Una habitación con vistas

My argument for reading this book is in quotes like these:

"There is a certain amount of kindness, just as there is a certain amount of light,' he continued in measured tones. 'We cast a shadow on something wherever we stand, and it is no good moving from place to place to save things; because the shadow always follows. Choose a place where you won't do harm, and stand in it for all you are worth, facing the sunshine.”

If for nothing else, even if you don’t read the book, look up some quotes, because you will find little lessons to keep.

When I think of this novel, I inevitably think of violets, and of a roaring river beside an Italian city that I have never been. It’s windswept vistas and the palpable confusion between who we think we are and who we want to be; it’s the color purple and the earthy fragrance of woods after rain. I can see it clearly, because Forster's way with words is truly a window into another space. This book provides a view of places unseen and truths unspoken.

I’m not going to say much about the plot here, as I think what is going on internally is so much more important than the external plot. Loosely, A Room with a View is about Lucy Honeychurch’s life changing trip through Italy, and the ramifications of that trip when she returns home to England. It illustrates the importance of travel, how it can open us up to different views.

"She might be forgetting her Italy, but she was noticing more things in her England."

It has the essence of travel, the yearning to explore and learn, that yearning to explore the world in general. It is a feeling most of us can relate to. DON’T, READ THIS IF YOU DON’T WANT TO HAVE A NAGGING ITCH TO GO TO ITALY.

Forster worked on what he called "The Lucy novel" for over six years, returning to it in between other projects. He was strongly influenced by Jane Austen, and married her romantic novel of manners style with the traditionally male tourist novel. And thus, A Room with a View was born. His focus was on the tension between characters understanding things going on internally and being able to do anything externally with their understanding. A lot of what Forster writes about here, and in his other works, is closely tied to his own view and struggles in life. As Moffat says in the introduction of my edition, "Forster sorted out paths in fiction, and discarded them in life." This is something we can do too if we are wise.

"He has the merit—if it is one—of saying exactly what he means." "It is so difficult—at least, I find it difficult—to understand people who speak the truth.”

The inequity between what we feel and what we say is a major theme, and I feel that it is well done here because Forster struggled with this in his own life. He was a gay man in the wake of the “Wilde trials” and he knew that to be honest with himself would be certain doom. To this end, his novel “Maurice” wasn’t published until after his death, because it focused on a homosexual relationship. With this knowledge, you can read A Room with a View through the same subtext. At its core, the plot is focused on Lucy’s dilemma between two men, one upper class, while the other is lower class. She struggles with her feelings because they are completely against what the society that makes up her worldview believe in. Forster likely suffered similarly with his own feelings. Forster was enamored with this idea of natural disposition versus societal predilection towards rigidity. One of my favorite passages illustrates this:

"Don't go fighting the spring." "War not with the may." "Do you suppose there's any difference in spring in nature and spring in man? But there we go, praising the one and condemning the other as improper, ashamed that the same laws work eternally through both”

Spring here is s a metaphor for the natural change in humans, the evolution we all experiences as we move through the seasons of our life, especially in terms of a seemingly positive change. We are all so excited when the dregs of winter dissipate into the warmth and sun of the spring, yet it is not always celebrated when people emerge from their own personal winters into their spring.

The story is set in the Edwardian era, in the shadow of modernity. It is an interesting setting, in which the older people are set in rigid social constructs, while the young people such as Lucy are beginning to question why these boundaries exist in the first place. Theres a great section where the characters debate this amongst themselves:

"It makes a difference, doesn't it, whether we fence ourselves in, or whether we are fenced out by the barriers of others?” This is a great conversation, still relevant today.

The idea of feminism was becoming popular around this time, and that was another layer to all of this, amidst all the class divide. Lucy is plagued by strange flights of rebellion, feelings pulling her towards places and ideas traditionally withheld from women.

"Why? Why were most big things unladylike? Charlotte had once explained to her why. It was not that ladies were inferior to men; it was that they were different. Their mission was to inspire others to achievement rather than to achieve themselves. Indirectly, by means of tact and a spotless name, a lady could accomplish much. But if she rushed into the fray herself she would be first censured, them despised, and finally ignored. Poems had been written to illustrate this point.”

