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3.47 AVERAGE
3.47 AVERAGE
slow-paced
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A heartbreaking, beautifully written book. This is my third Forster novel, and I see now that one of his major themes is the way society constructs barriers to human connection. In the case of this novel, it's the friendship between an English man (colonizer) and an Indian man (colonized). Can these two men be friends, when all of society seems to be against them? A wonderful book.
Never been a fan of Forster's work, so I have no idea what compelled me to read this. Despite his talent for details and dialogue, something about this work doesn't really come together right. The novel is in such a rush to achieve profundities about the human condition and how we're not so different after all, etc. that the supporting character development and narrative is never fully realized. I don't know. Wouldn't recommend this one.
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is a book where not a lot happens and most of the characters are downright unlikeable. But, somehow, it still manages to be a good book. I think there's more truth in it then books where the people of different cultures just magically get along, because they share some experience. Life is more complicated than that, in general.
have, i think, run into the same issues both times i've come to a passage to india, which is that what i'm tensed for as the ending in fact happens two thirds of the way through, and then there's more. which means that when the end does actually come, i'm a little fatigued and estranged. i think there's something artful in that - imperialism doesn't end with one triumph, a reflection of the apathetic putting-up-with of fielding, the introduction of new blood (perpetuation) but a refusal to engage with its ideas, so old ways and old failures persevere - but that kind of appreciation only comes in hindsight. otherwise, gorgeously, smartly written. i think the commentary on women is interesting. insightful as a british perspective on india. i would have to read more to say more; would that i better remembered my undergraduate lectures.
I only made it to page 100. I rarely don't finish books, but I was bored out of my mind with this one. I might finish reading it someday if someone tells me it's worth reading.
