This line is the opening line to The Good Soldier: A Tale of Passion. It is a 1915 novel by English novelist Ford Madox Ford.
Ford Madox Ford lived from December 17, 1873 to June 26, 1939.
"The Good Soldier" is about multiple betrayals, affairs and misfortunes. In this story two people commit suicide due to loss of loved ones, one person goes crazy and cannot marry due to her extreme mental illness, and the last person dies as well. The story is told in a series of flashbacks in a non chronological order. I would not personally like this story because it seems very dark and depressing. It involves almost every character resulting in death by suicide, if not every character being very unhappy. This book also has a main focus of affair and adultery, to which I don't agree with.
Don't forget to do this same thing for the "last" line you chose, too!
ReplyDeleteLike you, I'm not a very big fan of very dark and sad stories, but the first line is certainly accurate and gets your attention, huh? The aspects I believe I could appreciate about the story however, would be the non-linear storytelling aspect(as I love this writing technique and it's not an easy accomplishment) and the time period. I'm guessing the book would delve heavily into the psychological developments of the characters from the sound of it, and it may even help us ponder why people do things like adultery so that we could understand it and prevent it. While I'm not sure I would read the book either, I think I could appreciate it for these things at the very least. I wonder what the time is within the book's setting, is it directly after or during World War I? That would make a lot of sense since many people were disillusioned afterwards. Thanks for sharing!
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