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3.47 AVERAGE
3.47 AVERAGE
I had never heard of EM Forster before I started my mission to read quote/unquote the classics. I had also not read much of India either. Then, I had read several fictions set in India, and grew a new appreciation. When I came across this book, it seemed rather basic, but given its "classic" status, I grew excited for it.
It is not at all what I expected. There's a somewhat of a twist in the book, and I think this is where the book really pivots from a mundane tale to something interesting. The first section of the book, one worries about how this book has aged, but the second part of the book really focuses and zooms in on the British-Indian interaction. It was a refreshing break from what the first part of the book was implying. Likewise, the prose of EM Forster makes the book a delight to read. Overally very interesting and aged surprisingly well, in my opinion.
It is not at all what I expected. There's a somewhat of a twist in the book, and I think this is where the book really pivots from a mundane tale to something interesting. The first section of the book, one worries about how this book has aged, but the second part of the book really focuses and zooms in on the British-Indian interaction. It was a refreshing break from what the first part of the book was implying. Likewise, the prose of EM Forster makes the book a delight to read. Overally very interesting and aged surprisingly well, in my opinion.
E.M. Forster was a man ahead of his time in many ways: a secular humanist who wrote about class and culture. It's clear that Forster sides with the colonized Indians, more than his fellow Brits.
"They all become exactly the same, not worse, not better. I give any Englishman two years, be he Turton or Burton. It is only the difference of a letter. And I give any Englishwoman six months. All are exactly alike. Do you not agree with me?"
"I do not," replied Mahmoud Ali, entering into the bitter fun, and feeling both pain and amusement at each word that was uttered. "For my own part I find such profound differences among our rulers. Red-nose mumbles, Turton talks distinctly, Mrs. Turton takes bribes, Mrs. Red-nose does not and cannot, because so far there is no Mrs. Red-nose."
His depictions of Anglo-Indians is quite scathing: the old-timers who pass on their loathing for the native Indians, the recent arrivals who quickly mimic the others, the women who want simply to recreate British society and ignore or erase anything that doesn't fit.
But the lady, entirely stupid and friendly continued: "What I mean is, I was a nurse before my marriage, and came across them a great deal, so I know. I really do know the truth about the Indians. A most unsuitable position for any Englishwoman--I was a nurse in a Native State. One's only hope was to hold sternly aloof."
"Even from one's patients?"
"Why the kindest thing one can do to a native is to let him die," said Mrs. Callendar.
"How if he went to heaven?" asked Mrs. Moore, with a gentle but crooked smile.
"He can go where he likes as long as he doesn't come near me. They give me the creeps."
While his diverse Indian characters are painted in a better light, they (especially his main character Dr. Aziz) are realistically flawed. Aziz, a Muslim (or Mohammedan, in the vernacular of the novel), is sometimes vain, looking down on those less attractive than himself or Hindus of a lower class, such as an elder doctor from his hospital. He runs hot and cold, which is partially his character and partially because his fate is so often out of his control. When he takes a chance on a British educator and two visiting ladies -- the mother and fiancee of a recently arrived civil servant -- the consequences are disastrous, with Aziz accused of sexual assault, increasing racial tensions throughout the city.
While there is a conflict at the heart of the novel, so much of it is languid and proper, so in the characters' heads, while not entirely knowing them, that it's a bit like being rocked to sleep by the motion of a train. In other words, sometimes this novel feels a little boring. (The only other Forster novel I've read is [b:Howards End|38374795|Howards End|E.M. Forster|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1518837828l/38374795._SX50_.jpg|1902726], back before I was writing reviews, but I remember feeling the same way with that one -- alternately intrigued and bored.) As a consequence, I'm vacillating between 3 and 4 stars, but the clever, brilliant bits are enough to make me round up.
As part of my classic-of-the-month project, this summer is devoted to white people (two British men & an American woman) writing about Asia: this book, [b:The Good Earth|1078|The Good Earth (House of Earth, #1)|Pearl S. Buck|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1312497600l/1078._SY75_.jpg|2346070], and [b:The Painted Veil|99664|The Painted Veil|W. Somerset Maugham|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320421719l/99664._SY75_.jpg|1069201]. I've purposely picked books that (hopefully) aren't ragingly racist.
