“Projection of the House” from The Forsyte Saga, John Galsworthy (1906-1922)
About this episode
This episode explores the themes and adaptations of John Galsworthy's 'The Forsyte Saga'.
“The notion of being the one member of his family with a country house weighed but little with him; for to a true Forsyte, sentiment, even the sentiment of social position, was a luxury only to be indulged in after his appetite for more material pleasure had been satisfied.” What is in a name? Well, if the name is Forsyte, very much indeed. The Forsytes, a fictional upper-middle-class family in Victorian London created by writer John Galsworthy in 1906, have been the subject of nearly a dozen radio and screen adaptations, starting with a silent film released in 1920, numerous television series, and, most recently, with a PBS Masterpiece series just released in the US in March of this year. Having watched a version of the tale from 2002 starring Damian Lewis and Gina McKee—a masterpiece in subtlety, patience, and gaze—I was keen to tune in to the newest version and did so, giving it the full benefit of a welcome reception. It had been many years between the two, and much of my time in the first episode was spent recalling to mind memories of the Lewis version; this new iteration seemed so very different that I assumed I must be misremembering. (Three episodes in, as I was fully…
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