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The Forsyte Chronicles #1.5
Последнее лето Форсайта. Интерлюдия.
Интерлюдия к знаменитому роману «В петле» из «Саги о Форсайтах» написана великолепным языком, что позволяет читателям погрузиться в чарующий мир британского поместья. Рассказ о красоте, любви и вечной загадке жизни полон тонких наблюдений, размышлений, музыки и летнего солнца.
Unknown Binding
First published January 1, 1918
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380 people want to read
About the author
John Galsworthy
2,434 books474 followersLiterary career of English novelist and playwright John Galsworthy, who used John Sinjohn as a pseudonym, spanned the Victorian, Edwardian and Georgian eras.
In addition to his prolific literary status, Galsworthy was also a renowned social activist. He was an outspoken advocate for the women's suffrage movement, prison reform and animal rights. Galsworthy was the president of PEN, an organization that sought to promote international cooperation through literature.
John Galsworthy was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature in 1932 "for his distinguished art of narration which takes its highest form in The Forsyte Saga."
In addition to his prolific literary status, Galsworthy was also a renowned social activist. He was an outspoken advocate for the women's suffrage movement, prison reform and animal rights. Galsworthy was the president of PEN, an organization that sought to promote international cooperation through literature.
John Galsworthy was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature in 1932 "for his distinguished art of narration which takes its highest form in The Forsyte Saga."
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 56 reviews
October 13, 2015
This book was a complete surprise. The truth is that I didn’t even realized I had bought it, as it came with the Audible version of The Man of Property: The Forsyte Saga, the first book in the Forsyte Saga. But what a lovely surprise it was.
I cannot remember reading about aging and approaching death with such candor. Jolyon is 85 years old, and as his life approaches its end, his perception of beauty and love sharpens.
If in the previous book in the Forsyte saga, John Galsworthy impressed me with his perceptive social commentary; in here it is his understanding of human nature that shines through.
I highly recommend it, especially for those of us with aging parents or grand-parents. Or those of us without many years to live. Actually, I recommend to anyone who needs a reminder of what is important in life.
I cannot remember reading about aging and approaching death with such candor. Jolyon is 85 years old, and as his life approaches its end, his perception of beauty and love sharpens.
If in the previous book in the Forsyte saga, John Galsworthy impressed me with his perceptive social commentary; in here it is his understanding of human nature that shines through.
I highly recommend it, especially for those of us with aging parents or grand-parents. Or those of us without many years to live. Actually, I recommend to anyone who needs a reminder of what is important in life.
July 30, 2025
“He felt miraculously sad and happy, as one does, standing under a lime-tree in full honey flower.”
A gorgeous interlude between The Man of Property and In Chancery, books 1 and 2 of The Forsyte Saga, where Old Jolyon contemplates life and death. Stunning reflections, profound and intense and real, and reading it made me miraculously sad and happy too.
A gorgeous interlude between The Man of Property and In Chancery, books 1 and 2 of The Forsyte Saga, where Old Jolyon contemplates life and death. Stunning reflections, profound and intense and real, and reading it made me miraculously sad and happy too.
February 26, 2013
Old Jolyon was easily the most likable and sympathetic character in A Man of Property, so, while it's sad to see him exit the series, it's also a pleasure to get to spend more time with him. This short installment is necessarily less sordid than its predecessor, and so I enjoyed it quite a bit more. Its musings on life and death are thought-provoking, even if the short length keeps the story as a whole from reaching any great depth.
October 19, 2018
Melodrama, but good melodrama. And short (a few hours at most).
December 5, 2018
Nice short story and interlude between the major novels of this Saga. A few things popped into my mind: There is no fool like and old fool (Old Jolyon); Beauty is Art and a real attempt to bring Oscar Wilde and his philosophies to Old Jolyon; the irreversible pull of death and the Faustian desire for just a little more time on Earth.
Nice story that takes place about 5 years after Book 1 ended. Old Jolyon has purchased the country property that was build for Soames. His entire nuclear family lives there now, and one day Irene appears in the coppice. Old Jolyon is smitten with her and while most all of the family is away on vacation in Spain, he becomes close to her, and even wants to assist her financially. Is both sad, sympathetic and in a way pathetic, as all these feelings rushed over me in this short story. Do not read this out of order since it has to now add some background details to what will be coming in the next book.
Nice story that takes place about 5 years after Book 1 ended. Old Jolyon has purchased the country property that was build for Soames. His entire nuclear family lives there now, and one day Irene appears in the coppice. Old Jolyon is smitten with her and while most all of the family is away on vacation in Spain, he becomes close to her, and even wants to assist her financially. Is both sad, sympathetic and in a way pathetic, as all these feelings rushed over me in this short story. Do not read this out of order since it has to now add some background details to what will be coming in the next book.
