n   “Esta historia trata de gente bien o de aquellos que están obligados a simular que lo son.” n

Llevaba mucho tiempo queriendo leer este libro, el primero que leo de Foster, y me alegré mucho cuando lo publicó Navona en sus ineludibles y nada más y nada menos que traducido por Eduardo Mendoza. Será por eso que me ha defraudado tanto o será porque gustándome el tono, la novela tiene ese estilo de comedia inglesa tan atractiva, siendo una lectura divertida e interesante, algunas cosas me han cabreado e indispuesto contra el autor de manera insalvable. Vayamos por partes.

Principios del siglo pasado, un momento de grandes cambios sociales y económicos. En este contexto, Forster enfrenta aquí a dos familias, dos formas de entender la vida. Por un lado, los Wilcox, enriquecidos en el comercio con las colonias africanas, amantes del dinero y de hacer cada vez más dinero, indiferentes a las artes, individualistas, machistas, clasistas y carentes de conciencia social. Enfrente nos sitúa a los Schlegel, con la elegancia y el saber estar de las familias bien de toda la vida, rentistas que viven modestamente sin trabajar, sensibles a la belleza, amantes de las artes y con ganas de ayudar a los más desfavorecidos, aunque sin saber muy bien cómo, lo cual es muchas veces peor que no hacer nada.

n   “La verdad es que existe una vida exterior con la que ni tú ni yo tenemos contacto y en la que cuentan los telegramas y la furia. En cambio las relaciones personales, a las que nosotras damos una importancia preeminente, no la tienen en ese mundo. Ahí, el amor equivale a compromiso matrimonial; la muerte, a funeral. Tengo ideas claras al respecto, pero mi duda estriba en sí esa vida exterior, que me parece a todas luces horribles, no será la vida real. Tiene, ¿cómo te diría?, tiene entidad, carácter… Y si, a la larga, las relaciones personales no conducirán a una especie de ñoñez sentimental.” n

En medio de ambas familias hay dos campos de batalla. Por un lado, Leonard Bast, trabajador con pretensiones intelectuales y sociales, pero con graves problemas económicos para satisfacerlas, casado con Jacky Bast, una mujer de oscuro pasado de la que se siente responsable, aunque en realidad la sufre como una carga. Por el otro, Howards End, la casa de campo que parece simbolizar una Inglaterra en grave peligro de extinción.

n   “Para ellos, Howards End era una casa. No podían saber que para ella había sido un espíritu para el que anhelaba un heredero espiritual... ¿Es posible legar las posesiones del espíritu? ¿Tiene descendencia el alma? ¿Puede transmitirse la pasión por un olmo, una parra, una gavilla de trigo cubierta de rocío, cuando no existen lazos de sangre?” n

El futuro de esta casa es una de las cuestiones que aquí se dirimen. Y no es que esté en contra de quién es el que sale victorioso en esta batalla, es algo lamentable, la vida suele serlo, y seguramente el autor tiene razón. Tampoco puede decirse nada de lo desolado que queda el otro campo de batalla, todos sabemos que casi siempre pierden los mismos, aunque ¿de verdad era necesario, E.M. Forster, el papel que juega aquí una estantería de libros? Mi problema viene con la fuerte y desagradable impresión de que el autor cree que todo acaba como debe o que cada uno recibe lo que en el fondo merece. Y no es menor mi problema con la última cuestión: ¿el papelón que juegan aquí las mujeres? Aquí el abismo es igualmente insuperable, aquí no he entendido nada de nada.

Por lo demás la novela es espléndida, o podría haberlo sido, con ese humor inglés que tan bien define ciertas situaciones (“resultó ser uno de esos bigotes que siempre se meten en las tazas de té, que dan más molestias de lo que valen y que no están ni siquiera de moda”), sus diálogos son fantásticos, está llena de esas verdades incómodas a las que tan aficionado soy (“el abismo más profundo no es la falta de amor, sino la falta de dinero”), ejemplifica de forma admirable lo poco libres que en realidad somos, si es que lo somos de alguna manera, lo que nos influye la posición social y económica en nuestras ideas, relaciones y comportamientos, e incluso como algo tan banal como la apariencia física es capaz de influir en nuestro carácter, y, para finalizar, está sembrada de reflexiones muy sugerentes.

n   “La vida real está llena de pistas falsas y de señales que no conducen a ninguna parte. Nos fortalecemos, con infinito esfuerzo, para afrontar una crisis que no se produce jamás. La trayectoria más triunfal encubre un despilfarro de energías que podrían haber movido montañas; la vida más infructuosa no es la del individuo que se ha visto sorprendido sin estar preparado, sino la del que se ha preparado y no ha sido nunca sorprendido.” n

Todo muy bien, pero ¿y Margaret? ¿Cómo interpretar su papel, sus decisiones?

