The Good Soldier: Authoritative Text, Textual Appendices, Contemporary Reviews, Literary Impressionism, Biographical and Critical Commentary

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W.W. Norton and Company, 2012 - Literary Criticism - 427 pages
Originally titled “The Saddest Story” and heralded by Graham Greene as “one of the finest novels of our century,” Ford's 1915 tale of passion and deceit in the lives of two married couples is a modernist masterpiece. The Norton Critical Edition of The Good Soldier allows the reader to thoroughly study Ford's great work and unravel its mysteries and meanings. This Second Edition is again based on the meticulously edited first text of the novel and offers detailed annotation, a note on the text, and sections on textual variants and manuscript development along with pertinent illustrations.

"Backgrounds and Contexts" brings together important appraisals of the work directly following its publication. Reactions from Rebecca West and Theodore Dreiser are included among the reviews. The section also collects critiques on literary impressionism, including one by Ford, and related writings by Henry James and by frequent Ford collaborator Joseph Conrad, among others.

"Biographical and Critical Commentary" collects differing assessments of The Good Soldier. Contributions from Richard Aldington, Samuel Hynes, John A. Meixner, Frank Kermode, Carol Jacobs, Thomas C. Moser, Ann Barr Snitow, and Vincent J. Cheng are joined by new selections from Colm Toibin, John G. Peters, Max Saunders, Karen A. Hoffman, and Julian Barnes.

A Selected Bibliography is also included.

About the author (2012)

Martin Stannard is a professor of modern English literatureat the University of Leicester, where he has taught since 1979. Hewas previously Leverhulme Research Fellow in English Literature atthe University of Edinburgh. He is the author of Muriel Spark:The Biography, Evelyn Waugh, The Early Years:1903?1939 and Evelyn Waugh, The Later Years:1939?1966, and editor of Evelyn Waugh, The CriticalHeritage. His many articles and reviews have appeared inModern Language Review, Essays in Criticism, theNew York Times Book Review, the Times Higher EducationSupplement, and Novel, among other publications.

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