There's always something in Forster's work that prevents me from completely loving it. It's clever and satisfying. Maybe it's that the divisions between those who are artistic and culturally appreciative (those with soul) and those who are crass, commercial, grasping, too much of the machine age (those who lack soul) are drawn a little too crudely. Or maybe it's because I know I'm supposed to side with the artistic people, but their conversations are so silly and verging on nonsensical. I suppose I'm missing the point, which is that Margaret's motto "only connect", that we need to connect the prose and the passion within us, means Forster isn't taking sides at all. Hmm. At any rate, this is a fine meditation on class, gender, and private property. Forster creates a fairly wonderful character in Margaret, who, lacking her sister's beauty, has had to make compromises, and is sturdier for it, and more able to navigate life's obstacles.

I found rating this book extremely difficult because my feelings about it were all over the place during the reading. There are parts of the book that are so deftly done that they sparkle, there are parts where I wanted to scream “Seriously?” at the top of my lungs.

For the parts I loved, there is the save-the-world good works of the sisters, particularly Helen, that are rooted in imagination rather than reality and cause far more harm than they can grasp. If you have never been hungry, it is obviously hard to conceive of what starvation feels like. There is the house itself, which is drawn with lovely prose and feels quite real to me. I could easily construct its gardens and furnishings in my mind’s eye, and wondered why anyone would leave it for the bustle of London in any case. There is the final one-quarter of the book that ties everything together, without condemning any particular point of view expressed by either side (and for my thinking, both sides had their points). The first Mrs. Wilcox shed her shadow over the house and its occupants without being eerie--a nice touch. And, I liked Margaret. I liked her honesty and her attempt to spare the feelings of others.

She must remain herself, for his sake as well as her own, since a shadowy wife degrades the husband whom she accompanies; and she must assimilate for reasons of common honesty, since she had no right to marry a man and make him uncomfortable.

On the reverse, however, there were a few characters who seemed a bit over or under developed. I have never met anyone like Leonard, and I sort of doubt anyone else has either. Same with Tibby, who I found downright irritating. There were sections in which I wanted to put a hand over Forster’s mouth and tell him to quit intruding in my story, and there were sections where I wanted to dismiss the clamor and unnecessary detail.

So, I have arrived at a middle-ground. I had wanted to read this book for a long time, so I confess a smidgeon of disappointment, but on the whole happy to have done it. His masterpiece would still be A Passage to India for me.

Rating 3.5 stars. Where to start? Well, this may be a bit strange, but my initial reaction after the first few pages was: “oh, this is not for me”, and that was provoked by the extremely reserved, ultra-decent-bourgeois environment that Forster evokes from the beginning, with the famous English ‘wit’ applied in the superlative. A bit too much Downtown Abbey, if you know what I mean. But it soon became clear to me that Forster offers a much more layered story, and ingeniously interweaves all kinds of themes and issues.

That is indeed the exceptional strength of this novel: Forster tells a seemingly simple story. You can summarize it in one sentence: the very lively and sensitive Margaret Schlegel, of German descent, marries a thoroughly English, calculating, bourgeois businessman, Henry Wilcox, and is forced by a crisis surrounding her younger sister to stand up for herself ànd justice, and thus – unconsciously – righting a great injustice that has been done to her. But this story is woven with an extreme amount of contrasts: the naïve-sincere liveliness of the Schlegel sisters versus the calculating underhandedness of the Wilcoxes, the wealthy middle class versus the lower middle class, purity versus hypocrisy, brutal modernity versus rural conviviality, English versus German, woman versus man, London versus the countryside, and so on. There’s also a markedly anti-imperialistic element in Forster’s writing. And all these contrasts intertwine in such a dynamic way that you become completely captivated by the plot of the story.

