Forsyte Saga (Paperback)

~ (Author) "THOSE privileged to be present at a family festival of the Forsytes have seen that charming and instructive sight-an upper middle-class family in full plumage..." (more)
Key Phrases: ninth baronet, late superintendent, possessive instinct, Robin Hill, Aunt Juley, Aunt Hester (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Sequence of three novels linked by two interludes by John Galsworthy. The saga chronicles the lives of three generations of a monied, middle-class English family at the turn of the century. As published in 1922, The Forsyte Saga consisted of the novel The Man of Property (1906); the interlude (a short story) "Indian Summer of a Forsyte" (1918); the novel In Chancery (1920); the interlude "Awakening" (1920); and the novel To Let (1921). Soames Forsyte, a solicitor and "the man of property," is married to the beautiful, penniless Irene, who falls in love with Philip Bosinney, the French architect whom Soames had hired to build a country house. Soames rapes Irene and proceeds to ruin Bosinney, who subsequently dies in a traffic accident in London. Irene returns to Soames. In Chancery concerns the love between Irene and Young Jolyon Forsyte, Soames's cousin. (The story of the last days of Old Jolyon, his father, is told in "Indian Summer of a Forsyte.") Irene and Soames divorce; she marries Jolyon and bears a son, Jon. Soames and his second wife, Annette Lamotte, have a daughter, Fleur. In To Let, Fleur and Jon grow up and fall in love; Jolyon informs his son of Irene and Soames's past relationship. Although Fleur is determined to marry Jon, he refuses. Fleur becomes the wife of Michael Mont, son of a baronet. Jolyon dies, and Irene leaves England. Soames discovers that Annette is involved in an affair with a Frenchman, as Irene had been. -- The Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of Literature

Product Description

The Forsyte Saga is John Galsworthy's monumental chronicle of the lives of the moneyed Forsytes, a family whose values are constantly at war with its passions. The story of Soames Forsyte's marriage to the beautiful and rebellious Irene, and its effects upon the whole Forsyte clan, The Forsyte Saga is a brilliant social satire of the acquisitive sensibilities of a comfort-bound class in its final glory. Galsworthy spares none of his characters, revealing their weaknesses and shortcomings as clearly as he does the tenacity and perseverance that define the strongest members of the Forsyte family.

This edition contains the three original novels -- The Man of Property, In Chancery, and To Let -- and their connecting interludes, Indian Summer of a Forsyte and Awakening.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 896 pages
• Publisher: Touchstone (April 22, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684818892
• ISBN-13: 978-0684818894
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.3 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,371,201 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ONE OF THE FORGOTTEN GREATS, September 12, 1998

By A Customer

Upon the release of ML's 100 greatest English-lanuage novels of this century, it was to my great sadness to find "The Forsyte Saga" missing from the list. It seemed to confirm what I'd feared for the last several years: even critics have left this spectacular collection behind.

Perhaps it is the fact that of the book's length that frightens off so many readers: at 800+ pages it doesn't exactly make for easy beach reading. Keep in mind, however, that the book is comprised not only of three separate novels but also of connecting interludes.

If you want to read truly great literature of such a standard that earned John Galsworthy a Nobel Prize for Literature, you need look no further than "The Forsyte Saga."

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars everybody just reads the first novel (and that's a shame), April 29, 2000

By	Philip Greenspun (Cambridge, MA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The 1933 Scribner's edition of this classic trilogy is worthwhile because of the preface by Ada Galsworthy, the author's wife. Combined with the dedication (from John to Ada), it paints an inspiring picture of a marriage between two creative minds who respected each other's talents. The trilogy itself is an inspiring artifact of a life spent working hard. Galsworthy finished the first book, Man of Property in 1906, at the age of 39. He put the project aside for something like 12 years and then finished the last two novels when in his mid-50s. Most people only read the first book but the last two deepened my appreciation for the first and for Galsworthy's talent.

39 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars No wonder Galsworthy won!, December 30, 2002

By	dikybabe "admeyer" (Houston, TX United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Forsyte Saga (Hardcover)

What an infinite study of character, the Forsyte character, men of ownership, of possession, of material things!

I waited for the PBS presentation with patient enthusiasm, and was not disappointed. But knowing that video/movies can only do so much for a text, I unearthed my own private copy of Galworthy's book, one inherited from my aunt, and started the discovery by print.

I have been so overcome by Galsworthy's skill as a wordsmith, and so fascinated by his social commentary on this class of people, that I have broken away from the novel time and time again and done further research into Galsworthy and his own commentaries of his work, particularly on the Forsytes. From his wife, Ada's preface, through his intro, to his chosen dedications, I am enchanted. I feel remiss to not have read him before this time, but so grateful to have an old copy and to now enrich my life with these characters.

While not disappointed by the TV rendering, I am glad to know Soames, Irene, Old Jolyon, Young Jolyon, June, as Galsworthy painted them. I am glad to see their physical makeup to be different than those of the actors and actresses in the PBS series, and to feel I know them much more completely now.

I have a personal love of British lit and am so pleased to find such great storytelling in an older text. The judges were so right in awarding prizes to Galsworthy.

The Forsyte Saga is not so foreign in time and portrayal. Materialism still reigns and seduces and corrupts. Class one-up-manship still deludes. Self-importance and shallow values still prevail. Feet of clay forever are feet of clay.