Lo siento, no es suficiente que el autor nos alerte con aquello de que "En todo el mundo los hombres y las mujeres se preocupan porque no pueden actuar como se supone que deben hacerlo". Tampoco es presentable su sentencia de “El amor es el mejor plan”. Aunque tenga toda la razón del mundo hay que ser consciente de que ese plan no es nunca intencionado, no es nunca decisión nuestra. Y por favor, ¿”Simplemente conecta”? ¿De verdad cree que conectar es simple? ¿De verdad cree que se puede conectar a pesar de cualquier cosa?

No señor, no puedo quedarme tranquilo con tan poco, no consigo comprender lo que el autor hace con Margaret. ¿Alguien por aquí lo entiende? ¿Alguna mujer? De hecho, me habría encantado haber leído la novela con una mujer al lado y que esta me hubiera ido comentando lo que iba sintiendo acerca de algunos hechos y elucubraciones que el autor hace sobre ellas, como en este párrafo que destaco. Lean, no tiene desperdicio.

n   “Henry podía ser como quisiera, porque le quería, y algún día utilizaría el amor para hacer de él un hombre mejor. La piedad anidaba en el fondo de sus acciones a lo largo de toda la crisis. La piedad, si se me permite generalizar, anida en el fondo de todas las mujeres. Cuando un hombre nos aprecia, nos aprecia por nuestras buenas cualidades y por profundo que sea su aprecio, cuando nos hacemos indignos de él, nos abandona inexorablemente. Por el contrario, la indignidad estimula a las mujeres. Hace emerger lo más hondo que hay en ellas, para bien o para mal.” n

Desde luego, con desenlaces como los de esta novela uno entiende un poco más a Annie Wilks, la perturbada protagonista de Misery, la novela de Stephen King.

"Howards End" comes as close as any novel I've read to the spirit of The Bloomsbury Group.

Early on, I began to root for Margaret, Helen, and Tibby Schlegel. They had a fight on their hands, a social and cultural struggle, against the entrenched-and-snobby narrowmindedness of British tastemakers of the time.

I'll let E.M. Forster speak for himself, in this review, through one of my favorite quotes from this book.

If only he could talk like this, he would have caught the world. Oh to acquire culture! Oh, to pronounce foreign names correctly! Oh, to be well informed, discoursing at ease on every subject that a lady started! But it would take one years. With an hour at lunch and a few shattered hours in the evening, how was it possible to catch up with leisured women, who had been reading steadily from childhood?

About 20 years ago, I watched a few adaptations of Forster novels. This is the first of his novels I’ve read, and I now see that he’s one of those authors whose work probably ought not be filmed. The narrative prose is so full of interesting ideas and insights - far more than the dialogue or plot. I borrowed it from the library but I’d love to have my own copy because there were SO many passages I longed to underline.

I don’t think I’ve read an author whose work is as empathetic, other than Anthony Trollope. Forster is not as balanced or witty as Trollope, but he has the same gift of seeing and feeling deeply with his characters, even the unappealing ones.

I have been reading a great deal of late 19th century writings recently, and I loved the connections Forster made for me. One can read a nonfiction book on how important Ruskin was to the aspiring working-class autodidact, but it suddenly becomes poignantly real when Leonard Bast sits down to muddle his way through The Stones of Venice.

I’ll be thinking about this novel for years.

Mild spoiler: I found the social/emotional tension in this book quite intense, and the build up to the tragic confrontation scene was very uncomfortable. What I was not expecting were the eucatastrophic consequences.

"He has a way with words" is probably a trite expression but it certainly applies to E.M. Forster. His writing is fluid, beautiful, and his stories well thought out. This book, written in 1910 certainly reflects the style of authors of that time but Forster is readable while some others at the turn of the 20th century appear stilted and formal.

