It's hard for me to believe this is considered a romance novel. It seemed like most of the time there were at least half a dozen people guarding Lucy's virtue. I don't understand how an author can take a character from one extreme to the next.
Up until the last chapter it was about Lucy Honeychurch asserting her independence as a young lady. She didn't seem at all interested in finding romance. She just wanted independence from her family. Lucy's character was flaky. She becomes engaged to Cecil, but then realizes he's extremely pompous and is only interested in showing off his knowledge for the arts. Then we have George's father, who insists Lucy marry his son because all women should be married, and all this anti-feminist mumbo-jumbo. I think she finally marries George's son to escape her less than sane relatives. This novel was anything but romantic. In fact, it's one of the worst romance novels I've ever read. The back cover is very misleading. When you read the synopsis for the book you feel like you're about to read another amazing novel like Jane Eyre or Wuthering Heights, but it's far from it on every aspect imaginable. I was tempted to give it only one star, but the prose was decent enough.

Una habitación con vistas encapsula un momento inicial que será la base sobre la que se asiente toda la trama.

En una pensión en Florencia Italia, están en una mesa conjunta los huéspedes en su mayoría ingleses, una joven plática con su prima solterona, enojadas porque se les prometió una habitación que incluía vistas maravillosas y la que realmente obtuvieron no tiene ni ventanas, un anciano que oye su plática se ofrece a cambiar las habitaciones de él y su hijo con ellas, la prima molesta se voltea ante tal impertinencia y rechaza la propuesta.

En esta escena se muestra en todo su esplendor la naturaleza inglesa que imperaba, hablarle a alguien que no conocías era una impertinencia, casi un insulto, sobre todo para unas mujeres que viven en la campiña, en una comunidad cerrada y siendo la primera vez que visitan el extranjero.

El anciano ve la vida desde otro punto de vista.

“Sabemos que procedemos del viento y que a él volveremos, que la vida es un problema, una confusión, una imperfección de la eterna placidez. Pero ¿por qué esto debe hacemos desgraciados? Amémonos los unos a los otros, trabajemos y disfrutemos.”


Lucy, la protagonista encarna a esta joven dócil, plegada a las convenciones sociales, sin una opinión propia, moldeada por una madre y un entorno sin miras más allá de un buen matrimonio con una persona conveniente, pero hay una rendija es esta personalidad que Lucy despliega ante los demás, esa rendija deja salir un fulgor de luz rebelde cuando ella toca el piano, ahí se puede vislumbrar a otra Lucy.

Florencia y la rendija son amigas que se conjugan para fraguar pocos pero intensos eventos que marcan a Lucy, las dos tienen en común a George, el hijo del anciano catalogado como impresentable.

El regreso a la vida apacible trae consigo la confortable seguridad de la casa familiar, el matrimonio convenido y un futuro perfecto, todo esto se intensifica a través de la figura de la prima, una mujer de mediana edad que encarna la férrea determinación de resguardar una forma de vida aún cuando sea a costa de un concepto tan subjetivo e inútil como el de la felicidad.

Uno de los aciertos es desarrollar en Lucy a un personaje tan complejo que aunque se rebela en algún punto, esa rebeldía solo le alcanza para quedar a medio camino, ante sus decisiones basadas en su poco conocimiento de la vida y de sus propios sentimientos, logra zafarse pero no del todo, trasmutando su convencional destino a uno fatídico, y en ese impase cuando parece que todo esto decidido, una ayuda externa la arrastra literalmente a buscar la felicidad aún en contra de su voluntad, lo cual nos muestra lo difícil que es a veces romper con un mundo cierto, y también los sinsabores que traerá consigo, pues el mundo que nos cobijaba nos dará la espalda.

Una historia que está llena de sutilezas, represiones, deseos profundamente escondidos pero sobre todo de esperanzas fundadas en la juventud como agentes de cambio en un mundo que se niega a cambiar.

25th book of 2022

A Room with a View has to be one of my favorite E. M. Forster novels. His writing is elegant and polished, nothing feels out of place or rushed. I find his characters to have such fantastic weight to them, they are well developed and full, and they read like real people. 5 stars.

What a charming and delightful story! It felt like a perfect interlude after some of the other books I have been reading.

