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    In Chancery
    In Chancery
    In Chancery
    Audiobook11 hours

    In Chancery

    Written by John Galsworthy

    Narrated by Neil Hunt

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    About this audiobook

    The three novels that make up this trilogy have long been recognized as masterpieces of 20th-century literature, and Galsworthy as one of its leading exponents. But don't let that be the reason you put off listening to this wonderful work. There are passion and lust in these pages, high art and low comedy, and unthinking violence that ride alongside ever-correct manners. Scandal, tragedy, despair, rape, accidental death, marriage, remarriage and a healthy leavening of births all unfold against a rolling backdrop of a world war.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateApr 18, 2014
    ISBN9781490625430
    Author

    John Galsworthy

    John Galsworthy was a Nobel-Prize (1932) winning English dramatist, novelist, and poet born to an upper-middle class family in Surrey, England. He attended Harrow and trained as a barrister at New College, Oxford. Although called to the bar in 1890, rather than practise law, Galsworthy travelled extensively and began to write. It was as a playwright Galsworthy had his first success. His plays—like his most famous work, the series of novels comprising The Forsyte Saga—dealt primarily with class and the social issues of the day, and he was especially harsh on the class from which he himself came.

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    Reviews for In Chancery

    4/5

    80 ratings8 reviews

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    • 3/5
      I felt I had to read this, an early modern classic as it is, but I wasn't inspired; to think that there is the rest of the trilogy to go, and *then* further novels is rather daunting! Galsworthy's style is lyrical and elaborate, fitting the Forsyte's era and his own, but I found the introspection to be over-indulgent. There were some thoughtful sentiments and beautiful descriptions, however: Swithin's walk across the park as 'the flight of some land bird across the sea'. Whereas the author obviously loved his enigmatic heroine, as he did the model for Irene Forsyte, I didn't warm to her, or Bosinney, and my sympathy for Soames came to an abrupt close. In fact, the only likeable character for me was old Jolyon, and his tardy love of youth and beauty. A fascinating study of middle-class England at the turn of the century, but perhaps too stolid to endure the entire saga!
    • 3/5
      Very entertaining, offering an excellent insight into the burgeoning Victorian commercial world.Soames Forsyte seems to have everything, but the most important of his "assets", his beautiful wife Irene, does not return his affection and gradually becomes further estranged while simultaneously becoming more friendly with impecunious architect Philip Bossiney, whom Soames has commissioned to design and build a fine new home in Surrey.The interplay between the numerous members of the Forsyte clan is brilliantly managed, particularly the gradual reconciliation between Old and Young Jolyon.I am looking forward to the next in the series.
    • 4/5
      I found this really very good. The line about each family being uniquely unhappy is apt, as the extended Forsyte family is not a happy ship. In this book, set at the turn of the 20th century, there is a sense of change. There is the understandable changing of the guard, Old Jolyon has died before the book starts, one sister and James pass on during the book, all having achieved a ripe old age. The middle generation, of which young Jolyon & Soames are the main protagonists, are moving towards being the elders of the family. They are, in a sense stepping into their father's shoes. The younger generation are the ones trying to move out and into the world, rather than simply follow their fathers. I still can't like Soames. His behavior towards Irene and his new wife strikes me as reminiscent of Henry VIII - I must have a son and any lengths will I go to. The way he goes about his divorce of Irene strikes me as being almost vengeful. I accept that at the time adultery was the main way in which a divorce could be sought, however he wants the divorce, but not his name to be associated with the scandal of being the guilty party (despite the fact that he has been taking prostitutes, whereas Irene says she has not been having affairs) feels like he wants his take and to eat it. It feels that he, in fact, precipitates the relationship between Irene & Jolyon that he quotes as evidence in the divorce. I don;t like the way he treats his new wife either. She, similarly to Irene, seems to have signed a pact with her happiness for security. I don't envy her her lot. The younger generation are a mixed bag. Young Dartie and Jolly get to show their teeth to each other, then end up in deeper trouble than anticipated, with not backing down resulting in them heading off to fight a war. That the precipitates the girls to follow suit and nurse them. They feel more impetuous, but that is probably both their age and the age they come of age in, there's a raft of social changes at this time. Overall, this is turning into a really good read. I was intimidated by the size of the task, but the idea of a book a month breaks the saga down into manageable chunks and I look forward to finding out what lies in store for the family in the new century.
    • 3/5
      This is the second book in the Forsyte Saga trilogy and is the weakest of the three books as it mostly deals with Soames stubbornly refusing to believe that his relationship with Irene is irretrievably broken and Irene's growing relationship with young Jolyn. Mostly this book sets the reader up for the third volume where all the interesting things happen.