August 29, 2025
Ett kort mellanspel, mer som en långnovell i fem kapitel. Hela bakgrunden har vi i första boken, 'The Man of Property', här får vi möjlighet att fördjupa oss i den 85-årige Old Jolyons, äldst av de sex Forsyte syskonen ännu vid liv. Det är en meditativ inre dialog när livsviljan flammar upp vid mötet med döden, livsviljan personifierad som Irene, separerad från hans brorson Soames. Medan resten av familjen Forsyte tiger om Irene, som lämnat sin make, vill Jolyon återupprätta hennes livsvillkor. Jolyon som köpt Soames hus, som aldrig blev Irenes hem som tänkt var, har här de sista åren i livet dragit sig tillbaka till naturen vid huset Robin Hill. Här får han leva med sin son och sina tre barnbarn, försonad med livet i stort - men inte med döden...
En prosalyrisk betraktelse, där Irene kan sägas spegla såväl skönhet, som hans Anima och livsgnista, men i sin skepnad som 'the lady in gray' också mötet med själen.
En prosalyrisk betraktelse, där Irene kan sägas spegla såväl skönhet, som hans Anima och livsgnista, men i sin skepnad som 'the lady in gray' också mötet med själen.
June 9, 2024
ENGLISH: This short novel is a link between volumes 1 and 2 of "The Forsyte Saga". It tells about the last days of one of the characters in the first book, Old Jolyon, who becomes obsessed with Irene's beauty, leaves her a legacy in his will and, in this way, puts her in contact with her son, Young Jolyon.
ESPAÑOL: Esta novela corta sirve de enlace entre los volúmenes 1 y 2 de "La Saga de los Forsyte". Cuenta los últimos días de uno de los personajes del primer libro, el Viejo Jolyon, que se obsesiona ante la belleza de Irene, la deja un legado en su testamento y, de ese modo, contribuye a ponerla en contacto con su hijo, el Joven Jolyon.
ESPAÑOL: Esta novela corta sirve de enlace entre los volúmenes 1 y 2 de "La Saga de los Forsyte". Cuenta los últimos días de uno de los personajes del primer libro, el Viejo Jolyon, que se obsesiona ante la belleza de Irene, la deja un legado en su testamento y, de ese modo, contribuye a ponerla en contacto con su hijo, el Joven Jolyon.
February 17, 2011
~BLISSFUL PASSAGE~
The Forsyte Saga, Book Two (Interlude)
There are blissful times in life, and when such times precede the inevitable passage through death, they are double blessed. The ability to see Beauty and to stay in awe in its face is a trait to treasure. But we write less about it; we are too polite to talk about it; but we need Beauty and we need old people in our lives, too. It is through their will to live and feel and experience that we learn the meaning of everything. We are willing to preserve them in our egoism to have them by our side for longer: parents, grandparents, old friends, teachers. We forbid them to go outside under the summer rain and to over-exhaust themselves and shush at their willingness to have another smoke or a piece of fat and unhealthy hamburger. But they want to LIVE and BREATHE even if for a shorter time, but keep their dignity and follow THEIR rules.
How can I remember that when dealing with my beloved older people?
"How should an old man live his days if not in dreaming of his well-spent past? In that, at all events, there is no agitating warmth, only pale winter sunshine. The shell can withstand the gentle beating of the dynamos of memory. The present he should distrust; the future shun. From beneath thick shade he should watch the sunlight creeping at his toes. If there be sun of summer, let him not go out into it, mistaking it for the Indian-summer sun! Thus peradventure he shall decline softly, slowly, imperceptibly, until impatient Nature clutches his wind-pipe and he gasps away to death some early morning before the world is aired, and they put on his tombstone: 'In the fulness of years!' yea! If he preserve his principles in perfect order, a Forsyte may live on long after he is dead."
This is a short read about the power of life, the passion for beauty and the strong heart, willing to feel and breathe in Life in all its splendorous ways.
What a blissful passage onto the other side!
Victoria Evangelina Belyavskaya
December 22, 2021
This is a gem of a novella - one of the interludes that Galsworthy wrote for the Forsyte Saga. We see here Old Jolyon Forsyte in the final days of his life and his friendship with his nephew Soames Forsyte's ex-wife Irene, someone whom he felt was deeply wronged by her husband.
Whilst his family is away, Old Jolyon, living in the house Soames had had built, finds himself reminiscing and wondering at the life he has led. In Irene he finds the elegance, beauty, intelligence and dignified companionship that he has always valued and for a short period of time this friendship of kindness and admiration continues. In her he finds his new lease of interest in life. It is always bound to end once his family is back, most particularly because his granddaughter June was engaged to the tragic architect Bosinney who had fallen in love with Irene.
There is something very tender and wistful in how Galsworthy explores, aging, memory, nostalgia, the desire to live, solace in children, nature, and beauty, and an old man's endeavor to hold on to his remaining reserves of energy, to not be controlled, and to make the most of his remaining days in the dignified independence of being able to choose how to spend his time and who with.
