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birdienl
I know it's not really the done thing, first watching (and reviewing) the tv-adaptation and thén reading the novel which was source material. But, with Parade's End, it was this year's adaptation which pointed me to the existence of this classic novel.
Or actually set of novels, because Parade's End is a combination of four novels originally published seperately: Some do not... (1924), No more parades (1925), A man could stand up (1926) and Last Post (1928). The main character of these novels is Christopher Tietjens, a man born in the wrong century. As a younger son from Yorkshire landed gentry, he holds fast to 18th century morals, while the world around him is changing at lightning speed. He gets tricked into marrying the stunning, but mean socialite Sylvia Satterswaithe, who's unborn child might or might not be his. Through friends, Christopher meets and falls for the young suffragette Valentine Wannop. In the mean time, war is looming on the horizon.
Parade's End is a long novel. Not merely because the four novels combined count over 900 pages, but also because in the novels we follow Christopher's life for a period of almost 10 years, making the novel feel long. It also took me over a month to finish the novel. I'm used to reading hefty tomes of books, so I can't really point my finger at why it took me so long to finish Parade's End. It might have something to do with the style of the book though. Written in a modernist style, the book has a interesting approach to narration. The main action of the four books usually takes place during one or a few days or even moments, but the mind of the narrating character wanders far and wide recounting incidents which have happened and his or her thoughts about this. Because of this, you need to be really focused when reading Parade's End not to loose the thread of the story. Especially while reading Some do not..., the first novel, I was glad I had already seen the adaptation, otherwise I would have been sorely puzzled!
The modernist style is not only negative though! There is a lot of beauty in the use of words, the descriptions and the dialogs of Parade's End. I was especially charmed by the use of heavily contrasting descriptions to show Christopher and Sylvia's view of the world and the way the titles of the seperate books were woven into the narrative and popped up ever so often. Though I must say I've never read a book with quite so many sentences ending in....
In my review of the BBC adaptation, I wrote that I was surprised how little of the story actually dealt with the war, while I had heard it named 'the finest novel about WWI'. The novel however, especially the parts No more parades and A man could stand up, features the war heavily. There is not an ounce of sentiment about WWI in this novel, detailing the events of life in the trenches or waiting behind the line in every horrific detail. One of the main subjects is the confusion and chaos of the war, seen through the eyes of Christopher preparing regiments to get ready for the trenches. In one segment, covering multiple days, Christopher's regiment is called for and sent back multiple times, because of problems with not-signed papers, railway transport or stocks. It is a strange mixture of funny and sad to see how the unwieldy higher levels of the army determined the faith of so many soldiers.
Another thing which arrested my attention was the portrayal of Sylvia Tietjens. In the adaptation, you could almost root for Sylvia and hope she and Christopher would resolve their marital troubles. Reading the book, I never had this feeling. Sylvia was, from beginning to end, a manipulating and vicious woman. A complex character, yes, but never one I felt sorry for.
The recent adaptation of Parade's End ended where the novel A man could stand up... ended. Though some of the incidents from Last Post were woven into the adaptation, the main story of this part of Parade's End was not adapted. There has been a lot of criticism on Last Post, from the moment it was written. Some critics even went as far as to call it a 'mistake' and said it should never have been written. I will admit that Last Post was quite different from the other three parts of Parade's End. Christopher does not appear for the main part of the narrative, which is told through the eyes of people close to him. Last Post gives a better sense of ending to the central love triangle of Christopher, Sylvia and Valentine then A man could stand up... does and it also shows us where the development of Christopher's character has led him after the war. Therefore, I will definitely not say it should not have been written, I found it, however, the weakest part of Parade's End.
I would recommend Parade's End to everyone who has enjoyed the adaptation or who wants to read a modern classic. I warn you, it will not be an easy read, but in the end you will have gotten to know some intriguing characters very well and been given a close look into WWI and the changes in society surrounding that war. It will have been worth your time and effort!
