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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
Read after watching the movie. Absolutely fell in love with the settings, the storylines and the characters. The whole thing is dreamy and to me a perfect romance novel. Also love the themes of the time and the author’s takes.
Life, so far as she troubled to conceive it, was a circle of rich, pleasant people, with identical interests and identical foes. In this circle, one thought, married, and died. Outside it were poverty and vulgarity for ever trying to enter, just as the London fog tries to enter the pine-woods pouring through the gaps in the northern hills.Wonderful, and more than simply entertaining! From the very first page, I loved the narration; it's written in an endearing and charming manner, so pleasurable to read, and with cutting humour, as our all-knowing narrator points out the hypocrisies and ironies rooted in Edwardian society. It's impossible not to laugh at many of the narrator's observations. This book would have been a joy to read for that alone, but I was surprised that I was fully swept away by the story; you see, romance is not usually my genre. But, here, the transformation of our protagonist Lucy is remarkable and a thrill to watch unfold: from a naive girl fearful of even thinking for herself to a brave woman who is fully capable of standing up for herself. I loved how by the end of the book she called out
Spoiler
both sides of the love triangle, the supposed "good guy" as well as the "jerk". I will say I was slightly disappointed by the very final chapter and I do kind of wish Lucy had just upped and left for Greece as planned! Sorry, like I said, I'm not the romantic! Having said that, I can see that George is not the worst of romantic heroes.
emotional
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
I felt kind of guilty about how much I enjoyed this book. It follows the trials and travails of upper middle class British people and marriage. That being said, it is a fun and interesting read. Forster is quietly subversive and somewhat subverts the whole genre. There are some interesting ideas about how modernity has redefined the idea of love, marriage, and match making. How an older version of "romance" stifled people, although how even those that seem to hold up the old ways can quietly subvert it with some self-reflection.
I read a later version of the book that had an afterward by Forster about where the characters might be after 40 years. Hearing where the characters went from the ending was enlightening, in particular how decisions have long ranging effects for good and bad.
It was a lot of fund to read, and I would recommend it (especially for beach reading you don't have to feel guilty about.) That being said, I really can't relate to falling madly in love within 3 meetings and then marrying. I don't understand how anybody anywhere ever thought that was a good idea, except strictly in the system where marriage was more about economics than love.
I read a later version of the book that had an afterward by Forster about where the characters might be after 40 years. Hearing where the characters went from the ending was enlightening, in particular how decisions have long ranging effects for good and bad.
It was a lot of fund to read, and I would recommend it (especially for beach reading you don't have to feel guilty about.) That being said, I really can't relate to falling madly in love within 3 meetings and then marrying. I don't understand how anybody anywhere ever thought that was a good idea, except strictly in the system where marriage was more about economics than love.
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I remember being pleasantly surprised by this one; Forster's prose was lovely to read. After a lecture one day during my BA I remember walking into the city centre of C. to find somewhere to sit down and read as it was such a beautiful winter day. As I was walking down North Street I spied my lecturer, my favourite lecturer, D., heading up East Street. I tailed him in hope of talking with him as I always enjoyed doing so but he disappeared into the bank before I caught up to him. So, I rather pathetically sat down on one of the benches in the street and began reading so when he emerged again he would spot me and I would be able to talk to him. Sometime later I looked up from my book and saw him unfastening his bike from a rack and setting off, without spotting me at all; I let him go, because I knew I wouldn't be able to feign surprise at finding him there in the street, and figured he would, somehow, know that I had been sat waiting for him outside the bank the whole time. Instead, I went and read A Room With a View by C. Cathedral.
Re-read this aloud with Kate. It's such great, funny, insightful, romantic and wonderful stuff.
I have a very vivid memory of reading E.M. Forster's "A Room with a View" while sitting in a tent somewhere on a camping trip out west. So, I thought this was a probably a re-read for me.... but now I think I just made that memory up. I was certainly familiar with the plot, as the Helena Bonham Carter movie was on endless repeat on HBO when I was young so I knew I loved the story.
The novel tells the story of Lucy Honeychurch, who lives in the repressed Victorian age where young women do what they're supposed to rather than following their passions. She gradually and quietly wakes up as the story progresses.
This book was straight up my alley... the writing is great and full of marvelous little insights. Nostalgia may have pushed this up a bit to 5 stars for me, but it's a book I definitely wouldn't mind reading over again.
The novel tells the story of Lucy Honeychurch, who lives in the repressed Victorian age where young women do what they're supposed to rather than following their passions. She gradually and quietly wakes up as the story progresses.
This book was straight up my alley... the writing is great and full of marvelous little insights. Nostalgia may have pushed this up a bit to 5 stars for me, but it's a book I definitely wouldn't mind reading over again.
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Avoid the 1992 "pre-echo"/"bleed-through" Books on Tape edition (and its later repackaged versions)
[4] for "A Room with a View"
[1] for the 1992 audiobook by [a:Frederick Davidson|10072|Frederick Davidson|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]
I'm not going to distort the rating for the Edwardian meet-cute romantic-comedy classic "A Room with a View" due to a bad audio experience, so the official vote here is a [4].
Otherwise, this is a warning to steer clear of the 1992 Books on Tape audiobook by Frederick Davidson which is badly dated in style but is still being sold as recently as 2017 at Audible Audio. It also betrays its audiotape analog pedigree due to its constant pre-echo / audio bleed-through. This is a quirk from the vinyl/tape era where the audio signal from about 2-3 seconds in the future would "bleed-through" as a artifact in the current signal. The effect is like hearing a phantom distorted conversation constantly in the background of the actual audio that you are listening to. It is enormously annoying and distracting.
Frederick Davidson (real name [a:David Case|20429|David Case|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/m_50x66-82093808bca726cb3249a493fbd3bd0f.png]) was an early legend of the audiobook era and recorded many hundreds of classics. His reading style will seem very old-fashioned now but is still suitable for some characters e.g. Cecil Vyse in the case of "A Room with a View."
[4] for "A Room with a View"
[1] for the 1992 audiobook by [a:Frederick Davidson|10072|Frederick Davidson|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]
I'm not going to distort the rating for the Edwardian meet-cute romantic-comedy classic "A Room with a View" due to a bad audio experience, so the official vote here is a [4].
Otherwise, this is a warning to steer clear of the 1992 Books on Tape audiobook by Frederick Davidson which is badly dated in style but is still being sold as recently as 2017 at Audible Audio. It also betrays its audiotape analog pedigree due to its constant pre-echo / audio bleed-through. This is a quirk from the vinyl/tape era where the audio signal from about 2-3 seconds in the future would "bleed-through" as a artifact in the current signal. The effect is like hearing a phantom distorted conversation constantly in the background of the actual audio that you are listening to. It is enormously annoying and distracting.
Frederick Davidson (real name [a:David Case|20429|David Case|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/m_50x66-82093808bca726cb3249a493fbd3bd0f.png]) was an early legend of the audiobook era and recorded many hundreds of classics. His reading style will seem very old-fashioned now but is still suitable for some characters e.g. Cecil Vyse in the case of "A Room with a View."