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4.08 AVERAGE
4.08 AVERAGE
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
As a non-native English speaker, I struggled with the writing style and some phrases/words but otherwise loved the book.
It takes Maurice a while to get his head around something (the possibility of loving men and then later that it is not wrong even though society says so or that he can break out of class) and until then he suffers and torments himself. But once he reaches a conclusion, he immediately feels free, fully commits and makes no compromises.
I'm glad he could get over and away Clive, in all regards: romantic, platonic, intellectual. And I'm glad he found Alec and they are willing to make sacrifices to stay with each other.
It's good to see a happy ending for queer people, imagined and written over a hundred years ago. In some way both this book and "The Appendix" which I also just finished come to the same conclusion: that joy can only be found if the longing to fit into mainstream society is abandoned (even or especially through leaving safety and security behind) and one stops ignoring their true self and recognizes and accepts their queerness .
It takes Maurice a while to get his head around something (the possibility of loving men and then later that it is not wrong even though society says so or that he can break out of class) and until then he suffers and torments himself. But once he reaches a conclusion, he immediately feels free, fully commits and makes no compromises.
I'm glad he could get over and away Clive, in all regards: romantic, platonic, intellectual. And I'm glad he found Alec and they are willing to make sacrifices to stay with each other.
It's good to see a happy ending for queer people, imagined and written over a hundred years ago. In some way both this book and "The Appendix" which I also just finished come to the same conclusion: that joy can only be found if the longing to fit into mainstream society is abandoned (even or especially through leaving safety and security behind) and one stops ignoring their true self and recognizes and accepts their queerness .
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Well this was quite the beautiful piece of work - all stiff upper lips & repression with a side class concerns. Stiff other details no doubt. I can see why Forster didn't put it out at the time as it would one suspects have gone down like a lead balloon in the Britain of the 1910s/20s but it is splendid, with a real heartfelt plot and characters where you really feel like you know their inner selves as real people.
The other sadness is Forster's afterword in 1967 where he seems pessimistic about the chances of the Wolfenden Report leading to homosexuality being decriminalised and his not living to see this being proved incorrect in England and Wales.
The other sadness is Forster's afterword in 1967 where he seems pessimistic about the chances of the Wolfenden Report leading to homosexuality being decriminalised and his not living to see this being proved incorrect in England and Wales.
This book is heart-wrenching! And so very important.
"Begun 1913, Finished 1914, Dedicated to a Happier Year” - that statement tugs at your heartstrings from the very start.
It is also a difficult read, on so many levels.
As a modern reader, the stiff/stilted non-conversations are tricky to traverse. There is so much left unsaid and yet plenty of subtext. Very "stiff upper lip"!
Can I just exclaim..? "Clive! How COULD you???" Gargh!
But he is generally quite unlikeable. He sees himself as superior as he's immersed in the classics, and even looks down on his beloved - they are not equals. And his subsequent treatment of poor Maurice is pretty terrible, old chap!
Maurice himself is quite a snob. And yet I found myself longing to find happiness. He's put down by everybody and struggles to find help even when he's brave enough to seek it.
This book really reveals a greater social commentary.
The attitudes displayed towards women and servants are awfully realistic for 1913.
And by the end I was crying. EM Forster died in 1970. This book was published posthumously in 1971. The decriminalisation of homosexuality did not happen until 27 July 1967, as part of the Sexual Offences Act.
EM Forster hadn't sought to publish it before. He knew it couldn't be. And isn't that awful?
btw he also wrote tomes such as Room With A View (to give an indication of style).
Oh, sir, we have come so very far. If only you could now see the openly gay relationships of this modern world. And how gay couples can even be parents. That day you so longed for, it came, sir.
There is still so much further to go. And there are battles ongoing. For some ridiculous reason, there are those in the world who cannot accept the simple fact that love is love. But, it is no longer illegal in the UK, and that's a marvellous leap forwards. You would be so proud!
But getting back to this book; it is an important record of how terribly gay people were treated. And a reminder to never go back to that terrible situation.
The bravery of EM Forster to even write this back in 1913 is astonishing. And the happy ending is what, absurdly, made it unpublishable.
"A happy ending was imperative. I shouldn’t have bothered to write otherwise. I was determined that in fiction anyway two men should fall in love and remain in it for the ever and ever that fiction allows.”
In short, not the best gay book I've read, but it might just be the most important.
"Begun 1913, Finished 1914, Dedicated to a Happier Year” - that statement tugs at your heartstrings from the very start.
It is also a difficult read, on so many levels.
As a modern reader, the stiff/stilted non-conversations are tricky to traverse. There is so much left unsaid and yet plenty of subtext. Very "stiff upper lip"!
Can I just exclaim..? "Clive! How COULD you???" Gargh!
But he is generally quite unlikeable. He sees himself as superior as he's immersed in the classics, and even looks down on his beloved - they are not equals. And his subsequent treatment of poor Maurice is pretty terrible, old chap!
Maurice himself is quite a snob. And yet I found myself longing to find happiness. He's put down by everybody and struggles to find help even when he's brave enough to seek it.
This book really reveals a greater social commentary.
The attitudes displayed towards women and servants are awfully realistic for 1913.
And by the end I was crying. EM Forster died in 1970. This book was published posthumously in 1971. The decriminalisation of homosexuality did not happen until 27 July 1967, as part of the Sexual Offences Act.
EM Forster hadn't sought to publish it before. He knew it couldn't be. And isn't that awful?
btw he also wrote tomes such as Room With A View (to give an indication of style).
Oh, sir, we have come so very far. If only you could now see the openly gay relationships of this modern world. And how gay couples can even be parents. That day you so longed for, it came, sir.
There is still so much further to go. And there are battles ongoing. For some ridiculous reason, there are those in the world who cannot accept the simple fact that love is love. But, it is no longer illegal in the UK, and that's a marvellous leap forwards. You would be so proud!
But getting back to this book; it is an important record of how terribly gay people were treated. And a reminder to never go back to that terrible situation.
The bravery of EM Forster to even write this back in 1913 is astonishing. And the happy ending is what, absurdly, made it unpublishable.
"A happy ending was imperative. I shouldn’t have bothered to write otherwise. I was determined that in fiction anyway two men should fall in love and remain in it for the ever and ever that fiction allows.”
In short, not the best gay book I've read, but it might just be the most important.
informative
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
"Maurice, shall we rewrite history?"
یه کتاب دیگه که باهاش زجر کشیدم.
زیبا
یه کتاب دیگه که باهاش زجر کشیدم.
زیبا
It's interesting reading a book written in the 1910s about homosexuality, but unfortunately I hated Maurice and all his relationships so I wasn't blown away by this. But I'm glad it exists and I'm glad I read it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia