E.M. Forster
Paperback | Pages: 318 pages Rating: 3.97 | 72869 Users | 2903 Reviews
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| Original Title: | Howards End |
| ISBN: | 1984295292 (ISBN13: 9781984295293) |
| Edition Language: | English |
Relation Concering Books Howards End
My review is not a review of Howard's End as much as it is a review of the negative reviews.Most of the criticism seems to be that the readers felt that this book had nothing to do with them. They weren't familiar with the places in England referenced in the book. It was too English. It wasn't universal. True on some counts. This book isn't about you. It isn't about now. It isn't directly relevant to today. It won't feed the soul of the egomaniac.
It is, however, a beautifully written book with a interesting storyline about a time in history that is important in that way that history is important. The novel is not just SETin a pre-World Wars Europe, it is actually *written* before the wars that changed the western world and its literature forever. Moreover, it is written in the period immediately preceding the wars and the presented tension between England and Germany, not written with the advantage of hindight, adds to the books worthiness. Beyond the tension is a modern view of Germany that predates and so is untainted by the horror of the Holocaust. The Germany of Howard's End is a Germany of philosophers and musicians. Not deranged dictators.
Is it important to be able to perfectly picture the setting of every scene in a book? If it is, I'm in trouble. I think I just have pre-painted backdrops for certain things. Bucolic English countryside? Check. 17th century French parlor? Check. Mars circa 3011? Check. My depictions might not be terribly accurate but I'm not going to let that get in the way of a good story.
What is more universal than the tension between wealth and poverty? Between lust and restraint? What is more universal than feeling both the pull of family and the desire to push them away? What is more universal than hypocrisy? What is more universal than the struggle of the sexes to find their proper place in relation to one another. This. Book. Has. Everything. Except you. You're not in this book.
You already know what its like to live here now. What was it like to live there then? Go ahead and read it for the sex and intrigue but stay for the history and the political discussion. If you don't need to see yourself reflected in everything you read you won't be disappointed.
Specify Containing Books Howards End
| Title | : | Howards End |
| Author | : | E.M. Forster |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Deluxe Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 318 pages |
| Published | : | January 29th 2018 by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform (first published 1910) |
| Categories | : | Classics. Fiction. Historical. Historical Fiction. Literature |
Rating Containing Books Howards End
Ratings: 3.97 From 72869 Users | 2903 ReviewsAppraise Containing Books Howards End
Howards End is E.M. Forsters statement on classism, and because he is E.M. Forster, it is the most elegant and romantic comment on the struggle of classes that you will ever read. It begins with a rich, old money family getting deeply upset by the idea of their youngest son getting entangled with a middle-class, bohemian half-German young womanThe Schlegel sisters are from a comfortable but middle-class family, that cares about literature and art more than they do about money and status. TheyNo good deed goes unpunished. That could be the unofficial theme of this novel. I read this as a young adult, loved it, and decided to re-read it after seeing Jeffrey Keeten's excellent review a few months ago. And yes, I still love it, but for different reasons this time around. A much simplified plot synopsis gives us Meg Schlegel, a practical but plain lady of the middle class in England, who, with her sister and brother, live a comfortable life in London, espousing liberal causes and
The title refers to a British country home, not a mansion like a Downton Abbey, but a small comfortable home with charm. (Although it seems that the story is set at about the same time as Downton Abbey.) The story revolves around two sisters who, on separate visits, fall in love with the home and in a very round-about way end up living in it. The main there of the book is British class structure. The two sisters are liberal, using modern terminology. They attend meetings of progressive womens
This novel from 1910 has a lovely Shakespearean flavor of good intentions leading to unintended consequences. Urgent letters between sisters kicks off its engaging plot about the collision between two very different families. The younger sister Helen Schlegel, visiting the rural Howards End estate of the conservative, wealthy Wilcox family, writes to Margaret that she is love with and wants to marry one of their sons Paul (which grew out of a single impulsive kiss). Margaret urges her aunt to
Forster is the Jane Austen of the 20th century. He clearly read her novels and fell in love. And this makes him rather unusual amongst his literary peers. He didnt do anything new; he didnt write with any particular passion or any attempt at breaking a literary boundary. His writing is relatively safe compared to the likes of Joyce or Woolf.But in such safety a certain simple beauty can be found because Howards End is a novel about reconciliation; its about conflict and resolution; its about
What can I say about this book. I loved it!!!I would never have picked it up normally but having seen it recently on BBC, a great adaptation by the way, I was interested in learning more. You know the type of stuff I mean, real feelings and inner thoughts that you can only guess at from the screen. I really liked Margaret. She's a very strong character and the family depend on her totally. She's loyal and loving while still being quite a modern woman for her time.She manages Henry very well.
3.5 stars"A place, as well as a person, may catch the glow. Don't you see that all this leads to comfort in the end? It is part of the battle against sameness. Differences--eternal differences, planted by God in a single family, so that there may always be colour; sorrow perhaps, but colour in the daily grey."Howards End is the second book in my endeavor to re-read all of E.M. Forsters major novels. Having read five of these in my late teens, I decided that it would be fun to approach them with
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