The book, set in the time of the publication, is the story of England at the highest point of its hopes but also reveals the one word upon which the country was based.......class. The distinction between those with money, property or titles and "all the rest" was the accepted norm and it plays a major part in this story of two sisters whose lives take different paths. Forster hoped for a class free England and the image of the house Howard's End symbolizes the stability and peace that could be attained if class were put aside (or at least temporized).

The well-off Schlegel sisters, who love each other as only sisters can, have a temporary parting of the ways when Helen, the more liberal of the two, gets involved with a couple, the Basts, who are poverty stricken and "lower class" while Margaret becomes friends with the Wilcox family who have money and status. What happens over the next three years is heartbreaking and some of the events are unexpected and may take the reader by surprise. But in the end the spirit and magic of Howard's End prevails, bringing peace and understanding.

This is a classic work, written poetically, and full of emotion without being overwrought. Recommended highly.

Having seen the James Ivory 1992 movie several times (plus :) ), imagine my cheesy smile when I saw this audiobook is narrated by Emma Thompson, who also stars in the movie. Emma Thompson’s reading of this is faultless and very entertaining.

Though this is an abridged version of E M Forster’s novel, I still found it captures its charm whilst keeping in mind the big themes: the narrowmindedness towards women, and the bloated attitude of one social class towards the other. The audiobook starts with comedy, with Helen’s letters to Margaret, which swiftly follow one another, and leads to an awkwardness that also highlights the differences between these two sisters. Margaret is kind, practical and sensitive of social customs, especially of how unmarried women are expected to behave. Helen in contrast is flighty, independent, opinionated and driven by a sense of unfairness. This difference feeds many comical scenes and also drives the drama, a complicated plot which involves the Wilcox family. Ultimately, the story belongs to both sisters. Helen, in a minor plotline, becomes an unmarried mother (which must have caused a stir when it was first published in 1910). Margaret’s part is bigger, showing her journey where she finally speaks up and stands-up for herself. This causes problems in her marriage, but there’s an ironic twist of fate, as the Wilcox family learn a tough lesson about their hardened views where Henry comes to understand how much he needs Margaret. The finale is a wonderful life-affirming moment, where balance and order is restored; Margaret is given Howard’s End casually where only later she learns that it’s fulfilling the wishes of Ruth Wilcox, Henry’s first wife and Margaret’s friend.

When I write my reviews besides focusing on what the stories mean to me, I also include thoughts that run through my mind that may seem of the mark but in my mind makes sense. Before I read E. M. Forster's Howards End, I had read William Somerset Maugham's Cakes and Ale. Why do I mention Maugham here? I don't know why my brain keeps these two authors so close together in my mind, they are unique in their own ways but many times I have to remember exactly who wrote which story and so I sometimes mix them up. They both were born in the 1870's and both died at the ripe age of 91. But when I think of the deeper reason I think that both know how to bring tragedy to their work which brings thought about human nature and to all the beings surrounding them. They show us characters that defy reasoning at times which sucks them deeper into despair. The stories may have a sort of happy ending but they are surely not a happily ever after as in fairy tales. Also both authors though men show us a stronger female, strong in her own way which shows she can think and reason but certainly may not be perfect; and they both give us women who are also are eager to please the men folk. I still have many novels left on both these authors, so I can assess if my thoughts change as I read on.

In the 1990's I was a fan of Helena Bonham Carter and saw many movies she made back then, 1992 Howards End which I saw but can not remember the whole movie, so in reading the novel now, it was not so clear. I had known certain things would happen but thankfully my memory was fairly poor here and I was able to enjoy the book almost like new. I would like to see that version again and when I do I will add to this review and add a "spoiler alert" to warn you.


That being said my thoughts on "Howards End" when I finished reading last night, I had to take a step back and see the genius of this novel. It started out rather slowly, I would not say boring but more circumvent in coming to the motif of it all which came about halfway into the book. Before that I enjoyed hearing the thoughts of the characters in life in London, families and books. I enjoyed reading what authors and stories E. M. Forster thought it important to mention, some I had read already and others I added to my list. I should have read this quicker but life kept it at bay but as soon as the story picked up, so did my reading speed.