This story takes place at the beginning of the twentieth century and for the first half, it takes place in Florence. We found ourselves in a pension with a bunch of stuffy English people. Lucy is young (not stuffy) and is on her first trip to the continent. Her cousin, Charlotte, is her chaperone. Lucy is a sweet, naive young lady whom we all want to see make the right decision when it comes to who she loves. Her cousin, Charlotte, is so annoying, I wanted to push her into the Arno! At the pension, there is a father and son- the Emersons- who do not seem to fit in, but yet they are so kind to Lucy and even Charlotte. Forster so wonderfully depicts the snobbishness, the rules a young lady must conform with, and on top of that beautifully describes Florence so it comes alive on the page.

Do you remember a book you read that if you think about it, you can easily conjure it up? This is that book! I’ll never forget the moment in the field, the moment when Lucy finally understands and the room with a view.

Outstanding read! My first book by E.M. Forster, but definitely not my last.
Many thanks to Mark Porton, who insisted I hurry up and read this one. Glad I listened to him.

Update: Feb 20/ 2025. I just reread this book for the second time and it was even better than the first. I absolutely love this book!

Published: 1908

“The garden of Windy Corner was deserted except for a red book, which lay sunning itself upon the gravel path… The sun rose higher on its journey, guided, not by Phaethon, but by Apollo, competent, unswerving, divine. Its rays fell on the ladies whenever they advanced towards the bedroom windows; on Mr. Beebe down at Summer Street as he smiled over a letter from Miss Catharine Alan; on George Emerson cleaning his father’s boots; and lastly, to complete the catalogue of memorable things, on the red book mentioned previously. The ladies move, Mr. Beebe moves, George moves, and movement may engender shadow. But this book lies motionless, to be caressed all the morning by the sun and to raise its covers slightly, as though acknowledging the caress.” pg 166

A Room with a View by E.M. Forster is a historical comedy, coming-of-age story, following Lucy Honeychurch, as she visits Florence, Italy, accompanied by her spinster cousin, Charlotte Bartlett, who serves as her chaperone. Lucy is charming and witty, yet naive, set on having the ultimate tourist experience in Italy, including every tourist's dream, a room with a view. Throughout their time in Florence, Lucy interacts with various comical characters, one of whom is George Emerson, whom she ends up fainting in the arms of after witnessing a murder in a piazza during the trip. They are smitten with one another from that moment on, and they even share a kiss before she heads back to her home in Surrey, England. However, upon her return to England, Cecil Vyse, a snobby man from the same social class as Lucy, asks for her hand in marriage, and after having refused him multiple times before, she agrees. She is now faced with the decision to marry Cecil, a suitor who is socially respectable, yet does not see her, or any women, as a person of their own, or to follow her heart back to George, a socially unsuitable, but passionate lover.

“What is surprising, in fact, is how little tourism has changed over the past hundred years, once it made the leap from a privileged activity to a mass pursuit. Dean MacCannell, in his classic study of tourism, suggests a neat sociological evolution of travel: “What begins as the proper activity of the hero (Alexander the Great) develops into the goal of a socially organized group (the Crusaders), into the mark of status of an entire social class (the Grand Tour of the British ‘gentleman’), eventually becoming universal experience (the tourist)” pg 12

The topic of tourism is very common throughout the novel, as Lucy is of a higher social class where tourism was flourishing at the beginning of the 20th Century when this book takes place. This was really fun for me to read since I was traveling through Italy when I started reading this book. I really enjoyed reading and comparing the similarities of tourism then, to how it has continued to evolve today. The setting was beautiful, and enhanced by Forster’s descriptive and intriguing writing, he truly embodied the enchanting atmosphere of Tuscany within each descriptive paragraph of Lucy’s surroundings.

“It was pleasant to wake up in Florence, to open the eyes upon a bright bare room, with a floor of red tiles which look clean though they are not; with a painted ceiling whereon pink griffins and blue amorini sport in a forest of yellow violins and bassoons. It was pleasant, too, to fling wide the windows, pinching the fingers in unfamiliar fastenings, to lean out into sunshine with beautiful hills and trees and marble churches opposite, and close below, the Arno, gurgling against the embankment of the road.” pg 38