"They all become exactly the same, not worse, not better. I give any Englishman two years, be he Turton or Burton. It is only the difference of a letter. And I give any Englishwoman six months. All are exactly alike. Do you not agree with me?"
"I do not," replied Mahmoud Ali, entering into the bitter fun, and feeling both pain and amusement at each word that was uttered. "For my own part I find such profound differences among our rulers. Red-nose mumbles, Turton talks distinctly, Mrs. Turton takes bribes, Mrs. Red-nose does not and cannot, because so far there is no Mrs. Red-nose."
His depictions of Anglo-Indians is quite scathing: the old-timers who pass on their loathing for the native Indians, the recent arrivals who quickly mimic the others, the women who want simply to recreate British society and ignore or erase anything that doesn't fit.
But the lady, entirely stupid and friendly continued: "What I mean is, I was a nurse before my marriage, and came across them a great deal, so I know. I really do know the truth about the Indians. A most unsuitable position for any Englishwoman--I was a nurse in a Native State. One's only hope was to hold sternly aloof."
"Even from one's patients?"
"Why the kindest thing one can do to a native is to let him die," said Mrs. Callendar.
"How if he went to heaven?" asked Mrs. Moore, with a gentle but crooked smile.
"He can go where he likes as long as he doesn't come near me. They give me the creeps."
While his diverse Indian characters are painted in a better light, they (especially his main character Dr. Aziz) are realistically flawed. Aziz, a Muslim (or Mohammedan, in the vernacular of the novel), is sometimes vain, looking down on those less attractive than himself or Hindus of a lower class, such as an elder doctor from his hospital. He runs hot and cold, which is partially his character and partially because his fate is so often out of his control. When he takes a chance on a British educator and two visiting ladies -- the mother and fiancee of a recently arrived civil servant -- the consequences are disastrous, with Aziz accused of sexual assault, increasing racial tensions throughout the city.
While there is a conflict at the heart of the novel, so much of it is languid and proper, so in the characters' heads, while not entirely knowing them, that it's a bit like being rocked to sleep by the motion of a train. In other words, sometimes this novel feels a little boring. (The only other Forster novel I've read is [b:Howards End|38374795|Howards End|E.M. Forster|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1518837828l/38374795._SX50_.jpg|1902726], back before I was writing reviews, but I remember feeling the same way with that one -- alternately intrigued and bored.) As a consequence, I'm vacillating between 3 and 4 stars, but the clever, brilliant bits are enough to make me round up.
As part of my classic-of-the-month project, this summer is devoted to white people (two British men & an American woman) writing about Asia: this book, [b:The Good Earth|1078|The Good Earth (House of Earth, #1)|Pearl S. Buck|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1312497600l/1078._SY75_.jpg|2346070], and [b:The Painted Veil|99664|The Painted Veil|W. Somerset Maugham|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320421719l/99664._SY75_.jpg|1069201]. I've purposely picked books that (hopefully) aren't ragingly racist.
Favorite Quotes:
Life never gives us what we want at the moment that we consider appropriate. Adventures do occur, but not punctually.
God has put us on earth to love our neighbors and to show it, and He is omnipresent, even in India, to see how we are succeeding.
Sensuality, as long as it is straightforward did not repel him, but this derived sensuality - the sort that classes a mistress among motor-cars if she is beautiful, and among eye-flies if she isn't - was alien to his own emotions . . . It was, in a new form, the old, old trouble that eats the heart out of every civilization: snobbery, the desire for possessions, creditable appendages; and it is to escape this rather than the lusts of the flesh that the saints retreat into the Himalayas.
Kindness, more kindness, and even after that more kindness. I assure you it is the only hope.
There are many ways of being a man; mine is to express what is deepest in my heart.
It is easy to sympathize at a distance,' said an old gentleman with a beard. 'I value more the kind word that is spoken close to my ear.
The conversation had become unreal since Christianity had entered it. Ronny approved of religion as long as it endorsed the National Anthem, but he objected when it attempted to influence his life. (Ronny is the worst)
Ronny’s religion was of the sterilized Public School brand, which never goes bad, even in the tropics. Wherever he entered, mosque, cave or temple, he retained the spiritual outlook of the fifth form, and condemned as ‘weakening’ any attempt to understand them.
