A Room with a View/Howards End/Maurice

by E.M. Forster

In common with much of his other writing, this work by the eminent English novelist and essayist E. M. Forster (1879–1970) displays an unusually perceptive view of British society in the early 20th century. A Room with a (1908) brings home the stuffiness of upper-middle-class Edwardian society in a tremendously funny comedy that pairs a well-bred young lady with a lusty railway clerk and satirizes both the clergy and the English notion of respectability. Howards which rivals A Passage to India as Forster’s greatest work, makes a country house in Hertfordshire the center and the symbol for what Lionel Trilling called a class war about who would inherit England. Commerce clashes with culture, greed with gentility. Set in the elegant Edwardian world of Cambridge undergraduate life, this story by a master novelist introduces us to Maurice Hall when he is fourteen. We follow him through public school and Cambridge, and into his father's firm. In a highly structured society, Maurice is a conventional young man in almost every way―except that his is homosexual. Written during 1913 and 1914, immediately after Howards End, and not published until 1971, Maurice was ahead of its time in its theme and in its affirmation that love between men can be happy. "Happiness," Forster wrote, "is its keynote.... In Maurice I tried to create a character who was completely unlike myself or what I supposed myself to someone handsome, healthy, bodily attractive, mentally torpid, not a bad businessman and rather a snob. Into this mixture I dropped an ingredient that puzzles him, wakes him up, torments him and finally saves him."

Genres: Fiction, Classics, Literature, Historical Fiction, Romance

255 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1971

About the author

Edward Morgan Forster, generally published as E.M. Forster, was an novelist, essayist, and short story writer. He is known best for his ironic and well-plotted novels examining class difference and hypocrisy in early 20th-century British society. His humanistic impulse toward understanding and sympathy may be aptly summed up in the epigraph to his 1910 novel Howards End: "Only connect".

He had five novels published in his lifetime, achieving his greatest success with A Passage to India (1924) which takes as its subject the relationship between East and West, seen through the lens of India in the later days of the British Raj.

Forster's views as a secular humanist are at the heart of his work, which often depicts the pursuit of personal connections in spite of the restrictions of contemporary society. He is noted for his use of symbolism as a technique in his novels, and he has been criticised for his attachment to mysticism. His other works include Where Angels Fear to Tread (1905), The Longest Journey (1907), A Room with a View (1908) and Maurice (1971), his posthumously published novel which tells of the coming of age of an explicitly gay male character.

Reviews

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

All three of these novels are wonderful. But I think I liked Maurice the best.

[Sophie Carbone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Room with a View:
This was absolutely delightful! Even if I couldn’t get behind the romance in this... the writing was hilarious and the characters were just as funny and delightful as well. There is a part of me that is hoping that with how funny the book is I am missing the commentary and satire here and that she really wasn’t meant to end up with either, but there is a part of me that also isn’t sure at all.... really didn’t like either of the love interests for Lucy... so the ending did sorely disappoint me, but the rest was very fun!

[Anne Charlton · Rating 3 out of 5]

E. M. Forster has written several novels that have become classics. This one, like his others, is about class distinctions....and individuals. Lucy and her aunt are upper class women touring Italy. There they meet two men who are polite, but sullen and critical. The men stay with them, and even return to England when they do. Lucy begins to see the shallowness of her fiance, and follows her mixed feelings for the new man. It is set back in the 1800s, good view of English society.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed A Room With A View, since it's been years since I viewed the Merchant Ivory film adaptation. I want to re-read this again later. Howard's End is a re-read this time, which I chose to companion the book with the audio version. I read it again to prepare for reading "On Beauty" by Zadie Smith. Maurice is the icing on the cake for this book. It's a sensitive and engaging story that is truly a love letter to those who can appreciate it.

[Marcos · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Room with a View *****/5

[Lucy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Room with a View, reread, best reading experience I've had with it.

[Rebecca Alger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Classic

[Cynthia Lowell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Listened to the audiobook version of this comedy about relationships and how prim and proper can be mistaken .

[Cecily Winter · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a droll read about the gender wars and romance of the early 20th century. Very entertaining, although men do seem to hog the narrative.

[Christopher Corrado]

A Room With A View - 3.5 stars

Howard’s End - 3 stars

Maurice - 4 stars

[Stephen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read Room With A View. Will read Howard's End and Maurice later.
Read Howards End. It certainly reveals how upper Middle Class people lived at the turn of the century.

[Michele Brack · Rating 3 out of 5]

#35 A book set in a hotel

I know I saw the movie for this book many years ago when I was going through a Helena Bonham-Carter phase. Don't ask, I have no idea.

This is one of those books that I am glad that I read, but will probably never call it one of my favorites. There are just certain aspects of the book that I just don't find all that entertaining. Something about the uptight and proper way a lady is supposed to act just grates on my nerves. And even in rebellion, these woman (girls really) are so snotty and unbending. Were women really like that? I can't even imagine.

This book really didn't have a plot that I would sink my teeth into. Mainly because that plot was subdued under frivolity and the insistence of nothing being proper or good enough for anyone anywhere ever. There was something wrong with every little thing so that any enjoyment of a thing had to be kept hidden in shame. I just don't get that.

Then again, I also don't really believe in those love stories where the two people only meet once and never talk to each other. Call me a cynic.

[Tinquerbelle]

1) A Room with a View
2) Howard's End
3) Maurice