"There is much that is immortal in this medieval lady. The dragons have gone, and so have the knights, but still she lingers in our midst. She reigned in many an early Victorian castle, and was queen of much early Victorian song. It is sweet to protect her in the intervals of business, sweet to pay her honour when she has cooked our dinner well. But alas! the creature grows degenerate. In her heart also there are springing up strange desires. She too is enamoured of heavy winds, and vast panoramas, and green expanses of the sea. She has marked the kingdom of this world, how full it is of wealth, and beauty, and war—a radiant crust, built around the central fires, spinning towards the receding heavens."

This book while written by a man, so succinctly peels back the layers of what it means to be a woman in this time. Further, he explores what a woman and a man should be to each other. Lucy is grappling with this throughout the novel. Forster describes her as “a rebel who desired, not a wider dwelling room, but equality beside the man she loved." Something so simple, a desire to be seen as equal, is completely groundbreaking in the era Lucy lives.

From the very beginning, there is a focus on the difference between the medieval and the modern way of thinking about socialization. Again, A Room with a View is in this between time, a time where the older generation is fixated on social decorum and rules, while the youth are beginning to challenge these ideas. One of the dearest quotes to my heart is this, from our recently Italy initiated Lucy:

"have you ever noticed that there are people who do things which are most indelicate, and yet at the same time—beautiful?" "She was determined to be gracious to them, beautiful rather than delicate," Remember: delicacy and strict adherence to boundaries does not always endear. beauty is often indelicate and honest.

One of the last and most important lesson Forster leaves us with is this: “Beware of muddle.”

"It isn't possible to love 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.”

It is easy to confuse things, because it can be hard to be truthful. I loved this quote and this is something I’m going to remind my children as they grow up, beware of muddle! Muddle only makes things more tangled than it needs to be.

"We know that we come from the winds, and that we shall return to them; that all life is perhaps a knot, a tangle, a blemish in the eternal smoothness. But why should this make us unhappy? Let us rather love one another, and work and rejoice.”

If you haven’t noticed by now, this is one of those classics that everyone should read. There is so much to learn in these pages, and it is a breeze to read because dramatic tension and comedy interlace the pearls of wisdom. I took the time to pause and underline so many quotes, and transferred them to a document of my favorite quotes, many of which I’ve already included, a few other dear pieces I’ll leave here:

"I cannot help thinking that there is something to admire in everyone, even if you do not approve of them."

"It is so sad when people who have abilities misuse them, and I must say they nearly always do." pg 33 ( a humorous anecdote on Miss Lavish and her author-escapades)

"She had been in his arms, and he remembered it,”

"It was not exactly that a man had died; something had happened to the living: they had come to a situation where character tells, and where Childhood enters upon the branching paths of Youth."

"She contemplated the River Arno, whose roar was suggesting some unexpected melody to her ears."

"For a moment she understood the nature of ghosts"

"And as they frightened her she had, strangely enough, ceased to respect them. They were tried by some new test, and they were found wanting. It might be possible to be nice to her; it was impossible to love her."

"we residents sometimes pity you poor tourists...their one anxiety to get done or through and go on somewhere else.”

on only living in one place, and the importance of travel + immersion "In this circle one thought, married, and died. Outside it were poverty and vulgarity."

"It is fate. Everything is fate. We are flung together by fate, drawn apart by fate—flung together, drawn apart. The twelve winds blow us—we settle nothing—"

“Mistrust all enterprises that require new clothes.”

And perhaps my favorite, and maybe my new mantra: "Life is easy to chronicle, but bewildering to practice."

Yawn, got to Chapter 5 must have been mad to get that far.

A couple of days before I started to read this book I have just read and reviewed E.M. Forster’s The Machine Stops an excellent science fiction short story first published in 1909 which is very well written, clever and prescient. Forster is of course not known for his sci-fi as he wrote only the one story (as far as I know). However, he is known for several classic novels including A Passage to India, Howards End and Where Angels Fear to Tread. All of which have been adapted into films. A Room with a View is his most widely read and popular work. I decided to read it after reading The Machine Stops.

Room is superficially a romance and a comedy of manners, but it is also a social satire a character study and an exploration of the human mind. The protagonist Lucy who has been living a sheltered life meets a seemingly plebeian English father and son while on holiday in Florence with her snooty cousin Charlotte. Initially she shares her cousin’s disdain for those of the lower classes until repeated encounters show her that there is more to these people than meets the eye.

