Lorraine Taylor it’s absolutely my favorite because of the humor and you can almost hear gay male humor. I love him so much. He’s my favorite author. I must subscribe. Have read everything by him even the prose. Thank you so much.
I am almost 50 years older now than Forster was when he wrote "Where Angels Fear To Tread." He was only 26 when he published it, and his insights into human character seem more in-depth and wise than could be possible for such a young man. He was a prodigy. "The prose in "A Room With A View" is so perfect that reading it is not only engaging, at times it is exhilarating. I was only 19 the first time I read that one. Thank you for your reviews here, and thank you for introducing E.M. Forster to some who may not have been aware of his genius.
Thank you so much for your review! Just finished my first, of course, Howard’ s End. Just don’t forget the marvellous pictures of James Ivory on E.M. Forster novels. Highly recommend!!
I just read my first Forster book, and it happened to be Howards End! You're right, it was a really good place to start with him and I really enjoyed it--one of my favourite reads of the year so far. Also, you're really good at talking about the themes and overall feel of a book in a concise way--something I need to learn for my own videos, haha. Thanks for making this video! I'll be sure to reference it when picking my next Forster novel (it'll probably be Maurice). :)
Great video, Claudia! I've read Howards End, Maurice, and A Room With a View; I love all three. I don't know why I haven't read the other three novels of his yet, particularly A Passage to India. I should correct that soon!
Yasssss! I love E.M. Forster and I can't wait to read his other 4 books! Howard's End was the first book I read by him and I fell head over heels in love with his prose. The subtlety of human interaction suffused with his brand of humor is brilliant. I wonder which of his books I'll pick up next. (probably Maurice since it's on my shelves)
Maurice is my very favourite, I have also read Howard's End and A room with a View but I plan to read them all (and I should re-read A Room with a View) so it's good to know you enjoyed them all!
The Longest Journey is my favorite novel of all time. The rumination, and the writing and the characters are just - in my personal opinion - so we’ll thought out and the subject matter is brilliant! I truly believe that it is so underrated and overlooked by fans of his works.
Thank you for this video. I’ve wanted to know where to start with Forster for a while and would love more videos like this in relation to classics. What drew me initially to your channel was that I’ve wanted to read more classics beyond Austen (who I love), Dickens, the Brontes and the gothic classics that I read when I was younger, so a ‘Where to start with...’ series is perfect. More please!
Thank you so much! I'll definitely do more of these videos in the future, but I always want to make sure I've read all of a particular author's novels first so I don't miss anything. At the moment, there isn't really a classic author where I can claim that beyond the three other videos I've done in this series.
I needed a quick, short intro on his novels. First time I've watched only one video about a topic, it was so good I didn't feel the need to keep browsing, thank you so much!
Thank you, what a lovely discussion of Forster's work! I still haven't read any of his work, but have definitely been interested in picking up one of his novels, so this is very helpful.
I am familiar with the movie adaptations and I love them. I did read Howard's End decades ago and that is all I have read of his work. I need to rectify that.
I am amazed that you never mention The Machine Stops. I read it for my book club and it is fantastically prescient. It is a book for everyone today because it discusses our dependence on technology. A must read!
I started with Maurice, mostly because i read about it in isherwood's "Christopher and his Kind" and i really enjoyed it. It's gripping and such a different kind of classic and!! It has an actually good movie adaptation, which is a rarity. From there i went on to 'a room with a view', not knowing anything about it, i just found a second hand copy for cheap. I still enjoyed it, but it didn't blow me away like maurice did. Hearing the summaries of his other books here, i can see why 😅 it's definitely the one that would have appealed least to me. Despite that it was still a good read, i really enjoy Forsters humour especially. I'll be looking out for copies of howard's end and a passage to india from now on, those seem the most interesting to me.