"How should an old man live his days if not dreaming of his well spent past?"
Whilst his family is away, Old Jolyon, living in the house Soames had had built, finds himself reminiscing and wondering at the life he has led. In Irene he finds the elegance, beauty, intelligence and dignified companionship that he has always valued and for a short period of time this friendship of kindness and admiration continues. In her he finds his new lease of interest in life. It is always bound to end once his family is back, most particularly because his granddaughter June was engaged to the tragic architect Bosinney who had fallen in love with Irene.
There is something very tender and wistful in how Galsworthy explores, aging, memory, nostalgia, the desire to live, solace in children, nature, and beauty, and an old man's endeavor to hold on to his remaining reserves of energy, to not be controlled, and to make the most of his remaining days in the dignified independence of being able to choose how to spend his time and who with.
"How should an old man live his days if not dreaming of his well spent past?"
April 22, 2017
This short interlude in the Forsyte Saga narrates the infatuation of Joylon Forsyte, a man of eighty five with Irene, a girl of twenty eight years - "a new lease of interest life" for a man "facing inevitable end of all things, the approach of death with its stealthy, rustling footsteps" The author shows the human side of a man who kept " his balance and his sense of symmetry throughout his life" but succumbs to the beauty of Irene and yearns to " live again in the youth of the young". This tragic tale has the focus and tightness of a short story.
August 25, 2010
This volume of the Forsyte Saga has the softness of Old Jolyon at eighty-five, half in love with Irene, half in love with the summer and the surroundings, loving every bit of everything: he was drinking life to the lees in every sense and with every day. He quite essentially burned himself down to nothing like a flame a pure wax candle. His love for Holly, his love for the house that the Buccaneer had built, his love with being in love all burnt up his old self like Forsyte's are never supposed to do. Galsworthy is specific: "He was living on the capital, which no Forsyte should never do." But the reader felt all the beauty with Old Jolyon, no more than noting that it was bad for him; knew what was coming; and rejoiced that he was having one great final thrill of joy that filled him to the brim only to leave him cast up a greatly thinned out thing when the love left. He died at the apex of his time, his second love and we were fortuate on-lookers who shared his experience. Galsworthy has a remakable command of the language to evoke feeling with overdoing its effect.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 4, 2017
In this short (55 pages) interlude between The Man of Property and In Chancery, Galsworthy explores the situation of an older man (old Jolyon, who has bought Soames' house) and a beautiful young woman (Irene Forsyte, who has left her unhappy marriage and ekes out a living giving piano lessons). He is drawn to her beauty as so many men have been, but perhaps because of his age, he simply appreciates her without the desire to possess her. For a few short months, he takes her out to dinner and the opera while his daughter June, and his son and his wife, are traveling on the continent.
The title is apt, for this is Jolyon's Indian summer, a sweet short time of flowering before the chill cold of winter settles in.
The title is apt, for this is Jolyon's Indian summer, a sweet short time of flowering before the chill cold of winter settles in.
April 24, 2017
A pearl. How beautiful! As much as I appreciated the social satire of A Man of Property, I loved more this nuanced exploration of the human condition -- that inner tension between selfless lovingkindness and selfishness playing out in every friendship. The writing is more subtle and intimate--and sometimes more stabbing.
January 3, 2016
4½ stars. Read on my Kindle as part of "The Forsyte Saga - Complete"
October 19, 2024
John Galsworthy's "Indian Summer of a Forsyte" is a short story in the continuation of "The Forsyte Chronicles" about Jolyon Forsyte and his wanting friendship with beautiful Irene.
Story in short- Jolyon and his granddaughter are alone at Robin Hill, while June, young Jolyon and his wife are abroad, also Jolly is away at school.
➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 4525
In the last day of May in the early 'nineties, about six o'clock of the evening, old Jolyon Forsyte sat under the oak tree below the terrace of his house at Robin Hill.
Highlight (Yellow) and Note | Location 4538
and left only Jolyon and James, Roger and Nicholas and Timothy, Julia, Hester, Susan! And old Jolyon thought: 'Eighty-five! I don't feel it—except when I get that pain.'
*** Jolyon lives at the Robin Hill house and it has been 5 years since his brother Swithin had taken Irene there... he is now dead.
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 4540
He had not felt his age since he had bought his nephew Soames' ill-starred house and settled into it here at Robin Hill over three years ago. It was as if he had been getting younger every spring, living in the country with his son and his grandchildren—June, and the little ones of the second marriage,
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 4544
All the knots and crankiness, which had gathered in his heart during that long and tragic business of June, Soames, Irene his wife, and poor young Bosinney, had been smoothed out. Even June had
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 4545
thrown off her melancholy at last—witness this travel in Spain she was taking now with her father and her stepmother. Curiously perfect peace was left by their departure; blissful, yet blank, because his son was not there. Jo was never anything but a comfort and a pleasure to him nowadays—an amiable chap; but women, somehow—even the best—got a little on one's nerves, unless of course one admired them.