As said, Forster tells this story with so much irony and especially ‘wit’ that it sometimes becomes pure satire, although the cynical undertone is gradually getting stronger. Only the many passages in which the author adds general wisdom to concrete situations and persons (in the style of Henry James) were less to my liking. But the perspective of the main character Margaret Schlegel is portrayed so brilliant and heartfelt that it makes up for a lot. It even reconciled me with the somewhat sugary happy ending.

This novel from 1910 has a lovely Shakespearean flavor of good intentions leading to unintended consequences. Urgent letters between sisters kicks off its engaging plot about the collision between two very different families. The younger sister Helen Schlegel, visiting the rural “Howard’s End” estate of the conservative, wealthy Wilcox family, writes to Margaret that she is love with and wants to marry one of their sons Paul (which grew out of a single impulsive kiss). Margaret urges her aunt to travel there to make sure the Wilcoxes are “their kind of people.” By the time she arrives, Helen has already fallen out with Paul, who is headed for Nigeria to manage the family’s rubber plantation. Later, when the Wilcoxes move near the Schlegels in London, and Margaret tries to make amends by reaching out to the mother Ruth Wilcox. I loved experiencing how their brief friendship blossomed over discussions of the meaning of a home and the value she places in the family homestead of Howard’s End, which her husband Henry considers only in light of its real estate value. Early in the plot, Ruth dies and the discovery by Henry of a handwritten bequeathment of the estate to Margaret leads to the Wilcox family deciding to ignore the request.

Already we see how Helen’s impulse toward romance with Paul has the unintended consequence of a special friendship of Margaret with Ruth and a hidden act of generosity. It has also brought Margaret into more contact with the widower Henry and a surprising romance between opposites: she an early feminist who admires literature and arts and supports programs for the poor, and he a pragmatic industrialist who is a true believer in the genetic superiority of his class. The other unintended consequence comes when Helen mistakenly takes the umbrella of Leonard Bast after a theater performance. When he drops by to retrieve it, the sisters kindly draw him out and find they admire his ambitions to imbibe literature and work his way up in class from his lowly position as a bank clerk. His dreamy account of tuning into nature by tramps in the woods a la Ruskin makes them admire him more than bumbling life probably deserves. Margaret presses Henry for advice to help him better his circumstances, which turns out to be disastrous for Leonard and his wife when they follow through with his recommendation. This fate turns Helen even more against the Wilcoxes and makes for a serious wedge in her relationship with Margaret. There is tragedy in the tale, but all key characters make a satisfactory transformation toward becoming better, more empathetic human beings despite the boundaries of class.

I liked this even better than “Passage to India”. I absolutely loved Margaret’s outlook and continual efforts to build bridges. Her charm for me equals that of Woolf’s indomitable Mrs. Dalloway. Immediately after the delightful read (by LibriVox audiobook), I had the great pleasure of experiencing Emma Thompson nail the role in the sumptious Merchant Ivory production. Helena Bonham Carter rendered a great adaptation for the flighty, idealistic Helen.

Howards End is a chatty, witty, philosophical novel about the state of England in the years leading up to the first world war.

There’s a sharp sense of place (Howards End, the estate, was modelled after Forster’s childhood home), and by focusing on three separate families, you certainly understand the social hierarchy of Edwardian England. The book’s famous epigraph (“Only connect...”) refers to the need for humans to empathize with others, cutting across boundaries of class, culture, geography and the sins of the past. This theme comes through vividly.

The characters often feel a little thin, however, and the plot slightly contrived. Forster’s omniscient narrator can be wonderfully casual, as in the relaxed, conversational opening: “One may as well begin with Helen’s letters to her sister.”

But we never get too deep into anyone’s consciousness, so occasionally characters’ actions seem perplexing. Sometimes you can feel Forster overworking his symbols, not letting them emerge organically. A few passages are so densely poetic that they require several readings to grasp. And the climax – in which all three families’ fates intersect irrevocably – seems forced.

But you get the sense throughout that Forster is trying to root out deep human truths and question the basis of charity, forgiveness, duty and mercy. Noble goals. And there are passages of great beauty and intelligence.

