Reviews

Passaggio in India by E.M. Forster

melinda13's review against another edition

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2.0

I’ve read several EM Forester books and loved them all. This was a huge disappointment as I found it boring and the characters dull and mostly unsympathetic except Aziz and Mrs. Moore. The racism is tough too.

sallytreanor's review against another edition

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3.0

This is my least favorite of the three Forster novels I've read. I hate to blame it on the central female character, but I found her insufferable. To be fair, that's the point. When you contrast Adela's naivete with that of Lucy in A Room with a View, it's a bit easier to see the problem here. Where Lucy's lack of experience makes her more open, less afraid, the opposite is true of Adele. The more she purports to want to see the real India, the more ultimately self-interested she appears, and the consequences are too drastic to forgive her that flaw. She's the worst. I think I'm supposed to think better of her in the end, but that will never happen. That's not a particularly enlightened reaction to a classic literary work, but sometimes I just can't be smart--only pissy.

bombycillacedrorum's review against another edition

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3.0

3.5 probably? Great Forster prose as always and interesting as a 1924 Englishman’s take on why colonialism sucks, but also as racially awkward as you’d expect from that.

ferranguallar's review against another edition

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5.0

Extraordinària novel·la d'extraordinaris personatges, escrita amb coneixement, profunditat psicològica i ironia. Si parlés amb tòpics, diria que, a més, m'ha transportat de tornada al país de països que és l'Índia, però com que no ho faig, no diré res

tolstoj4ever's review against another edition

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5.0

This book was a very pleasant surprise, the plot was so rich, encapsulating both the atmosphere of India and the complexities of characters. Though it did rely on stereotypes to depict the English and the Indian people, it did so jovially, with self-awareness I think, peaking with a self-deprecating message. I really enjoyed the lyrical descriptions of the nature and the festivals of India, as well as the dynamic dialogues of the quick-witted main character, Aziz. The more I read, the faster the pages were turning. Throughout the book, there is a constant tension between the English and the Indians (obviously), despite this, there is constant effort to be friends. The last passage really really shows this:

"And Aziz in an awful rage danced this way and that, not knowing what to do, and cried: 'Down with the English anyhow. That's certain. Clear out, you fellows, double quick, I say. We may hate one another, but we hate you most. If I don't make you go, Ahmed will, Karim will, if it's fifty or five hundred years we shall get ride of you, yes, we shall drive every blasted Englishman into the sea, and then' - he rode against him furiously - 'and then,' he concluded, half kissing him 'you and I shall be friends.'
'Why can't we be friends now?' said the other, holding him affectionately. 'It's what I want. It's what you want.'
But the horses didn't want it - they swerved apart; the earth didn't want it, sending up rocks through which ridrs must pass single-file; the temples, the tank, the jail, the palace, the birds, the carrion, the Guest House, that came ino view as they issued from the gap and saw Mau beneath: they didn't want it, they said in their hundred voices, 'No, not yet,' and the sky said, 'No, not there.'"

Seeing as this was written in the 20s, it makes me happy that the prediction of Aziz did come true. His children did get rid of them, and now, him and Mr Fielding may be friends.

amy__e's review against another edition

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3.0

3.5. Picked up towards the second half of the book

lvbopeep's review against another edition

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4.0

Beautiful, thought-provoking book. The author uses more inner dialogue than I'd normally like but the characters are all so rich and almost always sympathetic that it works.

julan1027's review against another edition

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5.0

Painful, poetic, beautiful, frustrating, poignant, and devastating.

Mrs. Moore has brought the young Miss Quested to Chandrapore, India to see if she might become engaged to her son, Ronny, who is working there as a civil servant. The two women very much want to see and experience the real India, but that is not at all the done thing among Anglo-Indians who do their best to remain separate and exude a sense of superiority at all times. In spite of the best attempts of her son, Mrs. Moore becomes acquainted with Dr. Aziz, a bright young Indian doctor. Her son has been quick to point out that the role of the British in India is not to behave pleasantly toward the the "natives". Meanwhile, Miss Quested is concerned by Ronny's attitudes and at first decides not to marry him, then decides to marry him, and then decides perhaps it was a mistake to agree to marry him. When Dr. Aziz takes the women to the Marabar caves for a picnic, confusion ensues and he finds himself arrested for attacking Miss Quested. His British friend, Fielding, is certain that Dr. Aziz in no way behaved inappropriately, and Mrs. Moore concurs, but the rest of the British community lines up against Aziz and is determined to see him punished.

This novel, written in 1924, exposes the racism rampant within the Anglo-Indian community and their patronizing, highly insulting attitudes toward the Indian population. But more than that it shows how the people of both cultures seem constantly to misunderstand and misinterpret the behaviors of one another. Nothing seems simple because every action or word is thought to have deeper meaning.

salma_175's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious

sarah_tollok's review against another edition

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4.0

I wish I could give separate star ratings for the plot and for the writing itself. The plot is slow and nothing terribly interesting happens until halfway through, and that isn't much. However, I kept reading because Forster just writes so beautifully. His descriptions of the Indian landscape are just amazing, even when he is describing the punishing and baking heat in this passage: "Electric fans hummed and spat, water splashed on screens, ice clinked, and outside these defenses, between a greyish sky and a yellowish earth, clouds of dust moved hesitatingly." Also, read this for the human study that it is. You ease into the characters. You get to know them first as each a stereotype, then they get whittled down to more and more human as the pages turn, despite the differences in time period and culture.