The Forsyte Saga

By: John Galsworthy

Narrated by: Fred Williams

Length: 42 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's summary

The three novels that make up The Forsyte Saga chronicle the ebbing social power of the commercial upper-middle class Forsyte family through three generations, beginning in Victorian London during the 1880s and ending in the early 1920s. Galsworthy's masterly narrative examines not only their fortunes but also the wider developments within society, particularly the changing position of women.

The Forsyte Saga is a sequence of novels comprising The Man of Property (1906), In Chancery (1920), and To Let (1921) with two interludes, "Indian Summer of a Forsyte" (1918) and "Awakening", published together in 1922.

The saga begins with Soames Forsyte, a successful solicitor who buys land at Robin Hill on which to build a house for his wife Irene and future family. Eventually, the Forsyte family begins to disintegrate when Timothy Forsyte, the last of the old generation, dies at the age of 100.

In these novels, John Galsworthy documented a departed way of life, that of the affluent middle class that ruled England before the 1914 war. The class is criticized on account of its possessiveness, but there is also nostalgia because Galsworthy, as a man born into the class, could also appreciate its virtues.

(P)2005 Blackstone Audiobooks

Sagacity

The first Nobel Prize-winning work I have listened to, I can fully see why it was deserved. Taking as his subject the English upper middle class, for which the eponymous family stands in (even their name suggests prudence and thrift), Galsworthy's thick tapestry is remarkable for how the multitudinous threads blend into the consistent whole. The tragedy of Soames Forsyte, for he is the emblematic figure of the saga, is deeply affecting despite his unlikeability, for his instincts are our instincts, though expressed in the idiom of his time and place. It is no wonder the modernists got going after it was published, they could see there was no surpassing Galsworthy's mastery of the traditional novel form. Fred Williams reads the text rather than performs it, which may put some off - his diction is so exaggeratedly clear that he simply can't read at normal speed, and the recording drags as a result. I got around this by listening at 1.25x normal speed. He makes little attempt to "act" the characters, only the aging James really gets a distinctive voice. The editing is uneven with different recording sessions jammed carelessly together. But these aren't deal-breakers, it is worth it to be stimulated by the breadth and depth of Galsworthy's insight into the character that made England the dominant nation in the world at the time of writing - and his understanding of what that cost her.

DREADFUL NARRATOR

OH my word, this narrator sounds like they are a child learning to read. The book is great but i could only stand listening to this narrator for 30 minutes before i had to turn the book off. Gutted to waste a creadit.

Forsythe Saga

I was so excited to find this on my audio book listing. I loved the TV show, and the book version sounded wonderful, but the reader does not have the kind of voice to keep ones attention. He sounds like a charming man, but listening to this book was like wading in thick syrup, and keeping your attention was impossible. For the very first time I gave up on a book. I did get book one read, and half of book two, then I just deleted the rest. What a shame.

Most excellent!

I listened to the whole book and did not want it to end despite its length.

The reader is most excellent and skillful. I was also put off at first by his apparently plodding style, but I became quite comfortable and eventually looked forward to it. He managed surprising subtle changes in the characters' moods and dispositions.

Personally, I found myself too much like Soames but I really enjoy this masterful tale of an age at its height and during its passing.

Just wait until you get to the chapters called Indian Summer and the Awakening!

Wait until you hear a boy describe beauty to his mother... Ah feels a little teary-eyed already.

Ben

Poor editing, fine story

The novel is great but the editing made it hard to listen to. The chapter numbers are cut into the text so tight that you can't absorb the last sentence of the previous chapter. Sometimes they even cut off the last few words. I almost sent it back

Good book, not a good reading

Williams reads sooooo slowly. I got used to it after a while, but oy vey. And his accent work is atrocious.

Indeed a Sweeping Saga

What did you love best about The Forsyte Saga?

The story of the family line, morals of the time, insightful & full of intrigue.

Who was your favorite character and why?

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

It did take me awhile to get used to the reader's voice, very dry, almost monotone. But once I got into the story I was able to keep engrossed. I think a more animated reader would really make this story even more enjoyable.

Classic Story, Dreadful Narration

This narrator ruined the novels for me. He reads without expression and inflection. There are no dramatic pauses whatsoever in his delivery. At the last word of a chapter when a pause would add dramatically to the story, he rushes right in to announce the next chapter.

Very interesting

My interest was first peaked by the miniseries as seen on TV but as usual the book is better. That being said, the narrator left a lot to be desired. For a long time, it felt as though every word was articulated with such singularity that any word may have been the end of a sentence. It took about half the story before I noticed he was finally stringing a few words together into a phrase. His imagination & range regarding the voices of the characters left a bit to be desired. Damian Lewis would have done it better, I think.

Absorbing Saga

This is one of the longest audiobooks I have, but I hardly noticed. The characters and details are so engaging. I liked that the story followed the Forsyte family through generations, showing the consequences of their actions through the years.
Some other reviewers said the narrator was annoying or too slow, but I felt that with such a lot of material and the era of the story, his slow and measured pace was just right. My one quibble was that occasionally he does not vary his voice when reading a conversation between two characters so it's hard to tell who's speaking, but that was only a few times. Overall I was completely absorbed in the story, and appreciate the nice period details, as well as the shrewd and true-to-life depictions of family relationships.