How indeed is it possible for one human being to be sorry for all the sadness that meets him on the face of the earth, for the pain that is endured not only by men, but by animals and plants, and perhaps by the stones?
There are different ways of evil and I prefer mine to yours.
Life never gives us what we want at the moment that we consider appropriate. Adventures do occur, but not punctually.
God has put us on earth to love our neighbors and to show it, and He is omnipresent, even in India, to see how we are succeeding.
Sensuality, as long as it is straightforward did not repel him, but this derived sensuality - the sort that classes a mistress among motor-cars if she is beautiful, and among eye-flies if she isn't - was alien to his own emotions . . . It was, in a new form, the old, old trouble that eats the heart out of every civilization: snobbery, the desire for possessions, creditable appendages; and it is to escape this rather than the lusts of the flesh that the saints retreat into the Himalayas.
Kindness, more kindness, and even after that more kindness. I assure you it is the only hope.
There are many ways of being a man; mine is to express what is deepest in my heart.
It is easy to sympathize at a distance,' said an old gentleman with a beard. 'I value more the kind word that is spoken close to my ear.
The conversation had become unreal since Christianity had entered it. Ronny approved of religion as long as it endorsed the National Anthem, but he objected when it attempted to influence his life. (Ronny is the worst)
Ronny’s religion was of the sterilized Public School brand, which never goes bad, even in the tropics. Wherever he entered, mosque, cave or temple, he retained the spiritual outlook of the fifth form, and condemned as ‘weakening’ any attempt to understand them.
How indeed is it possible for one human being to be sorry for all the sadness that meets him on the face of the earth, for the pain that is endured not only by men, but by animals and plants, and perhaps by the stones?
There are different ways of evil and I prefer mine to yours.
I was supposed to read this in highschool but never made it to the picnic to the cave.
I think it was good that I didn’t read it back then because I would have been unable to appreciate what Forster attempted to achieve in this book.
I think it is a well done attempt to examine the relationship of English and Indian. Of race and social status. I can see how some would consider this boring, but after years of examining racism and it’s role in our world, I appreciate what Forster did in this book.
I think it was good that I didn’t read it back then because I would have been unable to appreciate what Forster attempted to achieve in this book.
I think it is a well done attempt to examine the relationship of English and Indian. Of race and social status. I can see how some would consider this boring, but after years of examining racism and it’s role in our world, I appreciate what Forster did in this book.
On some levels I really liked this book. And for an English writer in the 1920s it was no doubt brilliantly enlightened.
As a depiction of colonial prejudice, of our attitudes and behaviours, it was incisive. As a tale of misunderstandings and failed communication it was painfully authentic. But its characterisation of India and Indian people as inherently unknowable to the Western mind is very grating, 100 years on.
I'm always wary of British colonial takes on colonised people and this book hasn't changed that!
As a depiction of colonial prejudice, of our attitudes and behaviours, it was incisive. As a tale of misunderstandings and failed communication it was painfully authentic. But its characterisation of India and Indian people as inherently unknowable to the Western mind is very grating, 100 years on.
I'm always wary of British colonial takes on colonised people and this book hasn't changed that!
A Passage to India is a classic and considered by many to be Forster's greatest work, published in 1924, following Forster's visit to India in 1912–13 and his duration as private secretary to Tukojirao III, the Maharajah of Dewas Senior in 1921–22.
Set in the 1920s during the British occupation of India, A Passage to India revolves around four central characters — Dr. Aziz, Mr. Cyril Fielding, Mrs. Moore, and Miss Adela Quested. During a visit to the fictional Marabar Caves, — which have been established as confusing, strange, and labyrinthine, Adela panics and flees, believing that Dr. Aziz has assaulted her. However, whether it was a genuine attack or simply a reaction to the cave's atmosphere remains unclear. Aziz's trial brings to the forefront the racial tensions and prejudices between the Indians and British during the colonial era. The story offers a fascinating look at the complex relationships between colonizer and colonized, highlighting the challenges of cultural understanding and communication in a divided world.
Forster does his usual magnificent job of setting up his characters, dissecting them with social and cultural issues and stereotypes, and laying the groundwork for his viewpoints while still leaving room for further analysis and discussion. An interesting point with this one is that when it was first published, the main contention was the appropriateness of the friendship between two of the main male characters, but later critiques have centered around the sexualization and the use of the stereotypes Forster molded into the novel.