A Room with a View is a pleasant, amusing and thought provoking book. I particularly like the theme of self-denial, people (myself included) often do not admit even to themselves when they like something they imagine will lower their peers’ opinions of them, basically nobody likes to look uncool! Sometime this is justifiable but as this novel shows it can leads to life changing error of judgment. A couple of quotes from this book that deal with this particular theme:

n  “Let yourself go. Pull out from the depths those thoughts that you do not understand, and spread them out in the sunlight and know the meaning of them”

“Passion should believe itself irresistible. It should forget civility and consideration and all the other curses of a refined nature. Above all, it should never ask for leave where there is a right of way.”n

(I always pad up my reviews with quotes when I can’t think what to write!).

The romcom theme of “The course of true love never did run smooth” is prevalent for people who like that sort of thing. For me it is a less interesting aspect of the book due to its commonplaceness. I do tend to get a little frustrated with the heroines of romcoms when they acting out their self-denial. There is also a satire of people who like to act the martyr for the purpose of emotional blackmail which had me chuckling.

The characters are all believable and the central characters are quite complex, probably too complex for their own good. The prose and dialogue, as I expect from [author E.M. Forster], is beautifully written. This is one of his lighter novels and there are amusing scenes and dialogues scattered throughput the book. As I read this in audiobook format it is more difficult to make notes and highlight favorite lines.

Speaking of which, the audiobook is superbly read by Elizabeth Klett who is an American lady but reads all the dialog in a convincing English accent; the narrative parts are read in her natural accent, which makes for an interesting contrast and serves to highlight her skills. (Audiobook download link)

I prefer novels where the stakes are higher than a couple’s relationship so a 4.5 stars rating seem appropriate as a gauge of my appreciation (rounded up to 5 because GR doesn’t allow halves!). Any way, lovely book, time well spent!

“Така става, когато прекалено много свириш Бетовен.”

Англичани в чужбина. Тази комбинация от думи гарантирано предизвиква усмивки. Въпреки че вероятно са най-старите и опитни туристи в света, англичаните търсят Англия където и да отидат. Включително като се събират със сънародници, с които взаимно да си потвърждават предварително приготвените стереотипи за чуждата държава.

Е. М. Фостър използва това, а и много други обстоятелства, за да се посмее над човешките слабости като цяло и на сънародниците си в частност.

Началото на 20 век, пансион във Флоренция. Младата Люси и нейната братовчедка са се оказали в неугледна стая с лош изглед до намесата на странните Емерсън – баща и син, които самоотвержено предлагат да разменят стаята си (с хубав изглед) с тяхната. Завърта се нещо като комедия на нравите с драматична кулминация и облекчаващо приятен финал.

След Италия Фостър ни пренася в мирен и красив свят, един английски Бел епок, провинциално и��иличен, но не лишен от бремето на тромавите социални порядки на едуардианската епоха. Време, което е програмирало една млада жена от средната класа да мисли и говори в синхрон с обществените очаквания. В което капризните правила на общуване налагат отпечатък дори в разговори между близки хора. Разговори, в които присъства всичко, освен искреност. Учтивост, която обижда.

Всъщност, Италия е не само началото, но и сърцевината на тази симпатична история. Фостър добре я използва за целите си – като противопоставя ренесансовата чувственост на Флоренция с английската скованост, той я превръща в нещо повече от красив декор. Човек постига определена самоосъзнатост само след сблъсък с чужд свят и култура, които да подложат на преоценка досегашните му вярвания. За Фостър пътят към Истината е неотделим от пътя към Любовта. Щастието е закономерно състояние на човешкото съществуване, а неискреността най-голям негов враг.

Е. М. Фостър разказва тази семпла история меко и хуманно. Нещо в този лек, танцувален стил ми напомни за Джейн Остин и нейните умели езикови парадокси. И разбира се, факторът “английски характер”.

“Нима намирате разлика межу Пролетта в природата и Пролетта у човека? Но ние възхваляваме едното, а другото заклеймяваме като непристойно, засрамени, че и при двете действа една и съща магия.”

“Животът се обяснява лесно, но се практикува трудно.”

“Тъй трудно е да разбереш хората, които говорят прямо.”

3.5 stars, rounded up to 4

This is the first book that I've just tipped over in love with in a long time.

Having seen the movie Howard's End, and knowing that E.M. Forster wrote in the late 19th/early 20th century, and having watched that episode of The Office where the Finer Things Club discussed this book, I fully expected it to be a dull, dry slog.

But it was not. It was a pleasure.