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 4575
And into old Jolyon's mind came a sudden recollection—a face he had seen at that opera three weeks ago— Irene, the wife of his precious nephew Soames, that man of property! Though he had not met her since the day of the 'At Home' in his
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 4576
old house at Stanhope Gate, which celebrated his granddaughter June's ill-starred engagement to young Bosinney, he had remembered her at once, for he had always admired her—a very pretty creature. After the death of young Bosinney, whose mistress she had so reprehensibly become, he had heard that she had left Soames at once. Goodness only knew what she had been doing since. That sight of her face—a side view—in the row in front, had been literally the only reminder these three years that she was still alive.
❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌spoiler alert
Jolyon has seen Swithin his brother buried. At 85, he feels how time is about over, enjoying his granddaughter and life in general. Jolyon sees Irene sitting near a tree near Robin Hill. Jolyon hears from Irene that she has left Soames, has taken her maiden name and refuses any money from her husband. She living on limited income, working, and helps young girls in desperate situations. She still in love with Bossiney, and likes to talk about her dead lover to Uncle Jolyon. Jolyon loves her beauty and dreams about her but his age is his burden, his limitations though he longs for beauty and love, knowing it is silly. He sees her in London, taking her to the opera through all this is wearing his health down. She is told June and the family coming back, knowing that Irene says she will not be able to visit Holly and him because of not wanting to cause trouble. Irene writes a letter for her reason not to come, which saddens Jolyon to write of her disappointment, causing Irene wanting to see him again. Joloyn is happy and decides to take a nap, but never wakes up again.
It is pretty depressing that Jolyon seeks beauty and his desire for her and youth.
Story in short- Jolyon and his granddaughter are alone at Robin Hill, while June, young Jolyon and his wife are abroad, also Jolly is away at school.
➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 4525
In the last day of May in the early 'nineties, about six o'clock of the evening, old Jolyon Forsyte sat under the oak tree below the terrace of his house at Robin Hill.
Highlight (Yellow) and Note | Location 4538
and left only Jolyon and James, Roger and Nicholas and Timothy, Julia, Hester, Susan! And old Jolyon thought: 'Eighty-five! I don't feel it—except when I get that pain.'
*** Jolyon lives at the Robin Hill house and it has been 5 years since his brother Swithin had taken Irene there... he is now dead.
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 4540
He had not felt his age since he had bought his nephew Soames' ill-starred house and settled into it here at Robin Hill over three years ago. It was as if he had been getting younger every spring, living in the country with his son and his grandchildren—June, and the little ones of the second marriage,
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 4544
All the knots and crankiness, which had gathered in his heart during that long and tragic business of June, Soames, Irene his wife, and poor young Bosinney, had been smoothed out. Even June had
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 4545
thrown off her melancholy at last—witness this travel in Spain she was taking now with her father and her stepmother. Curiously perfect peace was left by their departure; blissful, yet blank, because his son was not there. Jo was never anything but a comfort and a pleasure to him nowadays—an amiable chap; but women, somehow—even the best—got a little on one's nerves, unless of course one admired them.
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 4575
And into old Jolyon's mind came a sudden recollection—a face he had seen at that opera three weeks ago— Irene, the wife of his precious nephew Soames, that man of property! Though he had not met her since the day of the 'At Home' in his
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 4576
old house at Stanhope Gate, which celebrated his granddaughter June's ill-starred engagement to young Bosinney, he had remembered her at once, for he had always admired her—a very pretty creature. After the death of young Bosinney, whose mistress she had so reprehensibly become, he had heard that she had left Soames at once. Goodness only knew what she had been doing since. That sight of her face—a side view—in the row in front, had been literally the only reminder these three years that she was still alive.
❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌spoiler alert
Jolyon has seen Swithin his brother buried. At 85, he feels how time is about over, enjoying his granddaughter and life in general. Jolyon sees Irene sitting near a tree near Robin Hill. Jolyon hears from Irene that she has left Soames, has taken her maiden name and refuses any money from her husband. She living on limited income, working, and helps young girls in desperate situations. She still in love with Bossiney, and likes to talk about her dead lover to Uncle Jolyon. Jolyon loves her beauty and dreams about her but his age is his burden, his limitations though he longs for beauty and love, knowing it is silly. He sees her in London, taking her to the opera through all this is wearing his health down. She is told June and the family coming back, knowing that Irene says she will not be able to visit Holly and him because of not wanting to cause trouble. Irene writes a letter for her reason not to come, which saddens Jolyon to write of her disappointment, causing Irene wanting to see him again. Joloyn is happy and decides to take a nap, but never wakes up again.
