John Galsworthy was born in Kingston Upon Thames in Surrey, on August 14th 1867. The family was wealthy and well established. John was schooled at Harrow and New College, Oxford before training as a barrister. But law was not for him.Galsworthy first published in 1897 with a collection of short stories entitled “The Four Winds”. Initially he published as 'John Sinjohn' but after the death of his father in 1904 he published as John Galsworthy.Much of his early work was as Plays for which he dealt with social issues and the class system. From there it was but a short step to the works for which he won the Nobel Prize and for which he is so well remembered; The Forsythe Sage trilogy.Although sympathetic to his characters, he reveals their insular, snobbish, and somewhat greedy attitudes and suffocating moral codes. In his writings he campaigns for prison reform, women's rights, animal welfare, and the opposition of censorship as well as a recurring theme of an unhappy marriage from the women’s side.John Galsworthy died from a brain tumour at his London home, Grove Lodge, Hampstead on January 31st 1933. In accordance with his will he was cremated at Woking with his ashes then being scattered over the South Downs from an aeroplane.
John Galsworthy was born in Kingston Upon Thames in Surrey, on August 14th 1867. The family was wealthy and well established. John was schooled at Harrow and New College, Oxford before training as a barrister. But law was not for him.Galsworthy first published in 1897 with a collection of short stories entitled “The Four Winds”. Initially he published as 'John Sinjohn' but after the death of his father in 1904 he published as John Galsworthy.Much of his early work was as Plays for which he dealt with social issues and the class system. From there it was but a short step to the works for which he won the Nobel Prize and for which he is so well remembered; The Forsythe Sage trilogy.Although sympathetic to his characters, he reveals their insular, snobbish, and somewhat greedy attitudes and suffocating moral codes. In his writings he campaigns for prison reform, women's rights, animal welfare, and the opposition of censorship as well as a recurring theme of an unhappy marriage from the women’s side.John Galsworthy died from a brain tumour at his London home, Grove Lodge, Hampstead on January 31st 1933. In accordance with his will he was cremated at Woking with his ashes then being scattered over the South Downs from an aeroplane.
John Galsworthy was born in Kingston Upon Thames in Surrey, on August 14th 1867. The family was wealthy and well established. John was schooled at Harrow and New College, Oxford before training as a barrister. But law was not for him.Galsworthy first published in 1897 with a collection of short stories entitled “The Four Winds”. Initially he published as 'John Sinjohn' but after the death of his father in 1904 he published as John Galsworthy.Much of his early work was as Plays for which he dealt with social issues and the class system. From there it was but a short step to the works for which he won the Nobel Prize and for which he is so well remembered; The Forsythe Sage trilogy.Although sympathetic to his characters, he reveals their insular, snobbish, and somewhat greedy attitudes and suffocating moral codes. In his writings he campaigns for prison reform, women's rights, animal welfare, and the opposition of censorship as well as a recurring theme of an unhappy marriage from the women’s side.John Galsworthy died from a brain tumour at his London home, Grove Lodge, Hampstead on January 31st 1933. In accordance with his will he was cremated at Woking with his ashes then being scattered over the South Downs from an aeroplane.
The Man of Property begins as a crushing satire on the narrow-minded lawyers, merchants and bankers who made up John Galsworthy's claustrophobic, upper-middle-class world. All that is worst in this acquisitive, soulless breed is personified by Soames Forsyte. Yet far from condemning Soames, Galsworthy goes deep into his psyche; instead of despising this anti-hero, the reader comes to understand and even pity him. It is the power of Galsworthy's characterization that makes the novel so much more than a drawing-room drama.
Joseph Millson and Jessica Raine star in a brand new BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation continuing John Galsworthy's saga of the Forsyte family spanning 50 years. Galsworthy's novels The Silver Spoon and Swan Song, dramatized here in 7 episodes, continue to follow Fleur Forsyte, as she falls in love with Jon, and later, escaping heartbreak, marries Michael Mont and embraces all society has to offer.
Joseph Millson and Jessica Raine star in a brand new BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation of the books in John Galsworthy's saga of the Forsyte family spanning 50 years.The books To Let and The White Monkey, follow the fortunes of Fleur Forsyte, played by Jessica Raine, the young wealthy daughter of Soames. As she embraces all the experiences of the early 1920s, an archetypal Bright Young Thing, Soames, cautious of the modern, attempts to protect his daughter from the dangers of the new age.
8 episodes based on the last volume of John Galsworthy's saga, including the novels Maid in Waiting, Flowering Wilderness and One More River.
The saga moves to Oxfordshire, where the Cherrell family is introduced and Dinny Cherrell, cousin to Fleur and Michael, is full of excitement at the life ahead of her. As the years unfold, however, she is struck by love, then tragedy, and shock as figures from the past return unexpectedly.
Joseph Millson and Jessica Raine star in a brand new BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation of the first two books in John Galsworthy's saga of the Forsyte family spanning 50 years.
These 8 episodes dramatise the events of Galsworthy's first two novels in the saga; The Man of Property and In Chancery as well as the interlude Indian Summer of a Forsyte.
In this, powerful and wealthy lawyer Soames Forsyte begins to question his relationship with his beautiful wife Irene. As evidence of her betrayal starts to emerge, the family is torn apart and scandal unleashed.
“So many people have written and claimed that their families were the original of the Forsytes,” wrote Galsworthy, “that one has almost been encouraged to believe in the typicality of an imagine species.” It is the Spring of 1920, 34 years on from the beginning of the Saga. “ Young Jolyon” is married to Irene after her divorce from Soames, and they now have a son, Jon. Soames has re-married and has a daughter, Fleur. A new generation of Forsytes comes of age and the Saga continues.
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.
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.