Lucy Honeychurch learns that the rules of society can--and sometimes should--be broken. She learns that she doesn't have to love a man just because everybody else tells her he's right for her. And she finally follows her own instincts to find happiness.

Some of the best parts:

Upon hearing Lucy playing the piano ("...she loved to play on the side of Victory," Forster writes, though "she struck no more right notes than was suitable for one of her age and situation," the vicar Mr. Beebe says,"If Miss Honeychurch ever takes to live as she plays, it will be very exciting--both for us and for her."

While on vacation in Italy, Lucy and her annoying older cousin/chaperone Charlotte are staying at this place that caters to British tourists. There, they meet the old Mr. Emerson and his son George, who are sort of lower class, or at least other people think they are, when really Mr. Emerson just says what he thinks, which is never appreciated. Several in the group take a road trip out to a famous landscape, and Lucy finds herself alone. She goes looking for the vicar when she falls into a little violet-covered terrace:

"George had turned at the sound of her arrival. For a moment he contemplated her, as one who had fallen out of heaven. He saw radiant joy in her face, he saw the flowers beat against her dress in blue waves. The bushes above them closed. He stepped quickly forward and kissed her."

After this, Charlotte quickly whisks Lucy off to Rome, where she meets Cecil Vyse, who is one of those people who thinks he knows everything and, on top of that, thinks he is very funny. He is not.

Lucy returns home and Cecil follows her and asks her to marry him (for the third time) and she says yes. She's happy for a while, until George and his dad move into town. That leads to this:

"She led the way up to the garden, Cecil following her, George last. She thought a disaster was averted. But when they entered the shrubbery it came. ...Cecil must go back for [a book:]; and George, who loved passionately, must blunder against her in the narrow path.
"No--" she gasped, and, for the second time, was kissed by him.

This next is my favorite part, when George is trying to convince Lucy that Cecil is wrong for her, that Cecil just wants someone to talk the ears off of, with all his stupid "witticisms" and holding forth on various profound subjects that he doesn't know anything about. But Lucy is tired of being talked at, and tells George that he is doing exactly the same thing.

And he says, "This desire to govern a woman--it lies very deep, and men and women must fight it together ... But I do love you--surely in a better way than he does." He thought. "Yes--really in a better way. I want you to have your own thoughts even when I hold you in my arms."

Gah! That is a good line there, a surefire way to talk a woman into anything. But Lucy holds fast--I don't know how she does it--and George goes away.

What follows next is probably the most gracious broken engagement ever recorded, which may be the redemption of Cecil Vyse (who turns out to be sort of interesting, when he's not a giant prat). And then a happy ending that may have been brought about by the person you'd least expect it from.

Obviously, what I've written here is just the surface of the story. There's tons of deeper analytical stuff about the role of women in society, class divisions, Fate vs. God, the probably gay vicar, and how Italy makes everything better.

But you can ignore all that, if you want, and stay in the shallow end of the pool with me ... and my new boyfriend George Emerson.

I'm a sucker for a sweet, kind-hearted, naïve and sheltered heroine. Especially when they slowly learn how to be brave. So this book was perfect for me to read.

Lucy Honeychurch (how's that for a name) is a sheltered young Englishwoman in 1908. She lives with her mother and little brother Freddy. She goes on an exciting travel-abroad trip with her stuffy older cousin. There she meets the Emersons - also English - old Mr. Emerson who is loving and honest to a fault. His outspoken ways are considered vulgar and shocking, but Lucy thinks he's sweet and recognizes his good heart. And his son - George Emerson - a dashing, thoughtful, rather melancholy man who soon turns Lucy's world upside-down.

Why? Because he's handsome? Because he's charming? No. Because he encourages her to think for herself and introduces her to all sorts of crazy ideas about gender equality. I love this type of old-fashioned romance novel where the hero has actual substance and not just a set of six-pack abs.

Lucy slowly, slowly starts to think for herself. She starts to grasp what life is really about - living, people, nature, love - not what she's been trained to think that it's about: gossip, being proper, religion, and society's opinion.

She makes a huge mistake in bowing to societal pressure and getting engaged to the priggish, domineering, bossy, judgmental and pretentious Cecil Vyse. He adores telling her how to think, who to like, who to sneer at (he loves sneering). He's training her to be a pompous a**hole, just like he is.

Luckily for Lucy, George moves into the neighborhood, setting her mind and heart awhirl for a second time.

Will she stay with Cecil? Will she end up with George?