This has characteristics of a bildungsroman novel in my mind when a character in a story changes and comes to a better understanding in life, I label it as such. It might not be the technical definition but I call it such. Both sisters Margaret and Helen Schlegel are similar but different as night and day but both have a transformation of sorts as the story unfolds. The Schlegels have an English mother and a German father, both no longer living and the girls and younger brother, Tibby have learned to fend for their own with the help of legacies. What I find most interesting in this part is my wondering if E. M. Forster was thinking of his young charges of Elizabeth von Arnim and her Prussian husband, von Arnim-Schlagenthin. Forster and Hugh Walpole were the tutors for their children. I just wonder about some of his comments and his experiences.


There is the class distinction of rich verses poor and where the responsibility lies which even today there is not an easy answer and probably never will be. The sisters befriend the Wilcoxs on vacation and that chance meeting changes all of their lives. To add to the tangle barely making ends meet, Leonard Bates and his wife bring drama and sadness to the story. Leonard wants to grab the rope that all other cultured beings hold on to but he seems never to be in reach and the sisters represent what he longs for in his life, have a good hold on the rope.


One thing that Margaret's theories about some men is they don't use the word "I" but they expect to be a ruler to others and thinks of his way and himself. I understand what he was saying but the "I" is misplaced because if you think of "I" you have to consider others. This I can not agree with "I" can be used with never a thought about others and is the thinking of some people who have only regard for themselves.


The story in brief, Helen Schlegel is invited to stay at Howards End with her new friends and life will never be the same for all involved!
This is my favorite Forster so far and it is deemed a favorite.

I'm sure you'll find far more competent and insightful reviews anywhere so I'll just say that this is a second reading for me and a radically different one. I first read this in my college years and some water has gone under the bridge since then. My sympathies for each characters altered pretty drastically, and I'd like to stress that Helen is a pill. There. I said it.

On a practical level I'd recommend this to any fan of good writing, particularly in the Jane Austen or Henry James style. E. M. Forster is subtle but weaves ripples that reverberate long after the book has ended. Also if you have any interest in pre-WWI European society, British in particular, this fits all the cracks that history books leave intact. I'd follow it up with Parade's End, for the full horror of what was lost and how our world became irrevocably changed while we weren't looking.

The other reason I chose to revisit this gem is because I'm seeing The Inheritance soon. It's meant to be a reworking of Howards End set in modern times and amongst gay men. Color me intrigued.

Quite often I found myself wishing someone else had written this novel! The story is fabulous. I was completely riveted by the story. What I didn’t like were Forster’s constant philosophical interjections which for the most part were platitudes dressed up in a whimsical fairy language. Here’s an example: “As a prisoner looks up and sees stars beckoning, so she, from the turmoil and horror of those days, caught glimpses of the diviner wheels.” On every single page he breaks into the narrative to offer up this kind of mumbo jumbo. I preferred A Room with a View which was playful without ever succumbing to this kind of pretentiousness.

My first Forster; and despite half-consciously interpolating Woolf-like reveries for Mrs. Wilcox—she’s like Mrs. Dalloway but described from a great distance—I enjoyed it very much. Forster’s structure is a perfect fusion of the dramatic and the essayistic; his style maintains a careful balance of lyricism and exposition; and his characters are at once individuals and types. It’s easy to see why Forster is, or was, such a critical darling, especially if that critic be the grave, pouchy-eyed Lionel Trilling, sighing out lungfuls of cigarette smoke while pondering the secularization of spirituality, and Who Shall Inherit the West? I’m one of those readers who lose sight of the social novel—the excavation of people from history can seem more urgent—and it is always a pleasure to be reminded by the great novelists of their special domain of insight—to be shown how we wear our ideals, how our manners signal spiritual allegiances.

“Io mi aspetto che alla fine della vita m’importerà soprattutto di un luogo”


Protagonisti di questa storia sono le sorelle Schlegel, la famiglia Wilcox e il modesto impiegato Leonard Bast con la sua insipida moglie.
Mai persone così diverse avrebbero potuto essere unite dagli eventi.

