Reviews - A Room with a View

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3.92k reviews for:

A Room with a View

E.M. Forster

3.78 AVERAGE

jadorian's review against another edition

4.0

hopeful lighthearted relaxing slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

esmeloa's review against another edition

3.75

funny reflective

Strong character development: Yes

A witty novel about love, class and sex. A love letter to love. Exquisite writing. I did feel like quite some parts went over my head, since it's quite subtle and rather packed for its length, so in some way I'm not completely sure what to think. However I really enjoyed reading this novel (although I had a hard time getting into it at first), and reflecting with the characters. I'm curious about Forster's other works!

jesforeverlostinbooks's review against another edition

3.0

slow-paced

“…there is only one perfect view—the view of the sky straight over our heads, and that all these views on earth are but bungled copies of it." … “He carried her to the window, so that she, too, saw all the view.”

So I have mixed feelings about this classic A Room with a View… I read it as part of a classic buddy read & we plan on watching the movie later this month. I’m pretty sure I’ll enjoy the movie more than the book. I just struggled with the writing. This is supposed to be a romance but it’s just lacking. for example when the male MC kisses the female MC that is all the author writes… he kisses her. It lacks passion although this book is supposed to be about a passionate young woman who struggles with society rules. Lucy Honeychurch is young woman in the restrained culture of Edwardian Era England. Set in Italy & England, the story is both a romance & a humorous critique of English society. It was mildly entertaining, & my favorite character was Mr. Emerson… he is sweet, unconventional & full of wisdom. Unfortunately his son George sadly was a very blah character. And Lucy was kind of boring until the moment she breaks up with her lame fiance & all of the sudden I’m invested… it seemed like the writing became more beautiful after that. It definitely was a slow start, but Forster managed to win me over in the end.

“It isn't possible to love and part. You will wish that it was. You can transmute love, ignore it, muddle it, but you can never pull it out of you. I know by experience that the poets are right: love is eternal.”

“It is obvious enough for the reader to conclude, "She loves young Emerson." A reader in Lucy's place would not find it obvious. … She loved Cecil; George made her nervous; will the reader explain to her that the phrases should have been reversed?”

chole_12's review against another edition

4.0

challenging hopeful 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

readerinthebright's review

4.0

Because I read this book in bits and pieces I'm going to have to reread it for full compréhension. I will say the ending was lovely though

pye's review against another edition

4.5

funny hopeful lighthearted reflective 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

This was a reread, which I don't often do, but I made an exception for this book because it's one of my favourites! I also read it while I was in Florence, which was fun, even if not very original.

There's a lot to love about this book: the tongue-in-cheek descriptions of British tourists in Italy which still ring true even today; the beautiful descriptions of Tuscan and Surrey landscapes; and the author's vivid and engaging writing style, for example.

I particularly love old Mr Emerson, whose philosophies and passionate advocacy for sincerity over politeness struck a chord with me this time around even more than they did on my first reading. His son, though, says my favourite lines: "We cast a shadow on something wherever we stand, and it is no good moving from place to place to save things; because the shadow always follows. Choose a place where you won't do harm - yes, choose a place where you won't do very much harm, and stand in it for all you are worth, facing the sunshine."

In other words, do as little harm as possible, but for the love of god, get as much joy out of this life as you can! This is a really useful lesson that I always find I benefit from. I'm also someone who wastes a lot of energy anxiously trying not to be a burden to others, so George's quote, combined with the example of Miss Bartlett, are a welcome reminder not to overdo it!

Although I feel like this book isn't for everyone, as the middle section can be more dull than the beginning and end, and it includes some old fashioned views about women (despite being a progressive book for its time), it is special to me on a personal level.

I can read a lot of parallels between Lucy and a former version of myself, before I got into my relationship with my partner. Like the protagonist, I was at risk of becoming a Miss Bartlett: closing my heart off from happiness for fear or because I had ideas of how I "should" have lived instead, instead of welcoming the rare gift of real love when it presented itself to me. Reading this story is a warming reminder of how I let myself be vulnerable to love, and the way it has helped to soften my life.

It's quite a short book, but it contains a lot of joy, and several thought-provoking maxims that you'll probably find yourself mulling over for a while after you've put it down. I think A Room with a View is going to be a lifelong favourite of mine!