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4.08 AVERAGE
4.08 AVERAGE
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
the way queer love is written in this book is so amazing to me
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Such a gorgeous book - though dated perhaps, one can get lost in and familiar with Maurice and his emotional journey.
Having first encountered it as a confused teenager I somehow kept from reading it. Am I glad I did, as the older me can better grasp the meaning and morale of the tale.
For one, to have a classic novel that has a happy end for a male pair of lovers makes it remarkable, and the way it breaks down Edwardian society makes it seem not so different from our own. A story about the choices we make, the little lives we lead, the men we meet and the hero we all become.
Having first encountered it as a confused teenager I somehow kept from reading it. Am I glad I did, as the older me can better grasp the meaning and morale of the tale.
For one, to have a classic novel that has a happy end for a male pair of lovers makes it remarkable, and the way it breaks down Edwardian society makes it seem not so different from our own. A story about the choices we make, the little lives we lead, the men we meet and the hero we all become.
This is my second Forster read, after A Room With A View. The two books share some similarities, but I feel that I can really see the maturation and deepening of Forster's writing in this one.
There's something ephemeral about this story, which I only began to really think about after reading the authors note, where he states that the greenwood into which the couple escaped at the end does not exist any longer. When the comfort of wilderness disappears, where do people hide then?
Let the record show that my reading experience of this book was altered due to a heat warning and a fever during the middle of my reading experience. For the former, this was my outdoor book and do u think I want to sit outside and read this when its hot as balls? What am I supposed to do? Read it inside? Puhlease. As per the latter, I was taken ill with a fever preventing me from reading/going outside to read. I really felt like one of those girls in Jane Eyre that get a fever and die 2 days later. Their immune systems were actually so bad like thats crazy. (Evolution, Baby!) However, I do wish that I was prescribed a trip to the ocean as they were wont to do. But I digress, Jane Eyre is not the classic that we are here to talk about today. Today we are here for Maurice!
I broke my classics ban for this book. Was it worth it? Yes and no.
Normally with classics I am missing a lot of the nuance, that was the case with this one. That would be because at some times I dont know exactly what's going on but I have a general idea. This really is unfortunate when you think about it because there are so many cool books that i'll never truly understand because I dont have the right brain cells. Thank god Forster does short chapters because it made the book very readable. I had a good time with this read but I do think that the classics ban will be reinstated.
Was I missing nuance when Maurice and Alec got together at the very end? Like Alec threatened to out him as gay and thus send him to jail. Maybe I'm missing something idk. because I know this book is considered to have a happy ending. I mean it certainly does have a happy ending in the sense that the gay man finds love and remains safe which was groundbreaking at the time it was written. Maybe I'm looking at it too much with a modern gaze.
Kinda crazy to me that people said "fuck" and "bitch" back in 1910. It just seems weird. I've never seen either used in a classic before.
The end chapter was very fun, Maurice was a real boss handing it to Clive at the end. His line " I was yours once 'till death if you'd cared to keep me, but I'm someone else's now - I can't hang about whining forever - and he's mine in a way that shocks you, but why don't you stop being shocked, and attend to your own happiness?" Thats a bar!! You could have had him Clive but you dropped the ball!
The afterword was also fun to read. Forster seems like a real fun and funny fellow. It really is crazy that he wrote this book, which many consider his greatest work, and he never knew if it would ever be published because he didnt know if it would ever stop being a crime to be gay. I absolutely loved that he was clowning on other big writers a bit in his afterword, he seems like a real g.
I broke my classics ban for this book. Was it worth it? Yes and no.
Normally with classics I am missing a lot of the nuance, that was the case with this one. That would be because at some times I dont know exactly what's going on but I have a general idea. This really is unfortunate when you think about it because there are so many cool books that i'll never truly understand because I dont have the right brain cells. Thank god Forster does short chapters because it made the book very readable. I had a good time with this read but I do think that the classics ban will be reinstated.
Was I missing nuance when Maurice and Alec got together at the very end? Like Alec threatened to out him as gay and thus send him to jail. Maybe I'm missing something idk. because I know this book is considered to have a happy ending. I mean it certainly does have a happy ending in the sense that the gay man finds love and remains safe which was groundbreaking at the time it was written. Maybe I'm looking at it too much with a modern gaze.
Kinda crazy to me that people said "fuck" and "bitch" back in 1910. It just seems weird. I've never seen either used in a classic before.
The end chapter was very fun, Maurice was a real boss handing it to Clive at the end. His line " I was yours once 'till death if you'd cared to keep me, but I'm someone else's now - I can't hang about whining forever - and he's mine in a way that shocks you, but why don't you stop being shocked, and attend to your own happiness?" Thats a bar!! You could have had him Clive but you dropped the ball!
The afterword was also fun to read. Forster seems like a real fun and funny fellow. It really is crazy that he wrote this book, which many consider his greatest work, and he never knew if it would ever be published because he didnt know if it would ever stop being a crime to be gay. I absolutely loved that he was clowning on other big writers a bit in his afterword, he seems like a real g.