Despite its period setting, the themes still feel relevant. In light of the recent economic crisis, and things like the Occupy movement, Forster's examination of the haves and the have-nots hits home powerfully.

While this book has an interesting plot and deals with various themes, it wasn't executed as well as I would've hoped.
It basically deals with two sisters, Helen and Margaret, and their sister dynamics and family dynamics. However, this is also a story of differences between the middle class and the poor, love, death, hope and revenge. As you can see, the plot contains multiple strong elements, but what had me puzzled was the fact that Forster centers everything around the estate called Howards End. To me, it seemed like Forster tried to make Howards End fit into the story - in other words, the role of Howards End seemed forced.
During this story, I experienced quite a wave of feelings. At times, I was intrigued with the sisters and their destiny, at other times I was bored when Forster became too reflective. He lost me in his observations and long passages of descriptions, and I couldn't be bothered with paying too much attention.
After having finished the book, I'm not sure why Forster decided to write about this many elements. In my eyes, it all became too jumbled, and when it comes down to it, it's basically just a story about two sisters and them growing up. I felt like Forster was doing too much with this story; however, I was entertained for most of it, and I did appreciate reading about the development and relationship between the two sisters (with or without all of the sub-themes).

It was disquieting to read this Edwardian classic again after a lapse of over fifty years. Incidents I had remembered so vividly turned out to have happened differently (I was so sure Mr Wilcox had told Leonard Bast to leave the Porphyrian directly, not Helen's passing his remark along) and that the final scene was Charles killing Bast. I felt it is still an excellent anatomy of social class on the eve of the First World War. I also felt the characters were less like real people than cultural projections. The Schlegels perfectly exemplify Mathew Arnold's Hellenes, the Wilcox's the Philistines, and Leonard Bast desperately trying to transform himself into a Hellene but dragged down into the Populace by Jacky - a wonderfully vulgar creation. It also reinforced my belief that Forster burned out early as a novelist because he was morally and spiritually a very shallow person, though very well intentioned and high-minded.

Either i read a completely different book to everyone else that read this and rated it very high OR i am just not educated enough to understand this book. Or both.

The only enjoyable thing about this reading experience was that i was not suffering through it alone but had my reading buddy in Courtney who thankfully also struggled along with me and made me feel a little less stupid by also finding this utterly odd and way to strange.

The writing was so very strange, it was trying to be beautiful but always feel short, it tried to be flowery but wasn't descriptive and beautiful enough for that.
The characters tried to be so many things that nothing made sense...
The plot -if one actually existed- was completely jumped up and the way its as told made not a huge amount of sense...

Yes i understand -or i guess- that this book is supposed to discuss the difference in English classes, how rich, middle and poor classes treat each other and at the same time showcase that if they would only learn to get along everything and everyone would have it better.
But this book made a huge mess out of it and i am not even sure if the book even tried to talk about class differences or if that is just the only thing that i could take away from it.

For me this was -as i already said- a very odd strange mess that didn't make a lot of sense and was overly wordy without actually saying anything and without any development either in characters or in plot.

Or in short: this book was a hot mess and honestly in my eyes this is one of those "classics" that only became popular because of the authors name and not because the book is actually good or worth being classified as a "classic" or deserves to be taken through generations.

If you want to read a good classics, one that showcases english class differences or good portray of different families and classes... this is NOT it. Read something else!

Howards End is an old, red brick country house in Hertfordshire where the lives of people from different classes intersect. The Schlegels are cultured, idealistic, upper class siblings living on their inherited funds. The Wilcoxes are a materialistic, wealthy family who run a business with connections to West Africa. The Basts are poor with Leonard earning a modest living as a clerk, but trying to improve himself with exposure to books and culture.

