Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

Maurice by E.M. Forster

94 reviews

cowardlyteaman's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad 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

5.0

I was very positively surprised by this book.

I must say, that my hopes weren't too high after The Picture of Dorian Gray was so infamously known for it's early homosexual representation, which imprisoned Oscar Wilde. Although the uncensored version includes a tirade of a clearly homosexual confession, the remaining book was really just Dorian being corrupted by his own and others' obsession with his beauty. Which is gay, but not homosexual.
However, that was not the case here! Forster did not try to hide a clearly homosexual story behind something else — it's very explicitly about Maurice's journey to finding himself.

It's written well and it was surprisingly efficient for a classic. I often feel like classics have a lot of ... irrelevant tirades to show off the author's education and intellect. I was never bored or felt urgent to skip parts during this read.

As for the characters, they all clearly have issues. I do love that there are flawed characters here. Maurice is explicitly described as a dumbass every other chapter.
And on that note, I find the balance with humour especially pleasant. The dialogue is very realistic to me and I like how it reflects human nature.

It's not too long and it was a great read to get me out of a reading slump.
It's noteworthy that I'm a gay man myself and might find the book slightly more engaging than others, but anyone with an interest in classical romance dramas would enjoy this. It has the forbidden love, classism, the internal conflict, betrayal, and all that, only with two men rather than a woman and a man.

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erynlasbelin's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

5.0

I love this book more than I could possibly say.

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xiaqine's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

A wonderful book especially considering the time in which it was written exploring how a gay man lived in a world of intolerance. 

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themoostconfused's review

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challenging emotional reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

3.75


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sweetlilly93's review

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emotional hopeful informative reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

Maybe my expectations for this book were just too big to be met properly, but I really have to admit that this book dissappointed me. Important from a perspective of literature history and especially queer history nevertheless.

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saskia_ej's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0


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yolanda_h's review

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emotional reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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thepictureofromance's review against another edition

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reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

The writing in this book was superb, I like Forester's style and he's really quite funny!!

I unfortunately am giving it three stars rather than four because every single character in this story is a bit of a twat, Although I enjoyed the story, I could not find myself rooting for any of them and having a character I can truly root for is what takes a story from good to great in my opinion!!

I was also frustrated at the ending. I am not a fan of books with open endings. Is it so hard to give proper closure?!

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jwells's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful reflective
Eye opening to read about what life was really like, for a gay man a century ago. There's no way to find a community, not even language for him to describe himself. It's a very honest book, especially considering when it was written.

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affectionatelyrs's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional inspiring sad 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

4.25

Such a beautiful, tragic story. Makes me ache for my queer family members in spirit who still have to live the way Maurice and Clive did in the 1900s. Alec is my beloved.

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