does anyone believe that Bosinney committed suicide? Was he so upset and enraged about what happened to Irene that he walked into the traffic or was that the last straw for him? Interesting how my view of both him and Irene changed drastically in the last few chapters. When she came back to Soames' house like a wounded animal, knowing Bosinney was dead and she was alone in this, I felt so sorry for her.

The Indian Summer segment was my favorite part of the book so far. I LOVED Old Jolyon. How sweet he was in the end and how poignant watching his life wind down. He discovers that beauty is worth more than property at last...a good thing to discover, even if you come to it a bit late. And, it was enlightening to see that Irene was very in love with Bosinney, not just desperate to escape Soames and the life she had. I loved the dignity with which she was handling her poverty, her sweetness toward Old Jolyon and her concern for the prostitutes whom she helped. It is a statement to her character and made me like her much, much better than I had in the beginning. I think I may have had a prejudice against her because she was so charming and beautiful--the same kind of prejudice she would have encountered from other women in her own time, I suppose. We seldom admire anyone that we think gets things more through their looks than through their merits. (hide spoiler)]

[Sara, New School Classics]

Desertorum wrote: "Sara wrote: "Wow. I am loving this book! Closing in on the end of A Man of Property and what a telling title that is. The phrase keeps popping up throughout the book and it has more and more meanin..."

OMG, I finished this today and I so want to talk about these people. I had such conflicted feelings about Soames, and Irene for that matter. (view spoiler)[I was convinced by the end of the novel that nothing Soames could have done would have made any difference. Irene was incapable of loving him. She felt an absolute aversion to him that was almost inexplicable. It was more than just the way he thought of her as being his property, almost like the paintings that he valued but could sale for the right price, it was something so physical with her that it turned her stomach. I think he did try, in the only way he knew how. He was just clueless about what a woman would need or want. As selfish as he was and the way he thought, I have to imagine that he was selfish in bed as well (even before he forced her) and that she got nothing from the experience but watching him take his "rightful" gratification. (hide spoiler)]

[Laurie]

Sara, I sometimes wondered when I read this this why (view spoiler)[ Irene had such an aversion to Soames. I mean that it wasn't just the rape because her bad feelings began long before that. If I remember correctly, she mentions that the bad feelings for him came within a couple of months of their marriage. But she doesn't say why. I kept wondering if it was so obvious to her even that early on that she was just a piece of chattel to him that he became physically repulsive to her. And it is clear that he is not a man to please any woman since he didn't have a happy life with his second wife either. He only married trophy wives, not women he loved for themselves.

I was so thrilled that Irene found a life of happiness with Young Jolyon. I just loved both Old and Young Jolyon. It made me so sad when each of them died. (hide spoiler)]