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3.47 AVERAGE
3.47 AVERAGE
"It is impossible to regard a tragedy from two points of view"
"She advanced into his consciousness suddenly. And, fatigued by the merciless and enormous day, he lost his usual sane view of human intercourse, and felt that we exist not in ourselves, but in terms of each other’s minds - a notion for which logic offers no support and which had attacked him only once before, the evening after the catastrophe, when from the veranda of the Club he saw the fists and fingers of the Marabar swell until they included the whole night sky."
a great meditation on the value of perspective, on levels both national and personal. what - or, more importantly - who is the true India? how can we elude the easy snare of tribalism in regarding one another? is there any room for love in these tight spaces? forster is not my favourite stylist, but his themes are prescient and touching - you find yourself reading a passage and suddenly a nugget of truth comes tumbling through the prose and you force yourself to read what you glanced through again to recover that lost line, somewhere
"… she was no longer examining life, but being examined by it; she had become a real person."
"She advanced into his consciousness suddenly. And, fatigued by the merciless and enormous day, he lost his usual sane view of human intercourse, and felt that we exist not in ourselves, but in terms of each other’s minds - a notion for which logic offers no support and which had attacked him only once before, the evening after the catastrophe, when from the veranda of the Club he saw the fists and fingers of the Marabar swell until they included the whole night sky."
a great meditation on the value of perspective, on levels both national and personal. what - or, more importantly - who is the true India? how can we elude the easy snare of tribalism in regarding one another? is there any room for love in these tight spaces? forster is not my favourite stylist, but his themes are prescient and touching - you find yourself reading a passage and suddenly a nugget of truth comes tumbling through the prose and you force yourself to read what you glanced through again to recover that lost line, somewhere
"… she was no longer examining life, but being examined by it; she had become a real person."
adventurous
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I'm amazed by how progressive and relevant to the present this book is, it's an exploration of interracial relationships, race and class and privilege, colonialism and imperialism, difference and prejudices, and it's so intelligently and ethically written. E.M Forster is a writer I admire as a person, for his message and ethics, for his activism against oppression at that time period, for his bold debate and liberal leanings and humanity, for his personal experience and identity that were socially shunned and criminalized as a gay man in England in the early twentieth century. I'm distally acquainted with his writing through the incredible film adaptations of some of his works as a room with a view, Maurice, and howards end, and I'm excited to read more of his works.
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I'm sure this tells a great political and social tale of the clash of India and England, of Indians of all sects and Englishmen.
I'm sure it examines the minutiae of ways and manners within and between Indians of different religious faiths, or the English both Christian and atheist; how there are ebb and flow within and between all these groups in social circles, in the realm of politics and in judicial process.
I'm sure this was a shock and sensation when it first came on the scene a hundred years ago, and worked its magic and achieved its goal, for people to look at each other and themselves with a self-examination they hadn't yet felt the need to perform, and to lead that to a change in behavior towards other.
I'm sure it did, and does, all that.
I just didn't find it very interesting.
That's all.
I'm sure this was all fresh and eye-opening a hundred years ago, but for this reader in 2024 who has read Orwell and Morrison and Baldwin and so many others past and contemporary, there's not a lot here to learn from or be shocked by. What was once ground-breaking is now, for me, well-trodden ground.
And also, what was that whole thing with the bees?
I'm sure it examines the minutiae of ways and manners within and between Indians of different religious faiths, or the English both Christian and atheist; how there are ebb and flow within and between all these groups in social circles, in the realm of politics and in judicial process.
I'm sure this was a shock and sensation when it first came on the scene a hundred years ago, and worked its magic and achieved its goal, for people to look at each other and themselves with a self-examination they hadn't yet felt the need to perform, and to lead that to a change in behavior towards other.
I'm sure it did, and does, all that.
I just didn't find it very interesting.
That's all.
I'm sure this was all fresh and eye-opening a hundred years ago, but for this reader in 2024 who has read Orwell and Morrison and Baldwin and so many others past and contemporary, there's not a lot here to learn from or be shocked by. What was once ground-breaking is now, for me, well-trodden ground.
And also, what was that whole thing with the bees?
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I'm an almost diehard Forster fan, but this book was a little difficult for me to stomach. Everything about it - the plot, the writing, the setting - felt clunky and outdated.
Update: reread in 2024 and feel like it's more of a 3.5 star. Some themes remain eternal and the narrator's ambiguity is interesting.
Update: reread in 2024 and feel like it's more of a 3.5 star. Some themes remain eternal and the narrator's ambiguity is interesting.
Brilliant presentation of the clash of cultures and of the brazenly stupid arrogance of imperialism.
Forrester wrote A Passage to India in part to explore the complex moral dilemma that was the British Raj, refusing to shy away from the immoral institutions of British imperialism and racism in India. However, the author’s stance looses a lot of credibility once it is clear that half of his characters are shallow and stereotypical and the rest are exasperatingly silly. The worse offenders are Dr. Aziz, who suffers from uncontrollable mood swings, and Mrs. Quested, who experiences bizarre hallucinations in a cave. Some of the characters are purposefully written to be the shallow, prejudiced villains of the story, but I could not get away from the fact that Aziz and Quested, who are supposed to be the protagonists, were too busy bursting into tears, making wild accusations and generally behaving like twelve year olds on a field trip to the zoo to be taken seriously. Also, the author refuses to let the narrative speak for itself; instead, he constantly informs the audience about each character, motivation, location and situation, creating a rather boring tour of what was one of the most complex regions in the world during what was possibly the most dizzying culture clash of the twentieth century.
A pesar de que se hace bastante tedioso en algunas partes, resulta interesante observar el choque entre las dos civilizaciones, británica e india, pero además entre británicos con británicos e indios con indios, porque las personas son diferentes entre sí incluso cuando comparten nacionalidad. Este choque viene representado también por la estructura de la narración, ya que los puntos de vista van variando, siguiendo a distintos personajes de la historia y cómo reacciona cada uno ante los diferentes problemas que van surgiendo entre ellos.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes