Jonathan Emmesedi

🧵 1/2

A couple of years ago I mentioned in the post linked below that I had no plans to read the Forstye saga novels.

Now, though, I've changed my mind...

https://c.im/@jemmesedi/111798006522714410

Mar 20 at 5:26pmWeb
Show threadJonathan Emmesedi2d ago

🧵 2/2

This change of mind has come about for a couple of reasons.

In the first place, reading Gabriele Tergit's "Effingers" reminded me of how satisfying a read a well observed family saga can be. I'm pretty sure that Tergit had read both "Buddenbrooks" and the Galsworthy. Previously I read the Thomas Mann, thinking of it as a key work in European literature, but had been inclined to regard the Galsworthy as something that I could afford to pass over -- I admit that a little bit of Virginia Woolf snobbery about "middlebrow" fiction was probably at work here too. But I might just enjoy the Galsworthy!

Then my interest was prompted by this BBC feature on a new television adaptation. It reminded me that a family saga does not have to consist of Mann like novels of ideas to be probing and revelatory.

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20260320-the-story-that-skewered-the-british-class-system

#JohnGalsworthy #ForsyteSaga #Literature #Novels #BritishLiterature #FamilySaga #Books #TwentiethCenturyLiterature

'Imperialistic urges and sexual politics': The story that skewered the British class system

As a new adaptation of The Forsyte Saga is about to stream, how did this tale of an affluent family encapsulate the timeless themes of power, generational conflict and "new money"?

BBC