While I found this novel fairly interesting in terms of a contemporary account of an anti-colonialist viewpoint from an established author, Forster seemed so intent on making his points for the audience of the time accessible, clear, and cutting, he didn't bring up his usual quiet subtly that I appreciate from him with [b:Howards End|38374795|Howards End|E.M. Forster|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1518837828l/38374795._SX50_.jpg|1902726] and [b:A Room with a View|3087|A Room with a View|E.M. Forster|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388781285l/3087._SY75_.jpg|4574872]. And certainly those novels also sport his viewpoints on class and society, but they do so in a more nuanced way. Here, Forster is a little more heavy-handed and long-winded. I had trouble staying engaged with the story and the characters, and I believe that's simply because Forster's focus wasn't on that aspect for this novel. But it is hard to lay down exactly where my present day lens is coming into play and where I would've landed were I a reader of the time.
Audiobook, as narrated by [a:Vikas Adam|6925432|Vikas Adam|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1446478529p2/6925432.jpg]: I cannot impress upon you how outstanding a job Adam did with this narration. The performance alone was spectacular, but the range of voices was beyond amazing. I honestly checked no less than three times that this wasn't a full-cast performance. Seriously, he was that phenomenal.
Set in the 1920s during the British occupation of India, A Passage to India revolves around four central characters — Dr. Aziz, Mr. Cyril Fielding, Mrs. Moore, and Miss Adela Quested. During a visit to the fictional Marabar Caves, — which have been established as confusing, strange, and labyrinthine, Adela panics and flees, believing that Dr. Aziz has assaulted her. However, whether it was a genuine attack or simply a reaction to the cave's atmosphere remains unclear. Aziz's trial brings to the forefront the racial tensions and prejudices between the Indians and British during the colonial era. The story offers a fascinating look at the complex relationships between colonizer and colonized, highlighting the challenges of cultural understanding and communication in a divided world.
Forster does his usual magnificent job of setting up his characters, dissecting them with social and cultural issues and stereotypes, and laying the groundwork for his viewpoints while still leaving room for further analysis and discussion. An interesting point with this one is that when it was first published, the main contention was the appropriateness of the friendship between two of the main male characters, but later critiques have centered around the sexualization and the use of the stereotypes Forster molded into the novel.
While I found this novel fairly interesting in terms of a contemporary account of an anti-colonialist viewpoint from an established author, Forster seemed so intent on making his points for the audience of the time accessible, clear, and cutting, he didn't bring up his usual quiet subtly that I appreciate from him with [b:Howards End|38374795|Howards End|E.M. Forster|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1518837828l/38374795._SX50_.jpg|1902726] and [b:A Room with a View|3087|A Room with a View|E.M. Forster|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388781285l/3087._SY75_.jpg|4574872]. And certainly those novels also sport his viewpoints on class and society, but they do so in a more nuanced way. Here, Forster is a little more heavy-handed and long-winded. I had trouble staying engaged with the story and the characters, and I believe that's simply because Forster's focus wasn't on that aspect for this novel. But it is hard to lay down exactly where my present day lens is coming into play and where I would've landed were I a reader of the time.
Audiobook, as narrated by [a:Vikas Adam|6925432|Vikas Adam|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1446478529p2/6925432.jpg]: I cannot impress upon you how outstanding a job Adam did with this narration. The performance alone was spectacular, but the range of voices was beyond amazing. I honestly checked no less than three times that this wasn't a full-cast performance. Seriously, he was that phenomenal.
Lovely if on occasion it may come across as naive.
Do not read directly after to Kill a Mockingbird. It will give you a burning rage against bigotry and prejudice.
A remarkably interesting and insightful novel. Takes a little effort to get into it but once you do you can't help but be absorbed by the characters and settings created by Forster. Each character has their virtues and flaws and each perspective can be understood. It is impressive how Forster's story of hopeful harmony amid a chaotic world can still have value today, more than half a century after it was published.
As someone both Indian and British, reading this 100 years after publication, the spectre of colonialism does continue to haunt
(3.5 stars rounded up I need to read around to fully process)
(3.5 stars rounded up I need to read around to fully process)