Personal+Review

I really **appreciated** the themes Ford Madox Ford addressed in //The Good Soldier.// I think that many things in life are ambiguous in nature and that it is naive to think that "right" and "wrong" can be defined in any situation. The story was indeed very sad, but I can be grateful for sad stories if they share a message. Although the message of //The Good Soldier// isn't quite clear, I think John was a wise choice for a narrator. Through John, Ford was able to retell the lives of Florence, Edward, and Leonora without being judgmental or graphic. John's innocence meant that Ford didn't have to describe any of Edward's sexual affairs and that the story could be mysterious enough for the reader to make his own judgment of the characters.

It wasn't a difficult book to read; the syntax and diction was comfortable, but at times the narration did get **confusing**. John likes to ramble and jump around to different topics when he is narrating the story, but it makes the book interesting and keeps the reader thinking. I think that somebody who is interested in reading //The Good Soldier// should first consider if they have time to dedicate to really putting together the story because it does requires some level of logic to piece together the events in a chronological manner. But after reading it, I think it is a very **unique book that genuinely captures the social climate** of the World War I era.