The Good Soldier

The Good Soldier begins with the famous line "This is the saddest story I have ever heard." It is the tragic tale of an upper-class English couple, Edward Ashburnham, and his wife Leonora. The two befriend an American couple, John and Florence, at a German health spa which becomes the scene for some extra marital foolery. This story is notable for its first person, unreliable narrator, whose memory is prone to fits and starts - all sorts of flashbacks and non-linear narration make The Good Soldier a pioneering work in literary impressionism. This is not a high-speed, action-filled read. It's a nuanced evaluation of the pain and darkness that lies beneath the surface of well-ordered lives and "perfect marriages." Some might find the narrator unlikeable, while others will find the style too choppy. But long before "Pulp Fiction" began artfully dicing up plots, this work shot beyond the typical layout of a novel.