It is pretty depressing that Jolyon seeks beauty and his desire for her and youth.
October 12, 2017
Forsyte Chronicles:-
This work developed over a lifetime and began with a simple theme, that of individual's right to life and love, especially those of a woman. The first trilogy, Forsyte Saga, is the most famous of all. There are three trilogies, Modern Comedy and End of the Chapter being the second and the third. The Forsyte 'Change was written as separate stories about the various characters and spans the time from migration of Jolyon Forsyte the original, referred to usually as Superior Dosset, the paterfamilias of the Forsytes, to London from border of Devon and Dorsetshire, onwards well into the time connecting it to the beginning of the second trilogy. The first two trilogies have interconnecting interludes between each of their two parts.
.......................................................................
.......................................................................
The Forsyte Saga:-
The Forsyte Saga was not planned as such but developed over years with sequels coming naturally as they did, and human heart and passion and minds within settings of high society of a Victorian and post Victorian England - chiefly London - and its solid base in property.
When it was published it was revolutionary in the theme - a woman is not owned by her husband, and love is not a duty she owes but a bond that is very real however intangible, that cannot be faked.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008.
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Interlude: Indian Summer of a Forsyte:-
Indian Summer here refers not to unbearably hot 45-50 degree centrigrade summer but the soft warmth of India of post rains in September - October that here the author uses as a silent metaphor for the beautiful life of Old Jolyon in his old age after he has bought the house Bosinney built for Irene, after Bosinney is dead, where he now lives with his son Jo, Young Jolyon, and his three children from his two marriages, June and Jolyon "Jolly" and Holly. Jo with his second wife is traveling in Europe when Old Jolyon discovers Irene sitting on a log in the coppice on the property where she had been with her love, Bosinney, and invites her to the home that was to be hers and is now his. This begins his tryst with beauty that is Irene, in the beauty that is Robin Hill, his home, and the surrounding countryside of which his home includes a good bit.
Jolyon employs Irene to teach music to Holly and invites her for lunches at Robin Hill, and listens to her playing music; they go to theatre, opera and dinners in town on days when she is not teaching Holly, and meanwhile he worries about her situation of barely above penury that her separation has left her in, her father's bequest to her amounting to bare subsistence. He decides to correct the injustice she is meted due to her husband not providing for her (this being the weapon to make her come back to him) and makes a bequest to her for lifetime, settling a good amount that would take care of her reasonably, and let her independence from her husband supported well.
He comes to depend on her visits, and she realises this, returning his silent affection and appreciation - and he dies when waiting for her one afternoon, in his armchair under the large old oak tree, with beauty coming to him across the lawn.
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In Chancery:-
In Chancery continues with young Jolyon and Irene and Soames, the beautiful new house designed and constructed for Irene being now put up for sale by Soames who is tenacious in his not giving up on her in spite of her leaving him. Irene connects with Jolyon, partly due to Soames bringing an action against him for alienation of his wife's affections and then far more due to their being well matched, and they are together in spite of Soames trying various tactics - threat of divorce (a far more lethal weapon in that era), refusal to give a divorce when they wish for it, and so forth. Finally the divorce goes through and two children are born, Jon to Irene and Joyon and Fleur to Soames and Annette, a French young woman he finds in an inn and marries.
The new house is in chancery as are the people in this interim period and old Jolyon has bought it partly due to James, his brother and father of Soames, telling old Jolyon he owes it to Soames and to the Forsytes, seeing as how young Jolyon is responsible for the quandary Soames is in. Old Jolyon however is as much in love with Irene as most of the clan, and when once he finds her sitting in a corner of the property he assures her of his lack of disapproval of her finding refuge in the home built for her by her lover.
Jolyon helps Irene as his father's wish, and his own, having been appointed executor to the bequest of his father for her, and in the process comes to not only protect her from the husband who wishes her to return (so she can give him a son and heir, after all they are still married twelve years after she left), but also comes to be her friend, her companion and more. He does not admit his love, but she understands it, and their days together are spent in the same beauty that she did with his father until they are thrown together far more due to the persecution of her husband who would divorce her and marry a young woman he has fixed his sights on so he can have a son after all - he is now near fifty and his father James is dying, hankering for a son for Soames. But divorce laws were then difficult and Soames is unwilling to pretend an affair, so his choice is to name Irene and Jolyon, which neither of them oppose irrespective of facts.
It is the news of death of Jolly, son of Jolyon, that throws them together finally when both younger children of Jolyon along with Val Dartie the son of Winifred have gone to Boer war and June has joined Holly as nurse, and Jolyon in his grief for his son that he thinks he did not give enough of the love in his heart for him to has only Irene to console him with her compassion.
