Reviews - Howards End Illustrated

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1.4k reviews for:

Howards End Illustrated

E.M. Forster

3.82 AVERAGE

lilywiggans's review against another edition

3.5

emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

lukebryan's review against another edition

3.0

challenging reflective sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

This one dropped off a cliff, hard. The writing was interesting to begin with, and it brought up some very interesting points; however, it would have been much more rewarding if it was cut in half. The sheer lack of the representatives of poverty, the Basts, is also a form of insult - the rich live essentially with impunity. Howards End really did have potential, as Forster does write interestingly! It just gets a bit too muddled to see the story through satisfactorily.

Content Warnings

an_enthusiastic_reader's review against another edition

4.0

My history tells me that I read this book the first time in 2003. I do not recall the act, nor did I remember a bit of the plot. But this time around, I found a thoughtful novel about propriety and class and morality of the age, and see with clarity the hypocrisies between how rich men let themselves off the hook yet hold women to a standard of behavior meant to keep them from rising to equality. And the writing! If you like Woolf, you'll likely enjoy Forster. Take a gander at this luscious long sentence:

"Here _______ lay dead in the garden, from natural causes; yet life was a deep, deep river, death a blue sky, life was a house, death a wisp of hay, a flower, a tower, life and death were anything and everything, except this ordered insanity, where the king takes the queen, and the ace the king." Wonderful stuff.

lexarobinson's review against another edition

3.5

challenging informative reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

My overwhelming memory of Howards End will be how cleverly it was written: Forster's writing style is intricate, interesting and enjoyable. The first and last 100 pages are exceptional, interwoven with excellent social commentary and with the premise manifesting well, however the book suffers a slump in the middle which I found a bit of a slog.

aeb3ub's review against another edition

4.0

4.5 stars.

barrypierce's review against another edition

2.0

I started out liking this. I was even thinking this was going to be my first four-star novel of the year. However, as Howards End progressed I found myself caring less and less about what was going on. By the time I was 50% of the way through I was just waiting for it to finish. I felt the exact same way about [b:Where Angels Fear to Tread|454912|Where Angels Fear to Tread|E.M. Forster|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1311647821s/454912.jpg|2153548]. Maybe it's Forster's prose? I don't know. I think Forster and I are going to have a turbulent relationship.