The Man of Property, the first novel of the first in the Forsyte Saga, by John Galsworthy, winner of the 1932 Nobel Prize in Literature - 9 out of 10

 

The Man of Property, the first novel of the first in the Forsyte Saga, by John Galsworthy, winner of the 1932 Nobel Prize in Literature

9 out of 10

 

 

Articles in The Economist are a treat, almost always – indeed, I have started this fabulous newspaper about forty years ago, when it was available at The British Library, situated within the compound of their Embassy, back in the Ceausescu days – and there was one recently on the Nobel Prize, given this year to an obscure Norwegian writer

 

That author writes in Nordysk, or some such thing, and The Economist says, more or less that there are two types of reactions when the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature is announced, something along the lines of ‘finally, or who?’ and the latest case fits one of those two…outstanding creators like Leo Tolstoy have not been given the recognition – when Tolstoy was nominated, Prud’homme won it, and the latter was just about as obscure then (well, no, they say little known) as he is now

Some other titans have not even been shortlisted, among them Anton Chekhov http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/01/the-shooting-party-by-anton-chekhov-we.html Marcel Proust, and I think I have read somewhere that John Galsworthy was considered passé, old fashioned, no longer relevant, if he ever was…this ‘incriminating’ assessment might have helped yours truly, by providing him with low expectations

 

Some positive psychologists suggest ‘lowering your expectations’ as a way to boost wellbeing, albeit I had known that this would be more of a ‘traditionalist’ work, in part due to some vague, most likely extinguished memories of the series that have been aired in these parts, perhaps four decades ago, only this is what I realize more and more that I want, not the postmodern, alert, bizarre, nouveaux art for this fellow.

Soames Forsyte is quite obnoxious, if not the perfect villain, a rich solicitor that is married to Irene, a handsome woman that had had no money, when Soames had become attracted, perhaps enchanted by her, he would pursue her through her relative, Irene had never had much, if any feeling for the man she would marry

 

The Man of Property opens with an engagement, that between June, daughter of Young Jolyon, and the architect Philip Bossiney, the latter nicknamed the ‘buccaneer’, despised by the Forsytes because, first of all he has no money, and then he is dashing, free thinking, open minded and he wears a…soft grey hat

Since the novel was published in 1906, we are talking about customs and rules of the eighteenth century, only we can still see that this class, social climbers as they seem to be, was especially arrogant and pretentious in their attitudes, rejecting the talented architect because he was different, brave, outré

 

Soames Forsyte wants the ‘buccaneer’ to build a house, well, a small palace really, for him and his wife, with the knowledge that, as the architect himself would put it, ‘he would get a first rate man, for third rate payment’, they would argue in spite, or because of that over the completion, fees, expenses and more

Bossiney is proud, aware of his talent, and would not accept interference, resigning from the task, when pressed into compromises he does not want – they have a correspondence in a newspaper…funny in a way how they had in print ‘due to the differences, I would rather stop my work, etc.’ with replies from the aggrieved Forsyte, who wants the castle, but not the payment it involves, painfully sensitive to the notion that he has to work with him to the end

 

Philip Bossiney and Irene Forsyte fall in love, to the chagrin mainly of June, Soames would be more difficult to portray as emotionally affected, for he has been under the spell of his spouse, but the motives would be more absconded, for yours truly at least, The Man of Property surely sees the wife as an asset to a large extent, he becomes abusive (or never stops being actually) and threatens, finally sues the architect

We see the ruthless, abhorrent side of this character when the ‘reparations, damages’ are considered for a former manager of one of the Forsyte investments, who had committed suicide, and the solicitor Soames argues that there is ‘no reason, legal basis to award the widow money, for the dead man would not bring profit to the company in the future’, even as Old Jolyon argued for the sun of five thousand to be given

 

Old Jolyon makes peace (spoiler alert, I guess) with his estranged son, Young Jolyon, and we have some positive developments, together with the sad saga of the architect and his lover, the two of them have no money, and thus face not just the disgrace, opprobrium of the relatives and society as it then was, but they would have life of impecunity, proud Irene has some jewels, and Soames worries about them

The selfish spouse thinks that the wife would get enough money for the ornaments she has to travel abroad with her lover, and live for a few months there; however, she leaves a bag with everything she had ever received from him and a note, stating that she leaves behind all he had ever given, to his surprise

 

Alas, she has nowhere to go and Bossiney is very much affected by the situation, he would furthermore lose the case brought against him for damages (against the explicit ‘free hand’ given by the employer, Soames) and hence, depressed and without a way out, the young ‘buccaneer’ might look for his exit in a desperate way…you find this book, which is one of the 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read, free of charge at https://librivox.org/

 

 

Now for a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/unique-in-world.html?q=unique+in+the+world – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se

 

As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/realini-in-newsweek-participant-in.html

Some favorite quotes from To The Heritage and other works

‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’

‚parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus’

“From Monty Python - The Meaning of Life...Well, it's nothing very special...Try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.”