Lucy Honeychuch was a great main character, her curiosity paired with her quick wit made her really enjoyable to read, especially in interacting with the dynamic cast of side characters. I have read some criticism of her being unable to think for herself, which is echoed in this quote, “This solitude oppressed her; she was accustomed to have her thoughts confirmed by others or, at all events, contradicted; it was too dreadful not to know whether she was thinking right or wrong.” (pg 69), however, she is a young woman finding her way in the world. I personally think it would be unrealistic to assume she should be 100% sure of who she is and each one of her actions at such a young age because even nowadays that is not the case. It is a coming-of-age novel, and finding her voice, even with the help of others, throughout the story truly embodies that. Furthermore, she was incredibly relatable to me, especially in this quote after she witnessed the murder in a piazza in Florence, “The dreadful catastrophe of the previous day had given her an idea which she thought would work up into a book.” (pg 70). Her character development was evident throughout the novel as well, with traveling opening her eyes to the differences in social class, and culture throughout the world, prompting her to make changes to her own life and way of thinking once she returned to England, which to this day is often the case for people if they are in the fortunate position to travel. However, I would argue that this is also accessible in a different way nowadays, through social media, where we are able to see, interact, and learn from people all over the world, and of different backgrounds and experiences. Visiting Italy also left Lucy with a little bit of a travel bug, which was oh-so relatable.

“Life, so far as she troubled to conceive it, was a circle of rich, pleasant people, with identical interests and identical foes. In this circle, one thought, married and died. Outside it were poverty and vulgarity for ever trying to enter, just as the London fog tries to enter the pine-woods pouring through the gaps in the northern hills. But, in Italy, where any one who chooses may warm himself in equality, as in the sun, this conception of life vanished. Her senses expanded; she felt that there was no one whom she might not get to like, that social barriers were irremovable, doubtless, but not particularly high. You jump over them just as you jump into a peasant’s olive-yard in the Apennines, and he is glad to see you. She returned with new eyes.” pg 130

Overall, I really enjoyed A Room with a View by E.M. Forster. I don’t read classics often and sometimes find them hard to get into and through, so I was pleasantly surprised by how accessible this was while still feeling like a true classic with beautiful writing. I will be watching the movie for sure, it is a bit old, but I am excited because Lucy Honeychurch is played by Helena Bonham Carter, and Charlotte Bartlett is played by Maggie Smith! I am also very intrigued to read more of Forster’s work, especially Maurice, which follows two men of differing social classes who fall in love. If you’re a fan of classics, social comedies, or British Literature, definitely add A Room with a View to your to-read list!

She recalled the free, pleasant life of her home, where she was allowed to do everything, and where nothing ever happened to her. The road up through the pine-woods, the clean drawing-room, the view over the Sussex Weald—all hung before her bright and distinct, but pathetic as the pictures in a gallery to which, after much experience, a traveller returns.

Oh, to become a new person in the hills of Florence, in the burning blue of wavering violets, in the setting sun of what once was.

I had every intention of loving A Room with a View, and I did like it, but something always held me back from falling in love. I’m not fully knowledgeable about Victorian social mores, so some of the humor didn’t always land for me; I believe that is the main connection I failed to make.

Besides a humorous deconstruction of nonsensical social etiquette, we have a delightful tale of lost innocence and a widening of a young woman’s world-view. Got to love that.

It was Phaethon who drove them to Fiesole that memorable day, a youth all irresponsibility and fire, recklessly urging his master's horse up the stony hill.




Fiesole, in the hills northeast of Firenze 9/2/2007


I read this lovely little novel about three months after taking the picture above. I was so thrilled that I had actually been in Florence, where a part of the story takes place. The "main event" of the Florence episode occurs when the English ladies take a chaperoned carriage ride into the hills near Fiesole.

Don't dismiss this "romantic comedy". As noted in Wiki, Modern Library has ranked the book on its list of the 100 greatest English-language novels of the 20th century. And the "comedy" aspect is not a laugh-out-loud variety, rather a gentle, mildly mocking satire of manners. It could probably be compared to some of Jane Austen's novels - not as great a work as Pride and Prejudice, but in a similar vein.

A few months after reading it I saw the 2007 ITV1 adaptation of the story on PBS. This tacked on a very poignant, and different, ending to the novel, I thought very well done. This is available on Netflix (DVD)