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One of the major beautiful things about Forsyte Chronicles - all three trilogies, but the first and third in particular - is the love of the author for beauty of England in general and countryside, nature in particular. Very lyrical. The other, more subtle, is the depiction of society in general, upper middle class of English society in particular and the times they lived in in the background, empire on distant horizon until the third trilogy where it is still in background but a bit less distant.
The society changes from the first to the third trilogy but not radically, and in this the author is successful in portrayal of how things might seem radically different superficially but are closer to where progress began, and progress being slow in steps that various people pay heftily during their lives for.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013.
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Thursday, September 19, 2013.
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.......................................................................
This work developed over a lifetime and began with a simple theme, that of individual's right to life and love, especially those of a woman. The first trilogy, Forsyte Saga, is the most famous of all. There are three trilogies, Modern Comedy and End of the Chapter being the second and the third. The Forsyte 'Change was written as separate stories about the various characters and spans the time from migration of Jolyon Forsyte the original, referred to usually as Superior Dosset, the paterfamilias of the Forsytes, to London from border of Devon and Dorsetshire, onwards well into the time connecting it to the beginning of the second trilogy. The first two trilogies have interconnecting interludes between each of their two parts.
.......................................................................
.......................................................................
The Forsyte Saga:-
The Forsyte Saga was not planned as such but developed over years with sequels coming naturally as they did, and human heart and passion and minds within settings of high society of a Victorian and post Victorian England - chiefly London - and its solid base in property.
When it was published it was revolutionary in the theme - a woman is not owned by her husband, and love is not a duty she owes but a bond that is very real however intangible, that cannot be faked.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008.
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Interlude: Indian Summer of a Forsyte:-
Indian Summer here refers not to unbearably hot 45-50 degree centrigrade summer but the soft warmth of India of post rains in September - October that here the author uses as a silent metaphor for the beautiful life of Old Jolyon in his old age after he has bought the house Bosinney built for Irene, after Bosinney is dead, where he now lives with his son Jo, Young Jolyon, and his three children from his two marriages, June and Jolyon "Jolly" and Holly. Jo with his second wife is traveling in Europe when Old Jolyon discovers Irene sitting on a log in the coppice on the property where she had been with her love, Bosinney, and invites her to the home that was to be hers and is now his. This begins his tryst with beauty that is Irene, in the beauty that is Robin Hill, his home, and the surrounding countryside of which his home includes a good bit.
Jolyon employs Irene to teach music to Holly and invites her for lunches at Robin Hill, and listens to her playing music; they go to theatre, opera and dinners in town on days when she is not teaching Holly, and meanwhile he worries about her situation of barely above penury that her separation has left her in, her father's bequest to her amounting to bare subsistence. He decides to correct the injustice she is meted due to her husband not providing for her (this being the weapon to make her come back to him) and makes a bequest to her for lifetime, settling a good amount that would take care of her reasonably, and let her independence from her husband supported well.
He comes to depend on her visits, and she realises this, returning his silent affection and appreciation - and he dies when waiting for her one afternoon, in his armchair under the large old oak tree, with beauty coming to him across the lawn.
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In Chancery:-
In Chancery continues with young Jolyon and Irene and Soames, the beautiful new house designed and constructed for Irene being now put up for sale by Soames who is tenacious in his not giving up on her in spite of her leaving him. Irene connects with Jolyon, partly due to Soames bringing an action against him for alienation of his wife's affections and then far more due to their being well matched, and they are together in spite of Soames trying various tactics - threat of divorce (a far more lethal weapon in that era), refusal to give a divorce when they wish for it, and so forth. Finally the divorce goes through and two children are born, Jon to Irene and Joyon and Fleur to Soames and Annette, a French young woman he finds in an inn and marries.
The new house is in chancery as are the people in this interim period and old Jolyon has bought it partly due to James, his brother and father of Soames, telling old Jolyon he owes it to Soames and to the Forsytes, seeing as how young Jolyon is responsible for the quandary Soames is in. Old Jolyon however is as much in love with Irene as most of the clan, and when once he finds her sitting in a corner of the property he assures her of his lack of disapproval of her finding refuge in the home built for her by her lover.
Jolyon helps Irene as his father's wish, and his own, having been appointed executor to the bequest of his father for her, and in the process comes to not only protect her from the husband who wishes her to return (so she can give him a son and heir, after all they are still married twelve years after she left), but also comes to be her friend, her companion and more. He does not admit his love, but she understands it, and their days together are spent in the same beauty that she did with his father until they are thrown together far more due to the persecution of her husband who would divorce her and marry a young woman he has fixed his sights on so he can have a son after all - he is now near fifty and his father James is dying, hankering for a son for Soames. But divorce laws were then difficult and Soames is unwilling to pretend an affair, so his choice is to name Irene and Jolyon, which neither of them oppose irrespective of facts.
It is the news of death of Jolly, son of Jolyon, that throws them together finally when both younger children of Jolyon along with Val Dartie the son of Winifred have gone to Boer war and June has joined Holly as nurse, and Jolyon in his grief for his son that he thinks he did not give enough of the love in his heart for him to has only Irene to console him with her compassion.