    • 4/5
      This second installment of The Forsyte Saga didn't quite measure up to the first, The Man of Property, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. It is mainly taken up with the marital difficulties of the second generation; Soames's indecision over whether or not to divorce Irene, who left him twelve years earlier, and Winifred's decision to divorce her alcoholic, spendthrift, philandering husband, Monty D'Arty. In between we have second cousins Holly and Val falling in love and marrying against their parents' wishes, and Irene, Soames, and Young Jolyn each give love a second (well, in the case of Jolly, third) chance. I missed Old Jolyn and the aunts, and old James grumbles towards death with slightly less charm than previously. But alas, times are moving on: Queen Victoria has passed, and the flower of England are fading away in the first world war. Nonetheless, I liked In Chancery well enough to continue with the series.
    • 4/5
      Summary: It's some twelve years since The Man of Property, and all is not well in the Forsyte clan. Although Soames and Irene are still legally married, they haven't seen each other since the death of her lover all of those years ago. Soames is feeling the effect of the years, however, and his father's ailing health has him thinking about his own legacy, and longing for a son of his own. He has his eye set on a pretty young French waitress, so he finally overcomes his fear of having the Forsyte family name splashed across the papers, and begins proceedings to divorce Irene - while similarly encouraging his sister Winifred to divorce her irredeemable rakehell of a husband.Review: While I love a good family saga, and The Forsyte Saga certainly provided that, I thought it didn't quite measure up to The Man of Property in a number of ways. First, I really missed the first-generation Forsytes, both as characters, and as point-of-view characters. I realize that in a multi-generational saga you eventually have to shift from the old generation to the new generation, and several of the old Forsytes are still around, but there's a emphasis on them in the first book that was missing in the second, and the trials and tribulations of the youngest Forsytes just didn't interest me as much.Actually, the missing of the old Forsytes is representative of what I felt was a more general imbalance in the plot and perspective of the story. While Soames is the titular character of The Man of Property, he takes a hugely central role in In Chancery, with all other characters being largely relegated to sub-plot status. Since the bulk of the book is spent with Soames dithering about whether or not to divorce his wife, the plot doesn't move along particularly quickly, either. In the DVD adaptation (which is remarkably well-done), they actually do a much better job of balancing the storylines, and of contrasting Soames's plight with his sister's, which leads to some interesting observations about marriage and fidelity and the relative roles and powers of men vs. women. In the book, however, Winifred's story is concentrated in the early chapters, and then largely ignored for the rest of the story. I did enjoy Galsworthy's writing, and again found it remarkably easy to read. While he's not always particularly subtle about making some of his points about duty and desire and change and the desire for stability and legacy, he certainly is an interesting writer, and the chapter musing on Queen Victoria's funeral and the end of the Victorian era from one who had lived through it was fascinating. I just wish more of Galsworthy's obvious talents with prose had been applied to something other than Soames's internal monologuing. 3.5 out of 5 stars.Recommendation: I was about to suggest that In Chancery is worth reading if you liked the characters from The Man of Property, but since almost everyone in both books is flawed enough to be at least slightly unlikeable, that's not really what I want to say. I suppose if you found the characters from the first book interesting, or if you're eager for the next generation in a multi-generational saga, then In Chancery will certainly provide it. Just be prepared for a lot of Soames.
    • 3/5
      Not as compelling as the first novel. Soames, after many years, decides he must divorce Irene so that he can have an heir. First, however, he makes an ill-fated and pathetic attempt at talking her into resuming her life as his wife. Irene falls into the life of Jolyen Forsyte the Younger, so to speak. Artist and far too perfect man, the two marry and have a far too perfect marriage and a far too perfect son, Jon. The other "in chancery" occurs with Winifred and Darty. Darty is a gambler, womanizer, and general scamp who takes off for Buenos Aires. Winifred serves him divorce papers for failure to fulfill his conjugal duties, and the scamp returns to take up residence with her again. Soames, after the divorce, marries Annette, a pretty young French girl who runs a restaurant with her mother. At one point Soames, thinking about Annette and the fact that he doesn't really trust her love, muses: "What could one expect, a girl . . . and French." Annette marries for money, gives birth to a GIRL after a confinement that could have killed her (Soames risks her life hoping for a male) and then Soames dotes on his new daughter.
    • 4/5
      I'm enjoying the continuation of the saga as the characters become more precise and their personalities better shaped. Galsworthy creates a good balance between social commentary, individuality and plot - the characters are free to evolve: they are not too stereotypical but still embody certain values and philosophies. Looking forward to the third book!