Trust the British to come up with exciting new ways to be racist toward Italians.

In this, his first novel, Forster is mostly parodying, occasionally playing into, these stereotypes. Italy also clearly serves as a metaphor for freedom, both personal and sexual, in a way that feels more finely developed in the later A Room with a View. Forster is on the record being very critical of Henry James, but it still feels like he's operating in a bit of a Jamesian mode here. Nevertheless, this book is beautifully written, emotionally riveting, tragic.

Ok, maybe I’m ready to review this?

First of all, it makes sense that this is an early work. It doesn’t have the maturity or thematic consistency of HOWARDS END (the healing power of place), and it’s a lot more pessimistic. It’s quite cynical, and reminded me of why I avoided both Forster and Wharton for ages—that tone of superiority to their parents’ generation, which I find a bit tiresomely teenagerish of the Edwardians. Always slightly in the shadow of the Victorians, always wanting to set themselves apart by adopting a patronising tone. It’s one reason that the compassion and tolerance of HOWARDS END took me so much by surprise.

Forster’s wit and his almost exhausting capacity to see things from everyone’s perspective is already here though, and the conflicted feelings of a certain class of Englishmen for Italy (and the Idea of Italy) is fascinating. One travel sequence was so funny it will live in my head forever.

I laughed and wept in this novel, but for me the ending was all wrong. (The character who proves unexpectedly insightful and heroic also confesses a motivation that makes absolutely no sense and I begin to think that women in love is Forster’s weakest subject. It seems to always take the form of “for some unexplainable reason I have a passion for this man,” which I don’t quite buy.)

First reaction upon finishing:

Whaaaaaaaaaat

Ok, wow

Did not see that coming

DEVASTATING!!!

Review to come at some point when I’ve processed the train-wreck (almost literally) that this book suddenly became

3.5*

I thoroughly enjoyed it! Forster has an amazing gift for writing about raw emotions. I had to reread certain portions again and again, because I found myself thinking, "I know EXACTLY what he means!" Witty, dark, hopeful, romantic. This book had so many different facets to it.

I am curious to read more about Forster's Italy in A Room with a View. Again and again, we're shown the transformation that individuals undergo in "her" immense beauty.

This was Forsters first book and though I can see sparks of wonderful, parts of it were not quite so good.
A view of edwardian values , a culture clash and some snooty people. There is also a profound exploration of 'character and virtue'
I am intending on reading more by this author A passage to India maybe then I will see how he develops as a writer I guess.

With this little novella, I have definitely become a fan of Forster. Like A Room with a View, The English characters travel to Italy and are changed by their experiences there. The novella has love, cultural misunderstandings, violence, and romanticism, all wrapped into masterful storytelling. It was Forster’s first book, and it is a gem!

It didn’t take long to read, but it will stay with me for quite awhile. My edition had 117 pages with a very short introductory paragraph that I wish were longer,because, as with any really good story, I wanted to read more about the book.

The edition pictured above is not the one I read, but I couldn’t find mine among the editions listed in Goodreads. I read a 1993 paperback edition by Dover Publications, which sold originally for $1.50 US, $2.50 Canada, and £1.25 UK — this amuses me. I bought my copy used for $4.99, but would have paid more had I known how very much I would enjoy it.

Upper middle class family go to "rescue" the offspring of their son's widow (fathered by her new Italian husband; she died in childbirth). Evocative Italian setting and surprisingly "modern" idioms and turns of phrase ("Dinner was a nightmare.") and attitudes of some of the characters. Unexpected ending.

I think Forster shines in his nuanced depictions of cultural misunderstanding. This book is fairly short and therefore lacks the scope of his more popular works, but I’m not sorry to have read it. I had several laughs.
Favorite quote.
“She was silent. This cruel, vicious fellow knew of strange refinements. The horrible truth, that wicked people are capable of love, stood naked before her, and her moral being was abashed...The comfortable sense of virtue left her.”

This book has everything! Love, Romance, Violence, Cursing ("damn"), smut (from a coal-driven train engine), Sibling rivalry, Opera, nudity (naked baby), marriage, hysteria, death, TOURISM! It is hilarious, it is tragic. In Forster's first novel, he shoots endless insults at upperclass English society, and every single snark is a beautiful shining poison dart. Every discomfort and ridiculous trait stand out in bold relief during international travel.

This book is too often overlooked in E.M. Forster's oeuvre. It is short but priceless. He pities no one. All his characters are flawed, petty and peevish. They are unable to contain themselves within a lush Italian countryside village. I laughed and groaned aloud. Oh, the tender, awkward embarrassment (and terror) of a young English person in love!

Forester’s do-or-die question is: ‘Wilt thou love?’ Having read four of his novels—all very different in their plot—the underlying theme seems consistent in all. Is this a drawback or monotonous? Not to me as it happens to be something I often wonder myself, although my pondering tends to run along the why and how lines: ‘Why and/or how can some people so repeatedly and insistently refuse to love?’ Or maybe, continue to think that ‘being good’ is the same thing when it is not.

I needed to let a little time pass before writing this review on Where Angels Fear to Tread* — to allow my own emotions to cool. Because although the novel begins conventionally enough, for me at least, it ends on a piercingly poignant note, hauntingly so.

Romance being one of my least favorite genres and the word ‘sweet’ one which usually makes me cringe, both—in their best sense—seem appropriate here. Forster further delights with his dry humor, vivid characterizations, and near-perfect depictions of English period manners and conversations. I can’t speak for the authenticity of the Italian element, except to say I enjoyed that as well.

This was Forster’s first novel and many here on GRs critique it pretty severely. While they are trying to write something which is half as good I will probably check out another by him. Sadly, there are only a few left I haven’t read. Of course there’s always rereading! That’s amore!

*In doing some research I discovered there is an old (1990s) movie of this book—which I now very much want to see.



April 30, 2017: Listening to this as I exercise... I love Forster, so it should provide ample motivation to keep me coming back to work out.

Hey booklady, if you want to find out what happened you must work for it!

"For fools rush in where angels fear to tread"
Alexander Pope
E.M. Forster wrote this, his first novel, when he was 26 years old. It starts lightly, with a comic vein, but ends in tragedy. It was an engaging read.

3.5