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One of the major beautiful things about Forsyte Chronicles - all three trilogies, but the first and third in particular - is the love of the author for beauty of England in general and countryside, nature in particular. Very lyrical. The other, more subtle, is the depiction of society in general, upper middle class of English society in particular and the times they lived in in the background, empire on distant horizon until the third trilogy where it is still in background but a bit less distant.
The society changes from the first to the third trilogy but not radically, and in this the author is successful in portrayal of how things might seem radically different superficially but are closer to where progress began, and progress being slow in steps that various people pay heftily during their lives for.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013.
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Thursday, September 19, 2013.
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April 23, 2023
A really quite beautiful novella taking place between the two more substantial works of A Man of Property and In Chancery, carrying forward The Forsyte Saga and letting us further into the mind Old Jolyon, the eldest of his generation of siblings who form the base of this family pyramid.
In his late 80s, having moved away from London to the edge of countryside skirting the city, into the house that caused so many problems in the opening novel for his nephew Soames and his granddaughter June, designed by her fiancé Bosinney who then promptly fell in love with Irene, Soames' already-unhappy wife.
Retired from business, Jolyon has broken the Forsyte mould. He is spending his money to make his family happy, he realises he cares about nature and beauty for beauty's, not profit's, sake, he finds he has feelings after all.
His son's away in Spain and his grandson at boarding school leaving him alone with his youngest grandaughter and an elderly dog in the house as the late summer blooms into unseasonal warmth and into this solitary age comes Irene. The novella chronicles the development of their friendship and growing closeness as Jolyon, alone and apart from his family for the moment, forgets a little that he's an old man.
Galsworthy's prose reflects the lush over-ripeness of these hot September days and he revels in the opportunity to write about nature rather than the city.
A lovely bitter-sweet curtain raiser - there's a gap in writing of over 12 years between this and A Man of Property - preparing us for the second part proper of the Forsyte Saga.
In his late 80s, having moved away from London to the edge of countryside skirting the city, into the house that caused so many problems in the opening novel for his nephew Soames and his granddaughter June, designed by her fiancé Bosinney who then promptly fell in love with Irene, Soames' already-unhappy wife.
Retired from business, Jolyon has broken the Forsyte mould. He is spending his money to make his family happy, he realises he cares about nature and beauty for beauty's, not profit's, sake, he finds he has feelings after all.
His son's away in Spain and his grandson at boarding school leaving him alone with his youngest grandaughter and an elderly dog in the house as the late summer blooms into unseasonal warmth and into this solitary age comes Irene. The novella chronicles the development of their friendship and growing closeness as Jolyon, alone and apart from his family for the moment, forgets a little that he's an old man.
Galsworthy's prose reflects the lush over-ripeness of these hot September days and he revels in the opportunity to write about nature rather than the city.
A lovely bitter-sweet curtain raiser - there's a gap in writing of over 12 years between this and A Man of Property - preparing us for the second part proper of the Forsyte Saga.
May 3, 2023
I read this novel a long time ago, probably when I was in college, and I think that the beauty of the writing and the tremendous emotional impact of the writing just did not affect me as it did when I read it again, at age 71. This was a tremendously moving novel, covering the period after Irene left Soames (only to have her lover killed before they could live together) and old Jolyon Forsyte purchased Robin Hill, living there alone in his old age. Irene and Jolyon begin a friendship that deepens and enriches Jolyon's life in ways that he did not foresee. He learned to recognize and appreciate Irene's courage, strength and fiercely independent spirit and she provided him with a companionship that he had never developed with anyone previously, gently inciting him to re-examine the rules and morals by which he had lived. At the end of the novel is the most beautifully written passage about Jolyon's death, in the late summer, early autumn, waiting for Irene to come for tea. It is so powerfully written, yet restrained, avoiding sentimentality, that upon finishing the novel, I could not move or think or do anything for some time but revisit the scene in my mind. Some of the best writing in the English language, so vividly described that it lives in my mind as a movie scene might do. If you love language, read this book.
June 19, 2022
По исполнению — прекрасный рассказ, образный, сентиментальный и меланхоличный. Содержание же вновь проигрывает форме. Джун в каком-то смысле бросили уже трижды: сперва отец, затем жених (здесь к потерям можно причислить и подругу), а теперь и некогда любящий дед мечтает оттянуть момент её приезда ради своего нового увлечения. Увлечение это — конечно же, Ирэн — по-прежнему вызывает у меня двоякие чувства. Сама по себе она могла бы мне нравиться: бесспорная жертва в первой книге, пусть пассивна, пусть не Лиззи Беннет, не Джейн Эйр и не Анна Каренина, ну так и что, для разнообразия интересно почитать и о таких — но сама по себе она как раз и не выступает, редкий абзац обходится без восхваления со стороны рассказчика, восхваления по-прежнему чрезмерного и беспричинного. Может, я и люблю приём с ненадёжным рассказчиком, но не в таком ракурсе, ох не в таком.
