Watched a DVD of The Good Soldier. It was a Masterpiece Theatre presentation on public television a few years back. Based on a 1915 novel by Ford Madox Ford, which was both a literary and commercial success at the time. The story concerns two upper class couples, one American, one British. The British marriage was an arranged one. They have not spoken to each other in private in 14 years. The American marriage is unconsummated after nine years. All four of these people are extremely uptight, and they switch partners. In 1915 this must have counted as a very sexy tale though there is no sex on the screen, not a single caress or kiss. Because today we are looking for overt sex everywhere, this story was to me a bit murky at first. It ends in tragedy, suicides all around, and I found it quite moving. I have never read Ford and knew of him mostly through a scene in A Movable Feast. In which he sits down beside Hemingway in a Paris café in the early 20s. Hemingway describes him as badly dressed, overweight, boring, with bad breath and body odor, and he inflicsd himself upon the struggling young author who was Hemingway. No mention that Ford ran a literary magazine in Paris in the 20s, or that he hired the penniless Hemingway as assistant editor, or published his early work when no one else would. Make no mistake, Hemingway, part of the time, maybe most of the time, was a total shit, always ready to mock and disparage people who had helped him. A Movable Feast, so highly praised when it appeared, is as mean spirited a book as anyone could wish for. Better to read The Good Soldier.
1 Comment
9/9/2015 06:09:19 pm
Process of the education is very comprehensive and interesting. The benefits and advantages are relished and improved. The skills are employed for the proficiency and efficiency. The aims are radicalized and practically implemented.
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
December 2019
Categories |