The Forsyte Saga (Oxford World's Classics) Paperback – September 15, 2008

I decided to tackle this book on a recent trip interstate, it's size made it perfect for a long flight, i am so glad i did! This book is often overlooked in discussions about great english litrature which is a shame in my opinion. I know a lot of people might get turned off because it is a BIG book but it is so well written and such an engaging human story that the pages just fly past.The story is very human and eternally relevant, it tells of the Forsyte family in victorian england at the height of upper middle class wealth and privelage. The ownership and increase of property being their main goal in life they are inevitably troubled by affairs of the heart which they cannot control and which make no rational sense to them. The once solid family is torn apart by love and all the hard work which has gone into getting and keeping their property ends up being for nothing.The way the conflict between the emotional impulse for love and happiness and the capitalist instinct for aquiring wealth is told by the author is an absoloute triumph! John Galsworthy deserved his nobel prize and this book deserves to be read more widely.

Mr. Galsworthy serves up the Forsyte Saga as a sumptuous meal of rich descriptions and savory characters in delightful, bite-size pieces. It is a long read, however, because of such rich character development, these people and their personalities become a subliminal attachment to the reader's circle of friends and acquaintances. Its okay if one is unable to read continuously, because one knows their secrets and stories will keep, and every bit of gossip and story will be saved for the next installment. Galsworthy's story literally leaves the reader hungering for the rest of the story.Why? Galsworthy brillantly reveals the strengths and weaknesses of each of the primary players. While he exposes Soames arrogance and pride, he also reveals Soames confusion, denial, and disbelief, thereby humanising the otherwise 'man of property.' When Irene suggests to Soames the option of dissolving their marriage before they have married, that is, if she is unhappy, one is prompted to read on, carefully, for the clues that explain and support how this might occur.Indeed, this is an oldie... but like a fabulous dessert, it is worth the wait.

John Galsworthy chronicles the Forsyte family’s lives, loves and fortunes over a period of fifty years. The reader becomes intimately acquainted with a large upper middle class family that is not as put together as the image they portray to society.I found Galsworthy’s commentary on modernity and the relentless accumulation of wealth and their tendency to loosen family bonds and hamper one’s ability to enjoy the small pleasures in life interesting. Considering the time Galsworthy lived through I found his obvious support of women’s rights and autonomy pleasantly surprising. Forsyte Saga is Galsworthy’s critique of a not so golden era that was marked by imperialism, violence, misogyny and hypocrisy. Unfortunately, in many incidents, Galsworthy’s critique failed to extend to the treatment of black people.The book is enjoyable but uneven which could be because it was written over a fifteen year period. It starts off as a comedy which becomes tragic abruptly. Galsworthy’s own story gets away from him halfway through and it gets heavy, slow and repetitive. All in all, it is a good read especially for readers who enjoy family sagas.

John Galsworthy (never "Sir John" only by his own choice, though he did accept the Order of Merit), one of the notable British writers of the first quarter of the 20th century, has subsequently faded somewhat from the canon of British writers in the 20th century, despite his winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1932. Galsworthy was a very traditional Victorian/Edwardian writer in his style, despite making his books social criticisms of Victorian/Edwardian values; his best work coincided with the rise of artistic modernism, which has tended to overshadow his more traditional approach. "The Forsyte Saga", a collection of three novels linked by two short stories, is Galsworthy's magnum opus, and has been twice adapted by the BBC into major miniseries (first and most famously in 1967, and again in 2002); it has lingered moreso in the public consciousness than its author. This large volume collects the entirety of the original quintology (some spoilers follow).The first (and, originally planned to be the only) novel in the series, "The Man of Property", was published in 1906, and set in the high Victorian period, focussing on the Forsyte family, the numerous long-lived sons and daughters of Jolyon 'Superior Dorset' Forsyte, and their own descendants. There is Old Jolyon ('Superior''s eldest son), who has estranged himself from his son Young Jolyon for the latter's scandalous affair, and has raised his daughter June, who is engaged to an architect; and Soames Forsyte, the son of Jolyon's brother James, who is married to Irene, and commissions the architect to build a house that he hopes will help revive the passion in his relationship with Irene.Galsworthy's twin focuses, which carry on through the whole series, are the strictures of Victorian values of commerce and proper behaviour (which particularly impact the two Jolyons), and the subordinate legal position of women in society (though the ridiculous divorce laws also hamstring men, as we later see). These carry on through the subsequent novels, published more than a decade after, and the two short stories (the second short story, "Awakenings", is honestly pretty throwaway, but "Indian Summer of a Forsyte" is lovely). Galsworthy's writing style is eminently restrained; Soames' decision to force himself on his wife Irene near the climax of the first novel is only described briefly in a single paragraph, and the nature of this act is never verbalized (or even narrated) by anyone for almost the entire remainder of the trilogy, even though it is absolutely essential to understanding what's going on. Stiff upper lip, indeed. The characterization really sells the story; the plots are frequently not anything to write home about (the third novel even opens with a quote from "Romeo and Juliet", which would tell people in fair detail how the entire main storyline will play out, until the very end, which is more muted).Recommended.

The content of any audio book is almost irrelevant, because a good audio reader can make even the telephone book come alive.The reader here is quintessentially "snotty Victorian English GentlePig". (He should take it as a compliment that he has exactly the voice that is required here). Galsworthy talks of the Forsyte "Sniff", and the reader here is quite good enough to give us an idea of what that entails, simply by his manner of speech (no visuals).