4,5 ⭐

A pesar de no ser el título que más me atraía del autor (si por mí fuera, hubiera empezado por 'Howard’s End'), la novela terminó por conquistarme y sorprenderme. Y es que diría que la mayor virtud de esta novela es que, pese a tener más de 100 años, podría pasar perfectamente por un libro actual ambientado en la época eduardiana, por lo certero de sus críticas a la sociedad. Me resultó muy agradable y hasta cierto punto reconfortante porque tiene mucho del encanto y el desenfado de las comedias románticas pero sin dejar de lado esa parte más reivindicativa del autor.
Eso sí, leer a Forster tiene más complicación de lo que en un primer momento parece por el uso constante del simbolismo y porque todo, absolutamente todo, está muy pensado, muy medido. Quizá demasiado. Eso provoca en el lector una falsa sensación de 'in medias res', como de estar perdiéndose algo importante, ya que tanto los personajes como sus reacciones tienen una profundidad poco vista desde el mismísimo arranque de la novela.
Es un autor al que hay que leer con atención, ritmo pausado y sobre todo, aprendiendo a leer entre líneas, porque acostumbrarse a esa manera de narrar requiere algo de tiempo... motivo por el cual la novela mejora a medida que avanza.
Seguiré sin duda con su obra porque me despierta mucha curiosidad.

RESEÑA COMPLETA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vm-U0...

Originally posted on A Frolic Through Fiction

n  Update: review bumped up from 4.5 stars to the full 5 stars!n

You know when you love a book but can’t even explain why?

THAT.

End of review.

No, I’m joking of course.

Although I really am going to have a hard time explaining what it is about this book that stole my heart so easily.

Because right from the first few pages I was in love. But it’s not even like anything really happens in the book. Like a lot of classics, the littlest thing is a massive drama of deceit, betrayal and humiliation in society. Meaning compared to the books/movies/TV shows/stories/news we hear of…well, they’re pretty uneventful.

But somehow, I adored this book. It honestly made my heart sing. Whether it was because I was suddenly in the mood for it, or because this is the sort of classic I like to read, or if it was just E.M Forster’s writing…but something just clicked in exactly the right place for me.

A lot of it was just the general atmosphere of the book. It made me feel like Lucy, wanting to travel to Italy and learn everything she can while there. It gave almost a whimsical glaze over the idea of travelling and discovering new things, and really hit that sense of wanderlust in me. Especially when the surroundings were described so beautifully. I’m telling you: this book is responsible for my future trip to Italy.

But it’s not just Italy. Even the little countryside style town Lucy lives in made me want to go rambling around amongst fields and woodland. I don’t know. I just wholeheartedly wanted to live inside this book. Everything about it was so lovely.

That’s exactly the word I’d choose for this book – n  lovely. n

It’s quaint. Charming. Picturesque. And just outright LOVELY.

The characters were all quite quirky too. There were certainly a fair few that annoyed the hell out of me. But just like Lucy – and most classic characters really – I learned to grin and bare them. Put up a front of civilities. It really did feel like I was inside this book, alongside Lucy Honeychurch. Everything was so genuine to the time, I loved it.

Anyway, I feel like this review is becoming more nonsensical as I write. But basically – I adored this book in a totally unexpected way, and it’s without a doubt a new favourite classic of mine.

This was interesting.

A little reminiscent of Jane Austen, this was about Lucy--a woman caught between one guy she loves but who doesn't belong to her social class (George) and one wealthy guy who she doesn't care for (Cecil). The bigger struggle, naturally, was whether to quietly respect the social conventions of her day or to rebel and do her own thing.

I must say I enjoyed the first 45% of the book much more than the rest. It became boring halfway through, and I found that I didn't really care much for George and only partially liked Lucy. Overall, it was enjoyable enough, I guess, and some quotes were pretty cool.

n  “Do we find happiness so often that we should turn it off the box when it happens to sit there?”n

When I first tried an audiobook version of this a few days ago, I found it boring and hard to understand. Then I switched and tried another, and it was so much better. I finally grasped the difference that a voice actor can make when it comes to audiobooks.

A Room with a View is E.M. Forster's social comedy that follows Lucy Honeychurch as she visits the beautiful Florence in Italy where, as the title suggests, she must have a room with a view. She is accompanied by her spinster cousin, Charlotte Bartlett. When she witnesses a murder in a piazza, she faints in the arms of George Emerson, a fellow Brit, whom she falls for but cannot be with. He is just as equally as charming as her and they make a right pair but Emerson's father is a socialist, making George off-bounds. It is never that simple though. Once back in England, Lucy is courted by an acceptable suitor but soon realises that convention is not all it is wracked up to be. Her future is then down to her: is she brave enough to obey class and go after who she truly desires?

It was such a charming little read. Forster transported me from the cold dreary days currently spent in England to sunshine and life being lived to the fullest in the past. Everything was just so colourful and vibrant and fun. Such a mood uplifter!

- 3.5 stars!

This book was simply a jolly good time!!