My husband brought home the recent adaptation of Howard's End with Hayley Atwell from our public library and I liked it so much more than the one with Anthony Hopkins, that I decided to read the book and enjoyed it thoroughly. So, I've just begun Room... I'm an ethics prof and love literature that complicates morality. I like how Forster has flawed, lovely heroines who have real regrets and loves. I love how Margaret brings the worlds of the novel together. Looking forward to more of his human insights. Enjoyed your vlog! Thank you!
I have not seen any adaptation of Howards End, but I've heard good things about both the 80s and the newer one. Hope you enjoy discovering more of Forster's work!
Why do I feel like you are British. Are you. Well his book A PASSAGE TO INDIA is the most accurate book about the account of the subtle aspects of British cruelty where they despised people because of their color and cast. While they plundered the whole of the subcontinent with such astonishing rigour that they almost reached the skin of the natives the only thing left in India. And when that was done they instigated a religious conflict when it became evident that their so-called empire was under threat from the natives growing unity and rage. And now as a history what we know is major events and numbers of the evils that the British conducted and what we don't know is on ground subtleties of the inequities and crimes of the British. What Forster shows in this book is the mentality of the British during the time. Their foolish sophistication. Thankyou Forster for this incredible book. And no doubt he is the observer of the highest order. I am simply speechless to what Forster has done. It's a masterpiece. And no wonder he is seen as one of the greatest of the century.
I just started reading Howard's End so I did a youtube search and was kinda shocked when you pointed out he died in 1970. Then again that was 50 years ago already.
He lived to the age of 91, and I always wonder what beautiful pieces of literature we missed out on because of his decision to stop writing novels at such a young age
I am still yet to read Maurice and The Longest Journey and I'm particularly keen to read Maurice. Howards End always has to be my favourite but I also love A Room With a View, I love the way the summery environment of the story is contrasted with the strange kind of darkness in the characters.
Agree, quite underrated; one of favorite authors. But - then there's Waugh.... who gives you Foster but with more action in Brideshead and absolutely cuts with the Sword of Honor trilogy - though it helps if you have some familiarity with WWII England
This was a nice overview discussion of Forster’s work. I have read four of the novels. Still have to get to Maurice and The Longest Journey. It’s a long time since I read it however, The Passage to India is probably pretty accurate in it’s depiction of India and the British colonials who served there . Forster had visited India a few times.
Andrea Small: I am mistaken, you are right. Memory can be unreliable at times. I thought I had read somewhere that his mother was Indian. After a quick search I haven’t seen anything to support my comment.
Spinster's Library: Claudia, you are correct. My comment on Forster’s mother being Indian is wrong. I based it on faulty recall. I thought I had read that somewhere.
My issue with Maurice is that Forster creates such a complex background for Clive at the start but then completely abandons him later on in the novel. Out of all the characters in the book its Clive that I find utterly compelling. But his sudden change of heart doesn't make sense.
I think if you watch the movie it makes more sense. There is something that happens in the movie that really turns clive into the internalized homophobe false heterosexual we see in the book. The movie is also just really aesthetically pleasing and beautiful, def does justice to the book in my opinion
@@midwest_princess123 Thanks Jake ... from your namesake, Kit Hesketh Harvey (And did you know that we Harveys genuinel ARE al related? 'Battle-worthy', and clansmen of the contes de Dijon WAYYY back?) ) I did the screenplay for the film adaptation, and - thirty years later - your endorsement of it means a great deal to me. It proved more battle-worthy than as a callow scriptwriter I had realised.
I think it's a really well done adaptation! It's faithful to the book, really well written and the characters are really well cast. The only real difference to the book is that they made Maurice a bit more likeable. In the book he's kind of an arsehole, and not the brightest.
@@SpinstersLibrary He's still kind of an asshole though especially to Ada, his sister. The biggest difference is Riseley's arrest. I was never completely sold on Clive's change of heart or sudden "normalcy" so the adaptation gave urgency and a valid reason to Clive's decision to marry. But yes, Maurice is a bit of a himbo especially in contrast with Clive's philosophical and intellectual nature.
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