WOW, what a beauty of a book. It tackles everything a homosexual english-mans would've gone through in the early 90s. A story of Discovery, Denial, Exploration, Fear, Guilt, Repent, Failure, anger of society and Melancholy acceptance. Foresters writing captures all of this and does do in unique and amazing ways.

Not once was any of the characters or overall story over-romanticised in ways that you'd see in modern MLM literature (2022 writers have grown afraid to make poor acting/ unlikeable LGBT+ characters and overcompensate). Maurice is a snobbish prude that can't get his head out of relationships to see his family as people worthy in his life and Clive shows the sad and upsettingly common story of the gay man that will never come to terms with his sexuality thus abusing and leading on the men and women in his life and eventually coming to hate others who can come to terms with themselves.

As a reader, you get to see every moment and blunder of Maurice and Clive as they become close in strangely distancing ways but grow apart with scary unison and closeness. These two men symbolise two pathways of how class and male status can differ between each other with only one common thing bringing them together, and with this profound discoveries and meetings you see two different reactions. The delicate way Forester portrays these pathways makes you hate and love them in one way or the other and to be able to make realistic and down to earth characters that are relatable yet detestable should be an art form in its own. There is a profound admiration I had watching Maurice take a pathway of lust and acting with his heart and body whilst we see Clive suffer and banish himself from even the thought he may be different in his society.

The overall message of this book is gorgeous and the fact that Forrester himself sat down to write this after having homosexual feelings himself near his time is enough to make me tear up. This is a 100% recommend and I will probably think about this book for the rest of the week.

E.M. Forster (n  Howards Endn, n  A Room With A Viewn) finished this gay-themed novel in 1914, and though he showed it to some close friends, he didn't publish it in his lifetime. It eventually came out after his death, in the early 1970s.

What a gift to have a novel about same sex love written a century ago by one of the premier 20th century British authors!

When Forster penned Maurice, homosexuality was so taboo that there was no name for it. For a man to be with another man was a criminal offense. One of the most touching things about this very moving book is seeing the protagonist – the closeted, very ordinary stockbroker Maurice – struggling to describe who he is and what he's feeling. He eventually comes up with something about Oscar Wilde. So very sad.

But how triumphant for Forster to have written this book and dedicated it "to a happier year." No one would argue that this is Forster's best novel. But it's an invaluable document about a group of men who experience the love that dare not speak its name (to borrow from Wilde).

I appreciate the fact that Maurice, unlike Forster himself, is a very unremarkable man: he's conservative, a bit of a snob, not very interested in music or philosophy and rather dull. But he's living with this extraordinary secret that affects his entire life. And the book shows how he deals with it, in his secretive relationship with his Cambridge friend Clive Durham, and later with gamekeeper Alec Scudder.

It would have been so easy for Forster to write a novel about a sensitive, soulful, brilliant, sympathetic character. How could we not love him, even though he's gay? But that seems to be part of his point. Maurice is a middle-class Everyman – certainly he's not as intelligent as Clive – but isn't he as worthy of love as anyone else?

Some details in the book are dated. The language at times feels stilted. The class system isn't as pronounced today as it was then. And of course there's a whole new attitude towards homosexuality and thousands of books to reflect that.

But there are still people and organizations trying to "cure" others of homosexuality (think of the group Exodus); young people are still committing suicide because of their sexuality; gays and lesbians are still choosing to live a closeted life by marrying members of the opposite sex; and let's not forget that in some parts of the world, being gay is cause for death.

So really: how dated is this book?

Considering that authors decades after Forster wrote veiled gay characters in straight drag, or killed off one or more characters (see: Brokeback Mountain), how revolutionary is it to have a gay love story with a happy ending?

It's absolutely revolutionary.

Now: who's going to write the sequel?

Maurice ran so that Call Me by Your Name could crawl.

TW: suicidal thoughts

I’ve been meaning to read this book since I watched the movie adaptation in 1987.
I don’t know what triggered my desired to read this work now, but I was suddenly desperately seeking for a copy within my books, certain that I owned one. As I couldn’t find, I tried ordering a copy from the library but there was a 4 weeks waiting period. At the end I purchased a copy from Kobo, as well as the audiobook narrated by Ben Whishaw, available on Audible.
I listened to the audiobook as I read the book. The narration is formidable! One of those voices that you love listening at normal speed. It made my experience extraordinary!
As I read each page, scenes from the movie would clearly appear in front of my eyes, as if I had watched the movie adaptation just yesterday.

I immensely enjoyed the writing, which I thought was very easy and clear.
I also liked the structure and the development of the storyline.

The story is set in England, starting in 1898, when Maurice was 14 years old (in the movie he was 11).

The main character is not very likeable, but he is shown as being very human and believable.

Maurice’s & Clive’s struggles with theirs sexuality were quite touching (the young generation has no idea how fortunate they are now).

Differences in social status were also evident among the characters.

I praised the author for writing a story based on his own struggles and experiences, and also for not making the story about sex. This book is free of vulgarities.

I wonder how this book would have been taken by the society, had it been released back in 1914, instead of 1971.

Some readers may be upset about the treatment towards women, but you have to remember when the story is set (only selected women of 30 years old or older were allowed to vote in England starting in 1918, and 10 years later women of at least 21 years of age were finally able to vote).
Yes, society was cruel to women and homosexuals were treated as criminals

There are differences between the novel and the movie adaptation, and these differences are listed in Wikipedia.
Nothing major in my opinion, but the book is definitely better.

e-book (Kobo): 242 pages (default), 62k words

Audiobook narrated by Ben Whishaw: 7:28:17 hours (normal speed)

Paperback (Penguin Books): 272 pages