...

I'm always worried going into a classic book. Sometimes I love them (Anna Karenina, Gone with the Wind, Little Women, Watership Down, White Fang) and sometimes there are boring and dreary and a total slog to get through (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Two Years Before the Mast).

I was pleasantly surprised that this book was a joy to read. It's written in a relaxed, easy style that is fun and relatable. I was completely caught up and swept away by Lucy's problems. Cecil was infuriating me to no end. I was yelling at him and cursing him out. Every time George showed up, I'd hold my breath, waiting to see what liberal philosophies he was going to tell Lucy about and get her mind working again.

I felt like Cecil was the most frustrating, anger-inducing character. When an author writes an "evil" character, let's say a rapist or a murderer or a child-abuser or a slaver, it's obvious this person is bad news. You (the reader) hate him, the protagonist hates him, and you only have to worry about what evil he'll wreck on people's lives. "Villains" like Cecil are much more insidious. They don't commit crimes, or physically hurt anyone. Instead, they take great delight in putting other people down in subtle ways, controlling others, and caring only about themselves and their own needs. Cecil doesn't KNOW he's a jerk - he's very insecure about his masculinity and therefore takes out his doubt and frustration by pretending to be the "big man," telling others what to do all the time and expressing contempt for people that he sees as 'beneath him.' He uses Lucy as a prop for his own ego - she is such a sweet, innocent, sheltered woman that he makes the mistake in thinking she's also docile. Having someone like this at his side makes him feel like a big, strong man. Putting others down and making them feel small is also a way he makes himself feel better. But he is proper and has money and good standing in society, so Lucy thinks he must be right in his opinions - and everyone around her encourages her to marry him.

Lucy herself impressed me a lot. I could see that a lot of people would just see her as a sheltered girl who is rather stupid. But I don't. She's being raised in a society where being proper is everything. Women aren't supposed to think, they're supposed to get married and have children. Lucy is someone I admire because even though she's sheltered, she hungers for a world greater than the one she's living in. She doesn't even realize it, but there's a big hole in her life that afternoon tea with gossipy ladies can't fill. Going to Italy and seeing the beauty and different society there starts to open up her eyes - aided by a kiss from George.

After moving back to England, she finds herself again bowing to the constraints and demands of proper English society. She makes a mistake in getting engaged to Cecil. But when George shows up again, the gears in her head start turning again - and she  realizes that Cecil is annoying and tiring to be around. She bravely goes to him and breaks off their engagement. She tells him straight out that his behavior is appalling and she doesn't appreciate him telling her what to do and think. She expresses anger that he looks down at her mother and brother with contempt. I thought she was so brave and strong to be able to do this. I really admired her. In the end, she STILL doesn't want to admit that she loves George, but a heart-to-heart talk with George's father soon straightens her out. She elopes with George but has to accept estrangement from her family and friends for her 'scandalous,' 'improper' behavior.

I love that, not only does she stand up to Cecil, but she stands up to George. He's always putting down Cecil as a man who likes telling her how and what to think - and she calls George on doing the same thing. Touché. He realizes that he himself is trying to bring her around to his way of thinking, and apologizes. Lucy turns into a very brave and outspoken woman, and I really like that she calls "bullshit" not only on the "bad guy" - Cecil - but on the "good guy" George as well.

In fact, the best, most attractive guy to me is old Mr. Emerson - a man who truly seems to understand the world and to understand what is important. He is also honest and has a huge heart. But I can see that George is more attractive and more her age - I'd never expect for her to end up with the old widower. But  she gets the best of both worlds - George as a husband and Mr. Emerson as a father-in-law. I was rather sad that she ends up estranged from her family and friends - they may be a bit silly and shallow, but I feel like Lucy really loved them.

Tl;dr - One of the better classics. I really enjoyed reading it and was completely caught up in the characters and plot.

I won’t be protected. I will choose for myself what is ladylike and right. To shield me is an insult.

Preach sister!

Awakenings abound in this fantastic short novel! I loved reading about Lucy's growing conflicting feelings on society's expectations that women are to be protected and informed on how to behave, and her emerging confidence in her own judgement and desire for self determination. I wasn't wooed by the romance in the book. To me, it was Lucy's journey that was captivating. I also absolutely loved the final reveal about a supposedly ‘dreadful frozen Charlotte’. A book filled with sumptuous writing and wonderful symbolism. A must read.

It isn't possible to love and 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.