This book was published in 1910, four years before the start of World War I. England is a prosperous country, but there is no economic safety net for people who have lost their jobs. London is entering a new age, tearing down old buildings to put up modern new flats. England is portrayed as a colonial power, shown through the Wilcoxes who run the Imperial and West African Rubber Company. The Schlegels are half-German, and we see them appreciate German musicians and philosophers, and the beauty of the German mountains, as well as their English heritage.

Women were not treated equally in post-Victorian times, and there are mentions of women's suffrage movements. Henry Wilcox is a conventional head of the household, and his son Charles is an especially aggressive, domineering man. The book portrays Margaret and Helen Schlegel as independent females with strong opinions. Their inherited money, however, makes it much easier since they are not financially dependent on a man. Women are also treated very differently when sexual indiscretions are involved.

Howards End is where people of different genders, social classes, and economic classes interact. Margaret acts as a bridge between the idealistic intellectuals and the pragmatic materialists. She asks her husband to "only connect" on a personal scale. In the same way, England is made up with various classes of people trying to connect with each other in the early 20th Century.
3 1/2 stars, rounded up to 4.

Esto es más que una novela sobre familias, clases sociales y justicia: es una novela que trasciende el período en el que fue escrita. Ingeniosa y encantadora, “Howards End” revela los miedos y fracasos más arraigados de sus personajes sin ser desdeñoso ni irónico. Esta es una novela escrita con compasión y el amor de Forster por sus personajes se ilumina en cada página. Si esto no bastara, pasa de pintar un escenario a representar las tontas costumbres sociales de su época y de todas las épocas, a debatir ardientemente filosofías de vida con un maravilloso sentido de fluidez y sin predicaciones ni pretensiones.

Forster utiliza Howards End como una metáfora de la conexión entre el mundo material y el espiritual. La casa representa la búsqueda de la autenticidad y la conexión humana en una sociedad cada vez más industrializada y superficial. A lo largo de la novela, el conflicto surge entre aquellos que valoran la casa como un refugio espiritual y aquellos que la ven como una propiedad valiosa.

La prosa de Forster es elegante y rica en matices, explorando no solo las complejidades de las relaciones humanas, sino también las tensiones sociales y culturales de la época. A través de personajes vívidos y bien desarrollados, el autor presenta una variedad de perspectivas sobre la sociedad, el amor y la moralidad.

"Howards End" es una obra maestra de la literatura por su exploración profunda de temas universales como la desigualdad social, la búsqueda de significado y la lucha entre la razón y las emociones. La novela invita a los lectores a reflexionar sobre la importancia de la conexión humana genuina y la necesidad de reconciliar diferentes mundos en una sociedad en constante cambio.

Well, this took me long enough to finish! I swear, I always become the laziest, most sluggish reader the second classes start up. I read about one book every quarter, it's pathetic. But, tardiness aside, I've heard about this book for ages and I'm so glad I finally know what all the hullabaloo's about.

It's a good book, but not my favorite Forster. I daresay, I think A Room With a View is holistically better. But I fully appreciate the sentiment, dramatics, and philosophy expressed in Howards End. It's a great novel, but I just wish it focused less on society, classes, and culture and more on revealing the intimate details of the relationships between the characters. Every time two characters got married or quarreled or made a connection with each other, the moment was there and then gone so quickly. Relationships were established in a heartbeat and I feel like Forster didn't take the time to develop or sell those intimate bonds between them. I guess my point, is that I wish the novel was at least 200 pages longer so I can know absolutely everything about anything that happened. In short, I really liked it, but it left me longing for more.

No início do séc. XX, na Inglaterra Eduardiana, as irmãs Schlegel cruzam as suas vidas com a família Wilcox e a sua casa de campo, Howards End, situada no Hertfordshire, a norte de Londres.
Um dos mais afamados romances de E. M. Forster sobre um país e uma época, as diferenças de classes, o conservadorismo e as tradições.
Personagens marcantes e uma narrativa apaixonante tornam este, um dos clássicos de leitura obrigatória.
Não compreendo como é que ainda não foi traduzido para o português.