3.5.
3.5.
November 13, 2021
This is perhaps the most beautiful short story in the English language, and it is worth reading the first novel of the Forsyte Saga, 'A Man Of Property,' just to encounter this short story, which functions as a postlude to the novel. The gentleness of the relationship between the elder, Jolyon, and the tragic young woman, Irene, the bitter sweetness of approaching death, and the transcendental beauty of the English landscape, are so poignantly expressed that one wants to savor every sentence again and again. The entire nine-novel Forsyte Chronicles are worth reading, as one of the truly great works of English literature. But the jewel in the crown is this short story, or 'Interlude,' as Galsworthy calls it.
April 1, 2021
This is one of the most charming novellas ever, and a fitting interlude between The Man of Property and In Chancery. I'm continuing on with the Forsyte Saga in its entirety, enjoying every page of it.
April 23, 2020
Lovely little novella featuring Old Joylon, one of my favorite character in The Man of Property. As he nears the end of his life, he finds Irene visiting the property that was built for her, commissioned by her husband, and designed by her lover. They spend time together, indulging in their shared love of music. The reader can see where the action is carrying the delightful old man, making this a very poignant reading experience.
August 17, 2023
I liked it better than The Man of Property which got a grudging 4 stars—this gets a whole-hearted 4 stars. It's quite touching.
I still don't understand why we don't get to know Irene. I'm wondering now if it's simply authorial cheating: if he only tells us she's wonderful and everything thinks she's wonderful then we can't complain that she doesn't seem so wonderful (as we might have if we got to know her better). But she sort of floats around being "charming," and that's it. Oh well.
But he invoked a tear from me by the end, so I appreciate that, regardless of how floaty and unknown Irene remained.
(Note: I'm a writer, so I suffer when I offer fewer than five stars. But these aren't ratings of quality, they're a subjective account of how much I liked the book: 5* = an unalloyed pleasure from start to finish, 4* = really enjoyed it, 3* = readable but not thrilling, 2* = disappointing, and 1* = hated it.)
I still don't understand why we don't get to know Irene. I'm wondering now if it's simply authorial cheating: if he only tells us she's wonderful and everything thinks she's wonderful then we can't complain that she doesn't seem so wonderful (as we might have if we got to know her better). But she sort of floats around being "charming," and that's it. Oh well.
But he invoked a tear from me by the end, so I appreciate that, regardless of how floaty and unknown Irene remained.
(Note: I'm a writer, so I suffer when I offer fewer than five stars. But these aren't ratings of quality, they're a subjective account of how much I liked the book: 5* = an unalloyed pleasure from start to finish, 4* = really enjoyed it, 3* = readable but not thrilling, 2* = disappointing, and 1* = hated it.)
December 24, 2023
The series continues on, but I have to admit it's getting harder to keep interested in it. I know the story really well because of the miniseries with Damian Lewis, which is a very, very faithful adaptation. Because of that, it's hard to keep my attention on it because the book adds little to a story whose twists and turns I know already.
October 18, 2025
As I wrote for the Man of Property, this is my first read of Galsworthy's novels after having seen and loved the BBC production 50 years ago. I liked the Man of Property but wondered how his work won the Nobel Prize. Reading this 'Interlude', I understand. The only thing I can compare it to is The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Tolstoy. Not as profound, but just as affecting.
October 28, 2025
Galsworthy writes so beautifully. He draws you in and his word choice is absolute perfection.
“A Man of Property” is quite soapy and a bit sordid, but this… THIS was tender, reflective, and masterfully composed. I am looking forward to reading the next installment, “In Chancery”, but oh! this novella was such a treat.
“A Man of Property” is quite soapy and a bit sordid, but this… THIS was tender, reflective, and masterfully composed. I am looking forward to reading the next installment, “In Chancery”, but oh! this novella was such a treat.
August 17, 2018
I quite enjoyed this little "interlude" story. Old Jolyon has been my favorite character in the Forsyte Chronicles so far, so this story being focused on him was delightful. He's an old sweetheart. It was charming.
April 10, 2021
A short interlude between the first and second novels of The Forsyte Saga, this is the story of the final days of the old patriarch of the clan, Jolyon Forsyte, which I found unexpectedly touching and sweet.
January 21, 2022
What a lovely read. The writing is quite antiquated but still reads beautifully. Such a romantic short story. I read these books in my teens and have seen two versions of the Forsyte Saga (TV series). They still make me smile and feel all warm inside.
September 9, 2017
:(
A sad and quick read, and quite a pivot from Man of Property.
A sad and quick read, and quite a pivot from Man of Property.
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