Reviews with content warning for Suicidal thoughts - Maurice: A Novel

Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

Maurice: A Novel by E.M. Forster

91 reviews

mmefish's review against another edition

3.75

emotional reflective medium-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

Hall was a man who only liked women—one could tell that at a glance.

“Maurice” is a sweet book that touches on topics such as identity, love, religion and class. It’s a shame that it couldn’t be/wasn’t published earlier, since I think it would tremendously help other men struggling with their sexuality in 1920s.

“To make the most of what I have.” Not to crush it down, not vainly to wish that it was something else, but to cultivate it in such ways as will not vex either God or Man.

Even though I struggled a little bit with the writing (outdated British slang maybe?), the realistic portrayal of the characters made it worth it.

‘After all, is not a real Hell better than a manufactured Heaven?’

Content Warnings

michelangelo1987's review against another edition

4.5

dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

This book is sooo beautifully written. every emotion the mc has is accurately conveyed through the writing. since english is not my first language, i’ve always had the fear of not understanding books that were written so long ago but this wasn’t as snobby as i expected it to be. tbh it wasn’t complicated nor simple it was just cleverly written in an in-between. as for the actual story, as devastating as it was, i’m glad it developed the way it did. the messy process of heartbreak and self-doubt and shame was so hard to read and definitely heart-wrenching and it’s exacerbated once you realize that this was the 1910s meaning that if you were queer, finding someone like you and who you liked must have been excruciatingly difficult and a heartbreak must have felt 10 times worse. it also meant having to deal with the shame, disgust, and sense of wrongdoing inflicted upon you by society. and none of this was easy. and more so if you take into account there was almost no source of information you could get to realize you weren’t actually wrong. you weren’t damned. also there was no representation out there for you to see yourself reflected on and know that there were people out there like you and there was nothing wrong with it. which meant that believing whatever bullshit you were being fed by people was easy. on the other hand, i really loved how the effects of religion on queer people are addressed. i’m generally a sucker for that kind of conversation around religion and queerness and this book served to the point where it made me reconsider a few things. as for clive, i never quite understood him. i want to think that maybe he was ace but i honestly can’t tell.

the fact that he suddenly stopped liking men was weird to say the least. i mean it served for a heartbreaking plot twist but was it realistic? at first i tried to think that maybe he wasn’t really attracted to men to begin with but thought he was because of his misogyny but by the way he described his feelings for maurice and for other men in his past he was genuinely attracted to men at least in a romantic way. so he definitely did like men at some point. then i thought maybe he’s bi and just stopped loving maurice and started loving a woman and that’s why he feels like he doesn’t like men in general anymore but he said that he’s no longer interested in men and actually thinking about men disgusts him. when it comes to sexualities i tend to accept them as they come but this didn’t make much sense to me. and after he stopped liking men he became a completely different person from who he was just close to a year earlier going from happily wanting to spend his whole life with a man to being a homophobe who slut shames his ex lover and gaslights him into believing he has a disease he can be cured of. he went from being free from conventions to enforcing them. and i don’t say this as a complaint for the writing because i could see this happening as a result of his newly found socially accepted heterosexuality but it still feels weird that he found it in the first place.

now for the negative side. the only reason i’m not giving 5 stars is because of the main characters’ classism, elitism, and misogyny. their takes on poverty and class were outrageous and privileged af and i’m glad that other characters noticed them because that means that the author is aware that they weren’t okay and made sure there was someone calling them out. aside from that, it is explicitly said that they were misogynists because they saw women as incapable of doing anything that wasn’t trivial and whatever they did seemed silly to them. despite the mcs having intellectual debates about things, they failed to maybe take into consideration the fact that sexism and misogyny might be at fault for women not being able to participate in their intellectual exchanges since their opinions were always disregarded.

in conclusion, despite it having some questionable decisions and some problematic things going on, this story paints an excellent picture of the struggles of queer people in a heteronormative society of the twentieth century and is one of the most touching and heartbreaking stories i’ve ever read and one i will definitely remember for a lifetime.

Content Warnings

kaabtik's review against another edition

4.0

emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Despite being short, it was a difficult read, as many of the experiences and thoughts that the characters were experiencing were a little too close to home. E.M. Foster spoke of the loneliness that shrouded Maurice with such clarity that it felt as though I was in the same situation. Either that or it was so familiar that I had little trouble relating to it.

A bit difficult to read what with my copy not really meant to be read on my particular device, but definitely something I'd like to get a physical copy of some day.

Content Warnings

serendipitysbooks's review against another edition

4.0

emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Maurice is a classic that follows Maurice Hall from childhood through university and into adulthood. At the centre of the story is his homosexuality, particularly his university relationship with Clive Durham, his attempts to find a “cure”, and then his later relationship with Durham’s under-gamekeeper Alec Scudder. I didn’t necessarily like most of the characters. I found the classist attitudes off-putting, although I do recognise their authenticity. I certainly appreciated the plight Maurice, Clive and even Alec faced (interesting to note that Alec seemed less conflicted by his homosexuality and to mull over possible role class played in this) and recognise Forster’s courage in writing if not publishing this book while homosexuality was illegal. It captures well the angst and agony of those who had to repress their true self or risk social ostracism, not to mention the possible legal ramifications.

Content Warnings

carrionkid's review against another edition

5.0

A very quick read, but one that was written well before it's time. The afterward from the author about how it sat unpublished for decades because it dared to have a happy ending served only to increase it's impact. The characters are witty and human and the pacing is very natural and effortless. A wonderful period piece and a touchstone of queer history.

Content Warnings