The Man of Property

The Forsyte Saga, Book 1

By: John Galsworthy

Narrated by: David Case

Length: 13 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

The Man of Property, the first novel in John Galsworthy's epic social satire The Forsyte Saga, introduces us to Soames Forsyte, a London solicitor and prominent man of his important family. Accustomed to getting whatever he wants, he sets his sights with absolute determination on the beautiful Irene in spite of her pennilessness and indifference to him. Irene, a lover of art and beauty, eventually accepts his marriage proposal over a life of degraded poverty, but she swears to Soames that she will never be his property. When all his money fails to make up for the absence of love and Irene falls for a young architect, Soames resolves to force the obedience he could not buy.

Galsworthy won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1932 "for his distinguished art of narration, which takes its highest form in The Forsyte Saga".

Family matters: don't miss our other titles in The Forsyte Saga.

Public Domain (P)2006 Blackstone Audio Inc.

Well written and well read.

Classically beautiful. Interesting characters. Vivid writing. Captures Victorian England in a way that’s both sympathetic and critical

10 stars out of 5

A story of the sweetness and the passion and pain and resignation of life and love, of shifting sympathies for the most memorable characters. Passion and pain, and humor, much humor, some of it side splitting! The Interlude is pure epic poetry. Required reading for lovers of life and beauty. I am moving on with the eagerness of a peeping Tom into the lives and hearts of the characters of the next saga, Book 2.

Five stars aren't enough...

... for this masterpiece of writing and narration. Galsworthy's tender, wicked irony is perfectly captured and conveyed by David Case, who is THE master among book readers. Each character has his or her distinctive voice which perfectly expresses the personality Galsworthy intended. The richness of the relationships, the vivid social commentary, the HUMOR, are indeed Nobel Prize material.

I'm now listening to the whole series of nine novels for the third time, and the experience is as rich this time as it was the first. It's more than just fiction. It's a poem, an opera, a feast.

I have a new love - hooked on this family

So glad I gave this a chance. The characters aren't as extreme as Dickens and not as annoying as Austin. The patriarch is complex and does unexpectedly sensitive things. I love him and will be purchasing the next book.

My favorite narrator and a great series

My favorite narrator David Chase also goes under name Frederick Davidson. And this is a great series, great characterizations and writing by Nobel prize winner Galsworthy.

The Disturbance Beauty Effects in the Lives of Men

In my reading (and listening) experience, no author since Milton has been as explicit a guide to his own work as John Galsworthy. “If the upper-middle class, with other classes, is destined to ‘move on’ into amorphism”, he writes in his Preface, “here, pickled in these pages, it lies under glass for strollers in the wide and ill-arranged museum of Letters. Here it rests, preserved in its own juice: The Sense of Property.”

There’s much more to it, of course, and Galsworthy says so. In spite of those references to pickles and museums, “this long tale is no scientific study of a period; it is rather an intimate incarnation of the disturbance that Beauty effects in the lives of men.”

Indeed, he presents Beauty as one of the most powerful spurs to our possessive instincts—and, with the Passion it can inspire, one of the greatest threats to the security Property affords. Here, too, we see the Sense of Family, in all its blind clannishness and loving tenderness, played out in terms of ownership. But for all the social satire, it would be a mistake to read a complete condemnation of Property here; Galsworthy is too good a writer, his outlook broader and more generous. “Human Nature, under its changing pretensions and clothes, is and ever will be very much of a Forsyte”, he writes, but count your blessings; we, “might, after all, be a much worse animal.”

As other reviewers have mentioned, David Case (Frederick Davidson) is the perfect reader for Galsworthy’s cutting, cynical, yet surprisingly funny and tender story.

The Forsyte

I have been slowly going down the list of books that won the noble prize for literature (English Language) and reading them. I was amazed at how many I had already read. This book won the 1932 noble prize, written by an Englishman John Galsworthy. The Forsyte saga is, I think, nine volumes long. This series is about the ebbing social power of the commercial upper middle class Forsyte family between 1886 to 1920 England. The story is deeply moving, funny, infuriating and compelling. It covers a multi-generation dysfunctional family with Soames Forsyte the key protagonist. Galsworthy's masterly narrative examines not only the family but the wider developments within society, particularly the changing position of women. The industrial revolution and changes in transportation come through in the story. There were times I felt l was listening to poetry as Galsworthys' beautiful descriptive words rhythmically flowed. David Case did a good job narrating the book.

Superb David Case narration

A classic work of capitalism and property, with a bit of love story thrown in for good measure. Soames is the ultimate Man of Property, and a truly loathsome character. This Audible edition, read by David Case, is a superb example of a good audio book being even better than the original. David Case's narration brings the characters and the drama alive. I have tried to read this in eBook format several times, always bogging down at some point. But listening to Mr. Case's narration of the book on a long trip was a complete revelation and made the tedium of long stretches of driving positively enjoyable. Highly Recommended.

Excellent!

Would you listen to The Man of Property again? Why?

Yes of course! At least ten times! The performance is as good as it gets, the narrator really takes you back to the time in which the story was written which is very hard to do. bravo!

Who was your favorite character and why?

Soames because he is a very complex and intense character.

Which character – as performed by David Case – was your favorite?

Swithin Forsyte.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The very beginning.

Any additional comments?

Amazing performance!

As good as it gets.

Delicious, Nobel-worthy prose in this classic period piece animated by my favorite voice actor of all time.