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A review by michaeljohnhalseartistry
Maurice by E.M. Forster
3.0
I just finished my fourth novel of the year, Maurice, by E. M. Forster. I have one more book to read before I’ll film my YouTube video. I’m doing reviews of the books I read in blocks of five at a time, so, watch out for that. You can check out my other YouTube videos here.
Okay, so Maurice. This was actually my second time reading it. I’d read it once before a few years ago and hated it. But, I tend to re-read books I’ve hated because I find that a lot of factors can impact my reception to books, I could be in a bad mood, or having a hard time with something else and can’t really relate to what I’m reading.
My second time reading Maurice, I was actually surprised how much I liked it. I was expecting to hate it once more, the first time I’d read it, I had no idea what was going on, who was who, and was bored out of my mind, but this time I thoroughly enjoyed it. Maurice is the story of a same-sex romance between the title character and two other men. Forster wrote it in 1913, but it wasn’t published until after his death in 1971, because he thought it was unpublishable.
While the story is at times bittersweet and the relationship between Maurice and his friend Clive is actually very beautifully portrayed, there was still a lot that I found lacking with the novel. One of the big things for me, was Forster’s writing style. A few times he’d write how the characters were having these deep, philosophical conversations and life-changing exchanges, but he never showed it through dialogue. And that kind of bugged me, because I love dialogue… and come to think of it, not one of the books that I’ve read this year has had decent dialogue… hmm. However, despite my dissatisfaction with the dialogue, I did love his descriptions of life and emotion. One of my favourite lines from the book reads: When love flies it is remembered not as love but as something else. Blessed are the uneducated, who forget it entirely, and are never conscious of folly or pruriency in the past, of long aimless conversations.
The second thing that bugged me was Maurice himself. I could not stand his character. I must have a problem with title characters… Maurice, Harry Potter… I never like the characters the books are named after. Maurice seemed to me, very melodramatic and whiny. He’s incredibly rude to his mother and sister, and doesn’t think about anyone but himself. And I found it ironic, because much of the novel exhausts itself by trying to paint Clive as the selfish one.
In the end, I can see myself reading this one again. It wasn’t my favourite in these last four novels I’ve read, but I think there was a lot of beautiful descriptive writing that’s characteristic of early 1900 literature… and I love that kind of stuff.
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FOR MORE BOOK REVIEWS, PHOTOS, AND MY OWN NOVEL SERIES, CHECK OUT MY BLOG:
www.michaeljohnhalse.wix.com/michaeljohnhalse
Okay, so Maurice. This was actually my second time reading it. I’d read it once before a few years ago and hated it. But, I tend to re-read books I’ve hated because I find that a lot of factors can impact my reception to books, I could be in a bad mood, or having a hard time with something else and can’t really relate to what I’m reading.
My second time reading Maurice, I was actually surprised how much I liked it. I was expecting to hate it once more, the first time I’d read it, I had no idea what was going on, who was who, and was bored out of my mind, but this time I thoroughly enjoyed it. Maurice is the story of a same-sex romance between the title character and two other men. Forster wrote it in 1913, but it wasn’t published until after his death in 1971, because he thought it was unpublishable.
While the story is at times bittersweet and the relationship between Maurice and his friend Clive is actually very beautifully portrayed, there was still a lot that I found lacking with the novel. One of the big things for me, was Forster’s writing style. A few times he’d write how the characters were having these deep, philosophical conversations and life-changing exchanges, but he never showed it through dialogue. And that kind of bugged me, because I love dialogue… and come to think of it, not one of the books that I’ve read this year has had decent dialogue… hmm. However, despite my dissatisfaction with the dialogue, I did love his descriptions of life and emotion. One of my favourite lines from the book reads: When love flies it is remembered not as love but as something else. Blessed are the uneducated, who forget it entirely, and are never conscious of folly or pruriency in the past, of long aimless conversations.
The second thing that bugged me was Maurice himself. I could not stand his character. I must have a problem with title characters… Maurice, Harry Potter… I never like the characters the books are named after. Maurice seemed to me, very melodramatic and whiny. He’s incredibly rude to his mother and sister, and doesn’t think about anyone but himself. And I found it ironic, because much of the novel exhausts itself by trying to paint Clive as the selfish one.
In the end, I can see myself reading this one again. It wasn’t my favourite in these last four novels I’ve read, but I think there was a lot of beautiful descriptive writing that’s characteristic of early 1900 literature… and I love that kind of stuff.
---
FOR MORE BOOK REVIEWS, PHOTOS, AND MY OWN NOVEL SERIES, CHECK OUT MY BLOG:
www.michaeljohnhalse.wix.com/michaeljohnhalse