I've always been drawn to love stories where, when someone finds a soul mate, that person knows them inside and out, and loves them inside and out, with just the barest of interactions to go on. Such is the case with George and Lucy in this book. All it takes are a few stilted conversations, a harrowing encounter in Florence and a kiss in a Tuscan meadow--and he knows he loves her and is willing to bare his heart to her and help her find her true self through both actions and words. He fears no embarrassment and never doubts that she loves him too, even when she flat out denies any feeling for him. Who among us wouldn't swoon for someone like George?

In the real world, at least in my experience, the truth of love is more complicated. People can't read you that easily--or if they can, such clarity is impeded by the fact that we all doubt ourselves so much, and second guess ourselves so much, that both the one who needs to be brave and the one who needs someone to brave on their behalf dare not speak or act. Edwardian England was a strait-laced society. But we are equally bound today by our desire not to upset anyone or rock anyone's vision of themselves. So maybe a love as spontaneous and simple and true as George's for Lucy is still possible--and maybe it's also possible that a modern Lucy, willing herself NOT to feel as she does because she doesn't wish it, could still see the light. But I kind of doubt it. Someone who spoke as directly as Mr. Emerson, George's father, does to Lucy at the end could easily be branded as a creep. I know I would make that judgment. It's hard for me to imagine a circumstance where I wouldn't.

All the more reason to read and enjoy this romantic book. It has made me think about the restraints I once laid on myself when I was younger, the concerns I had for what others thought. I wonder how many of them are still there. I wonder to what extent they still hold me back from inappropriate actions, and what "inappropiate" really means.

After trying to read two new novels and giving up after about 30 pages, I went back to my comfort zone. The plot is fairly simple. The heroine, Miss Lucy Honeychurch, heads to Italy on the grand tour and is kissed by George Emerson. The episode is embarrassing to Lucy and she and her chaperone move from Florence to Rome after the incident. She then becomes engaged to a wealthy and respectable but snobbish man named Cecil Vyse. George warns Lucy that the marriage will never work and George’s father convinces Lucy that she was meant to be married to George. A very well written book. I can’t wait to view (again) the movie version of the book with Helena Bonham Carter, Maggie Smith, Daniel Day-Lewis and Judi Dench.

I find Forster to be an interesting individual who likes to view his fellow human beings as they are with all their flaws and foibles. Although very different stories each portrays young women coming into their own and the adults around them who help that process, as well as, hinder it.

Written in a different time frame for most of us, these two stories can be difficult at first to understand the culture of the characters. Yet, with each page we see the characters striving with life, decisions and those that inhabit those spaces. They are much like those of us living in this century.

i tried to read this book several years ago, and just couldnt get into it. i decided to give it another try...after all, i hadnt seen the movie yet, and thought it would be fun to read the book first.
Well, im glad i stuck with it...once again, it started out really slow for me, but then it really picked up and i found i couldnt put the book down. Its hard to imagine living as they did then...the way women were treated, the pompous high society folk, the prudish ways...so it was fun to see Lucy's behavior in all of it. Im glad i gave this book another try :)

Loved this books!

Ch. XVII: “You must excuse me if I say stupid things, but my brain has gone to pieces. Part of it lives three minutes back, when I was sure that you loved me, and the other part - I find it difficult - I am likely to say the wrong thing.”

Ch. XIX: “He is already part of you. Though you fly to Greece, and never see him again, or forget his very name, George will work in your thoughts till you die. It isn’t possible to live and to part. You will wish that it was. You can transmute love, ignore it, muddle it, but you can never pull it out of you. I know by experience that the poets are right: love is eternal.”

This is really a rating for Howard's End, as I only got the book to read it. Forster has a great understanding of how people think and also shows us the limitation of the people of the time. He makes England sound so beautiful and yet it's also a nostalgic looking backward at a time when there was more beautiful countryside ... and far more crushing poverty. A truly enjoyable read and a rich, rich book. It has made me sad, though, because it's so completely aware of how transient our lives are and how frequently we just fail to be kind and loving to each other, and what a tragedy this is. We may not all manage to be great, but can we at least manage to be kind?

Every time I read this book I LOVE it!

As usual with some of these classi I had trouble sorting out the characters. The book was rather slow for the first 2/3's, but then it picked up and at long last, I couldn't put it down. Story of British society at time when a woman's profession was to marry, and to marry well - for the security it would give you. The heroine wrestles with the societal norms of the day and what she can somewhat, but not wholly perceive in herself.

On my trip I re-read A Room with a View, which I first read years ago. I still really enjoyed it, though the novel becomes weak toward the end in a way that the movie improves upon. In the early stages of the novel it is so funny that I found myself often laughing out loud, even in public settings.

Room with a View is still one of my all time favorites

If you've only ever seen the film adapted, very faithfully, from the novella A Room With a View, I strongly suggest you read the novella and savor the words that inspired the modern movie classic. From the written text, you gain insight into the thoughts of the characters, and you can appreciate the sardonic point of view of Mr. Forster.

Read the full and illustrated review at Italophile Book Reviews
http://italophilebookreviews.blogspot...