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Very different to the other Forster works I've read so far with some unusually dramatic plot twists, but the writing is beautiful and subtly funny as usual.
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The Longest Journey
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E. M. Forster once described The Longest Journey as the book "I am most glad to have written." An introspective novel of manners at once comic and tragic, it tells of a sensitive and intelligent young man with an intense imagination and a certain amount of literary talent. He sets out full of hope to become a writer, but gives up his aspirations for those of the conventional world, gradually sinking into a life of petty conformity and bitter disappointments.
396 pages, Paperback
First published January 1,1907
This edition
- Format
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396 pages, Paperback
- Published
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October 31, 2006 by Penguin Classics
- ISBN
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9780141441481
- ASIN
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0141441488
- Language
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English
Characters More characters
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Rickie Elliot
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Agnes Pembroke
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Stewart Ansell
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Gerald Dawes
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Herbert Pembroke
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Emily Failing
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About the author
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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.
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.
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Rating(4 / 5.0, 100 votes)
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Very very good. A healthy dose of painfully palpable repression—take palpable pain (or painful palp?) and tonk it right up to eleven. Poor EM
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This book depressed me slightly... the ending seemed to convey that life is alot of dead ends and perhaps a bit aimless. I agree that life is often this way, but I'm not sure I like it in literature. I absolutely loved Ansell's character, though, and wish he were in the book more. I think Ansell and Rickie's friendship was more interesting than anything with Agnes. The idea of reality I absolutely loved reading about. I believe someone said that Forster is the professor with the door always open, and that's so true in many ways. The philosophic questions in the book -- whether people can lose that spirit of life(Agnes did when Gerald died), or forget "what people are like" (like Aunt Emily), the question of whether the "cow is there" -- all these themes are easily dismissed as abstract and incomprehensible, but Forster explains and illustrates. Although I did not like this book as much as A Room With a View, I can understand why it was Forster's personal favorite -- it feels the most autobiographical of his novels. Rickie's insecurities, idealisms, and utlimate realizations seem to be first hand. Really, though, I love Ansell! I wish it had ended with him instead of Stephen.
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Not my favourite Forster - far from it.
I've read a few by this author now: A Room with a View, A Passage to India etc.. and, despite the praise given it in the introduction, it was a disappointment. The story is about Rickie, at first a happy undergraduate at Cambridge around the turn of the 20th century, who embarks on a listless and unambitious life, in marriage, career and outlook. Written in a literary style, it includes some interesting and well-developed characters but it's hard to empathise with any of them. A revelation partway through the novel develops the plot but generally the whole thing failed to inspire me. Not for me.
I've read a few by this author now: A Room with a View, A Passage to India etc.. and, despite the praise given it in the introduction, it was a disappointment. The story is about Rickie, at first a happy undergraduate at Cambridge around the turn of the 20th century, who embarks on a listless and unambitious life, in marriage, career and outlook. Written in a literary style, it includes some interesting and well-developed characters but it's hard to empathise with any of them. A revelation partway through the novel develops the plot but generally the whole thing failed to inspire me. Not for me.
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I enjoyed this book maybe 1.5 stars or 2 stars. It was a very long journey to read- that's for sure. I felt like nothing happened until 200 pages into a 300 page book. However, there are several segments of Forster's writing that are unparalleled in style and beauty. During the second half of the book, especially, there were paragraphs so well-written, I re-read them a few times. They were really beautiful, and I was so impressed by them. Forster is one of my favorite authors, and this book is my least favorite book of his so far. It's a Bildungsroman, which is one of my favorite genres, but I was put off by the characters and bored by the slow pace. Perhaps it's because I didn't particularly like any of the characters (except Stephen), so I didn't care what happened to them? I don't know. I appreciated the point Forster was trying to make, though you had to swim through bouts of philosophy (not my favorite) to get there. Part three of the book packed a punch and almost made up for the lackluster of parts one and two.
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Another wonderful book from EM Forster. This is the fourth of his books that I've read and I'm in love with them all! I grew quite attached to Rickie and felt the weight of the world he was bearing. This book delivered some genuine shocks. I don't remember the last time I gasped out loud this many times in the last few pages of The Longest Journey. Forster's witticisms slay me; his sarcastic narrators never fail to make me chuckle. His books just feel so comfortable! Highly recommended.
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Oh how I suck up these wordy early 20th Century tales of love and woe and irony.
I truly enjoyed this book, I really yearned to read it and I could not really express why to someone who would say "What?!?!? Nothing happens! It is just a bunch of stuffy people worrying about manners!".
Oh, but it is that and so much more.
If you're like me and you could really go for some Henry James, D.H. Lawrence, or some other canonized British/European/American Ex-Patriot from those times, then you will like this book.
I truly enjoyed this book, I really yearned to read it and I could not really express why to someone who would say "What?!?!? Nothing happens! It is just a bunch of stuffy people worrying about manners!".
Oh, but it is that and so much more.
If you're like me and you could really go for some Henry James, D.H. Lawrence, or some other canonized British/European/American Ex-Patriot from those times, then you will like this book.
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3.5 stars. I had low expectations going into this novel, knowing up front that it is the only Forster novel not to be made into a film. These expectations were met. I did enjoy parts of this story quite a bit, when Forster’s prose was reminding me of why I like him so much, but for the most part I guess this just wasn’t the story for me.
I didn’t want to be with any of the characters: they were unlikable, behaved in odd ways that I couldn’t get my head around, and Forster’s use of pronouns in this novel honestly confused me as to who was speaking and about whom half the time. The ending didn’t affect me at all. I talk about how I hated the end of Where Angels Fear to Tread but at least that made me feel, and made me have a strong response. Here it was more like: ‘Oh, ok then’.
I can tell this was an important story to him. Some scenes and themes come back later in Maurice but done much better there, I feel. I did like the scene of Rickie and Stewart in the grass, making floral headpieces for each other; reminiscent of Maurice and Clive. Forster’s homosexuality barely able to help coming through in his writing here was probably the most interesting thing to me.
I didn’t want to be with any of the characters: they were unlikable, behaved in odd ways that I couldn’t get my head around, and Forster’s use of pronouns in this novel honestly confused me as to who was speaking and about whom half the time. The ending didn’t affect me at all. I talk about how I hated the end of Where Angels Fear to Tread but at least that made me feel, and made me have a strong response. Here it was more like: ‘Oh, ok then’.
I can tell this was an important story to him. Some scenes and themes come back later in Maurice but done much better there, I feel. I did like the scene of Rickie and Stewart in the grass, making floral headpieces for each other; reminiscent of Maurice and Clive. Forster’s homosexuality barely able to help coming through in his writing here was probably the most interesting thing to me.
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