Uomini e donne, ricchi e poveri: è proprio uno schieramento quello che l’abile penna di Edward Morgan Forster mette in scena sulla scacchiera.
Siamo agli inizi del ‘900.
Tutto il mondo occidentale è preda di cambiamenti sociali e Londra non è da meno: le sue strade rispecchiano il nuovo mondo, la frenesia del guadagno e dell’avanzamento sociale che si riflette nell’urbanistica sfacciatamente votata al cemento ma non da meno l'affacciarsi di una prospettiva differente per la questione femminile.
C’è chi, nonostante l’agiatezza economica, resiste e difende quanto può una cosa chiamata “cultura”.
Così fanno Helen e Margareth Schlegel anche se il loro amore per le Arti e il sapere e talmente dilatato da apparire quanto meno strambo.
Due eccentriche giovani zitelle, con un fratello taciturno e solitario con problemi gastrici ed una zia quanto meno impicciona.

Se le sorelle possono dirsi progressiste, la famiglia Wilcox difende e conserva le posizioni più arroccate della tradizione.
Un bianco spirito coloniale governa le loro vite.
Uomini e donne ognuno nella sua casella così come ricchi e poveri e quest’ultimi sono meritevoli di una compassione a distanza. Henry Wilcox, il capofamiglia, dirà quasi con orgoglio:

«Non sono tipo da preoccuparmi di quello che c’è dentro di me.»

Insomma, tipi pratici e intellettuali.
I primi badano ai propri affari mentre i secondi aspirano a rendere la “società più giusta”.
E poi ci sono tipi come Leonard Bast che si torturano perché migliorare sia il proprio portafoglio sia la propria mente.
Al centro un luogo speciale; un semplice cottage di campagna.
Una casa piccola, vecchia eppure deliziosa che rappresenta un passaggio tra i vecchi ideali vittoriani e lo spirito nuovo del secolo nascente.

" Per loro, Casa Howard era una casa: non potevano sapere che agli occhi di lei era uno spirito, per il quale cercava un erede spirituale. "

Un romanzo veramente sorprendente ma non per la trama in sé.
Avete presente uno di quei piatti della cucina classica che gli chef rivisitano magari cambiando solo la disposizione degli ingredienti?
Ecco, questo romanzo ha, da un lato, il pepe di una commedia britannica classica.
Un po’ stile Oscar Wilde con pungenti battute che colpiscono come freccette.
A ciò però si mescolano due fondamentali elementi sorprendentemente contemporanei e per me inaspettati.
Il primo sta proprio nello stile di questa scrittura
Il secondo è il punto forte del romanzo, ossia la potenza dei suoi personaggi caratterizzati in modo talmente preciso anche quando la loro essenza è, in realtà, insipida.


"Per la prima volta Margaret notò nelle strade della città l’architettura della fretta e udì il linguaggio della fretta sulle bocche dei suoi abitanti: parole mozze, frasi informi, espressioni monosillabiche di approvazione o disgusto. Le cose camminavano di mese in mese sempre più rapidamente, ma verso quale meta?"

4th book of 2022

I thoroughly enjoyed this beautiful novel by E. M. Forster. The pace is slow, much slower than the modern reader may be comfortable with. However, for those who are fans of slower quality plots, this will not disappoint. The conflict in the book builds slowly but with confidence, and each of the characters is relatable in their own way. This is a novel I will be coming back to in the near future. Highly recommended. Five stars.

"Only connect" is doubtless the most famous line from this book, and typical of Forster's knack for sprinkling unexpectedly modern-sounding phrases into his prose.

PLOT
This is the story of the Schlegel sisters: half German Edwardians living in London. They are intellectual and comfortably off, but more bohemian/Bloomsbury than establishment. They encounter the wealthier and more conservative Wilcoxes and the struggling clerk Leonard Bast. Their altruistic attempts at social engineering are sometimes amusing but ultimately tragic.

HOWARD
"Howard's End" is the name of a house that has great significance in the story; it doesn't refer to the death of someone called Howard. But why no apostrophe?

THE FILM
My fondness for the film is heightened by the fact the house used as Howards End is in the village where I grew up (and my mother still lives). It's always fun spotting familiar locations.

When I saw it in the cinema, a couple of women behind me were discussing the locations and eventually agreed with each other that it was a particular place in East Anglia. I didn't disabuse them of that (they weren't talking to me), but having a little inside knowledge felt like a special secret.

Related trivia: the film stars Helena Bonham-Carter, whose great aunt was a long-time resident of the village and pillar of the community, until she died in her 90s.