Reviews with content warning for Misogyny - Howards End

I think my rating for this might be a little low. I went into it with a very different idea of what kind of book it would be, and it didn't manage to grab me very well. If I read it again with the fact that it was meant to be a symbolic book about the changes in society around the early 1900s, I might have a higher opinion of it, but as it is, I didn't enjoy reading it very much.

I did very much like the ending (though that might somewhat be because I'd figured out the book by then). The characters were eh, but they did have some good development. I might try to read it again someday, but not for a while. It was hard for me to get through.

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iarlais's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This is an adventure story where the characters don't really adventure so much as ocassionally move between houses. Rather, the true adventure lies in the slow but strong transformation of the characters and their roles as the novel continues. If you were to read about everyone as they were in the first few chapters, you would be surprised to find out how much they've changed in the last few. To a certain extent, things happen because they happen, but overall the novel is very much driven by the characters' strong personalities that clash and bounce off each other. This novel tackles so many themes of class, sexuality, and gender wonderfully well, and succeeds in fleshing out these themes as well as its many characters. There's so much between the lines that call for endless analysis. I have never read an E.M. Forster novel before, but I can see why this one is regarded as his magnum opus.

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kerrence30's review against another edition

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funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

The epitome of the style of time in terms of phrasing and creating a atmosphere without words. Interesting how the themes of class and entitlement are explored. A much more relaxed view on society than early 19th century literature, and a strong sense of familiarity is created by the dialogue used.

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pippyv's review against another edition

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challenging slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

A series of misadventures with very little to do with one another. Surely feminist by the standards of the time, but I'm a modern reader and even taking that into account it's amazingly offensive to women. The male characters are presented as competent and able while all but the main female characters are vapid, shallow, and too stupid to know what's going on. The main female characters are both "not like other girls" until a man needs them at which time the shut up and become good little women. Throw in some broken morals and you get a story that aged quite like milk.

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