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aisabel_'s review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
draganana's review against another edition
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
m0nkeyl1ce's review against another edition
4.0
This is definitely a book of its time especially with it's male Anglo-centric views of the world. If you read it as a period piece though, it is amazingly well constructed with fairly deep characters. One thing you really take away is the authors affection for Italy and rather damning attitude toward English society.
If you're a fan of turn-of-the-last-century literature this is certainly one of the canonical examples and a pretty good book to boot.
If you're a fan of turn-of-the-last-century literature this is certainly one of the canonical examples and a pretty good book to boot.
tabbieparker's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
ladydewinter's review against another edition
3.0
While certainly not Forster's best novel, it's definitely worth reading if only for his narrative voice. I love his sense of humour and while it's obvious he's still trying to figure out how best to use his voice (actually I suspect that is true even for an author's last novel) I still enjoyed reading this.
(I have to say though that everything involving The Baby felt like he had never seen one in real life. It's like in those romance novels where one character has a kid and they always feel like a prop and never like a character. But tbh that made the tragedy of the book easier to bear at least for me. It feels a lot less abstract. Probably not what Forster intended, but hey.)
And I really liked Ruth Padel's introduction.
(I have to say though that everything involving The Baby felt like he had never seen one in real life. It's like in those romance novels where one character has a kid and they always feel like a prop and never like a character. But tbh that made the tragedy of the book easier to bear at least for me. It feels a lot less abstract. Probably not what Forster intended, but hey.)
And I really liked Ruth Padel's introduction.
grrrlstyle86's review against another edition
3.0
Many a time it had a wonderfully beautiful sentence that stands the test of time, or that cuts to the hypocrisy of his dumb characters, but every once in a while it reminds you it is written over a hundred years ago by a flippant sexist remark, hmph! But it seemed as if these characters were purposefully not fleshed out, instead standing in for entire nations and ideologies.
willpittams's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Italian man so lazy and horny it literally kills about four English people