Scan barcode
rclbrooklyn's review against another edition
4.0
Watch the HBO BBC mini series first and then dive into this like brilliant cerebral fan fiction.
hannahmayreads's review
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
This book was a challenge - every time I picked it up the mantra "must read 10 pages" went through my head. It's not an enjoyable experience that's for sure - more akin to a chore than anything else. Which is a shame, I was excited to read this book.
I can recognise its many many merits, but in the end, found it hard to move forward and I'd find this book impossible to recommend to anyone.
I can recognise its many many merits, but in the end, found it hard to move forward and I'd find this book impossible to recommend to anyone.
alisonmacjones's review
challenging
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
chi_hoosier's review against another edition
4.0
really loved this once I finally got used to his writing style. his imagery and conversations really transport you to this time in history and Ford even made me like characters that could easily be flat, two demensional, "baddies"; but he has so much time to give us their backstory and motives, you can't help but feel a little sorry for them and see how they rationalize their actions. it was a beautiful book and I wouldn't be surprised if it gets reread.
chaydgc's review against another edition
2.0
I am so surprised not to love the book. I get period writing and love the period but this was a slog. Literally took me 3 months to get through 905 pp and I skimmed some. For me it combined the worst aspects of modernism and romanticism. I tried to consider as an exciting experiment in form but remain unconvinced. After 30 pp I had to complete the rest on principle, and defer other reading.
Some one recently acquainted me with the concept of 'sunk costs'.
I'll have to think more about that in terms of my own compulsive behavior, and Ford's argument.
Some one recently acquainted me with the concept of 'sunk costs'.
I'll have to think more about that in terms of my own compulsive behavior, and Ford's argument.
danielharding's review against another edition
3.0
Plow through if you can. The constant switching between thought and dialogues make it difficult. Paints a picture of England prior to the Great War that bears consideration.
I bowed to time pressures and quit on section 3.
Addendum: it seemed as the book went along that the character could only develop as Ford felt they must. Of course as the author he can take his liberties, but he seemed angry and it seemed that he felt he was the hero of his own novel.
I bowed to time pressures and quit on section 3.
Addendum: it seemed as the book went along that the character could only develop as Ford felt they must. Of course as the author he can take his liberties, but he seemed angry and it seemed that he felt he was the hero of his own novel.
lnatal's review against another edition
4.0
This book is a tetralogy composed by the following books: Some Do Not (1924), No More Parades (1925), A Man Could Stand UP (1926) and Last Post (1928).
Even if these four novels have been reissued in 1948, after Second World War, the first omnibus version was published by Knopf in 1950.
It is interesting to find out that I have the same opinion as stated by Graham Greene: "an afterthought which he (Ford) had not intended to write and later regretted having written.” In addition, "...the Last Post was more than a mistake—it was a disaster, a disaster which has delayed a full critical appreciation of Parade's End."
Lets go back then to the review of the four novels.
In the fist book of this series, the author describes the main character, Christopher Tietjens, “the last English Tory” after the World War I and his involvement with two women in his life: his faithless wife, Sylvia (a quite annoying woman in my opinion) and his lover, Valentine Wannop, a pacifist and suffragette.
In the second volume, the author describes the Chistopher’s engagement in the Great War, who lives his aristocratic world and moves to the chaos of the French trenches.
The third volume - A Man Could Stand Up, is the best one in my opinion. It starts with the Armistice Day and the author describes the feelings of the main characters in a magnificent way. The author also describes Christopher’s emotional and psychological responses under fire. As consequence, he decides to retreat and decides to live with Valentine, selling antiques as a way of economically survive.
And the last one, the worst of this series, does have almost nothing to do with the previous ones. It seems that the author was looking for some kind of redemption or some other feeling which we cannot fully understand.
All four novels area available at the Public Domain:
Free download available at eBooks@Adelaide.
Free download available at eBooks@Adelaide.
Free download available at eBooks@Adelaide.
Free download available at eBooks@Adelaide.
In 2012, HBO, BBC, and VRT produced a television adaptation Parade's End (2012) written by Tom Stoppard and starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Rebecca Hall.
3* The Good Soldier
4* Some Do Not
4* No More Parades
4* A Man Could Stand Up
2* Last Post
TR The Fifth Queen
TR The Young Lovell
TR The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
TR Henry James, a critical study
Even if these four novels have been reissued in 1948, after Second World War, the first omnibus version was published by Knopf in 1950.
It is interesting to find out that I have the same opinion as stated by Graham Greene: "an afterthought which he (Ford) had not intended to write and later regretted having written.” In addition, "...the Last Post was more than a mistake—it was a disaster, a disaster which has delayed a full critical appreciation of Parade's End."
Lets go back then to the review of the four novels.
In the fist book of this series, the author describes the main character, Christopher Tietjens, “the last English Tory” after the World War I and his involvement with two women in his life: his faithless wife, Sylvia (a quite annoying woman in my opinion) and his lover, Valentine Wannop, a pacifist and suffragette.
In the second volume, the author describes the Chistopher’s engagement in the Great War, who lives his aristocratic world and moves to the chaos of the French trenches.
The third volume - A Man Could Stand Up, is the best one in my opinion. It starts with the Armistice Day and the author describes the feelings of the main characters in a magnificent way. The author also describes Christopher’s emotional and psychological responses under fire. As consequence, he decides to retreat and decides to live with Valentine, selling antiques as a way of economically survive.
And the last one, the worst of this series, does have almost nothing to do with the previous ones. It seems that the author was looking for some kind of redemption or some other feeling which we cannot fully understand.
All four novels area available at the Public Domain:
Free download available at eBooks@Adelaide.
Free download available at eBooks@Adelaide.
Free download available at eBooks@Adelaide.
Free download available at eBooks@Adelaide.
In 2012, HBO, BBC, and VRT produced a television adaptation Parade's End (2012) written by Tom Stoppard and starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Rebecca Hall.
3* The Good Soldier
4* Some Do Not
4* No More Parades
4* A Man Could Stand Up
2* Last Post
TR The Fifth Queen
TR The Young Lovell
TR The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
TR Henry James, a critical study
eddie's review against another edition
5.0
Hugely impressive - the best book in the series thus far (this is book 3 of Ford’s Parade’s End tetralogy). The structure of the whole starts to become plain - this is clearly part of a unified whole; the books are not stand alone and can’t be read in isolation or out of order.
The first book sets up the action and shows pre-war society on the verge of catastrophe. The second book - which I had problems with - is set on the Western Front but continues in many respects the frivolous social intrigue of the first, with Sylvia gatecrashing the British army HQ with sexual intrigue. In retrospect, Ford cleverly delays the expected battle-front action into the third book. Sylvia is present in the 2nd, Valentine absent. In the third book this is inverted - Sylvia is absent and Valentine is the lead character.
The book opens on Armistice day. Valentine receives a call that Christopher has returned from the front. It’s only then the story turns in a flashback to the war and we get the sustained battle scenes lasting the majority of the book. Ford’s use of flashback and chronological manipulation is technically superb and emotionally incredibly powerful. Enemy fire power, whilst terrifying in itself, is made ironically vastly worse by the British Establishment’s insane limpet-like embrace of stultifying social protocols from the past.
This refusal of the old order to die is present even in the last astonishing scene of the book, where Christopher speaks to Valentine’s mother - a representative of Victorian attitudes - on the phone during bizarrely surreal Victory Day celebrations in his empty house (Sylvia has removed all the furniture). An astonishing climax to the book.
The first book sets up the action and shows pre-war society on the verge of catastrophe. The second book - which I had problems with - is set on the Western Front but continues in many respects the frivolous social intrigue of the first, with Sylvia gatecrashing the British army HQ with sexual intrigue. In retrospect, Ford cleverly delays the expected battle-front action into the third book. Sylvia is present in the 2nd, Valentine absent. In the third book this is inverted - Sylvia is absent and Valentine is the lead character.
The book opens on Armistice day. Valentine receives a call that Christopher has returned from the front. It’s only then the story turns in a flashback to the war and we get the sustained battle scenes lasting the majority of the book. Ford’s use of flashback and chronological manipulation is technically superb and emotionally incredibly powerful. Enemy fire power, whilst terrifying in itself, is made ironically vastly worse by the British Establishment’s insane limpet-like embrace of stultifying social protocols from the past.
This refusal of the old order to die is present even in the last astonishing scene of the book, where Christopher speaks to Valentine’s mother - a representative of Victorian attitudes - on the phone during bizarrely surreal Victory Day celebrations in his empty house (Sylvia has removed all the furniture). An astonishing climax to the book.
kizzia's review against another edition
5.0
This is one of my favourite books of all time and I've written a blog post about it here