A Room with a View, by E.M.Forster

My third reading but I couldn't finish it this time. Something about the stuffy people he writes about was too obvious in the actual narrative. I felt like Forster himself was quite stuffy and not always very nice. Some of the characters begin to feel dull, rather than teased for being dull. Cecil is such a twonk.

Forster is excellent at some things, like his abrupt narrative changes. 'That was all', he segues from one passage. It reminded me of the way one chapter in Howards End opens with the sentence, 'Several days passed.' That is such a clever way to bring out all the tension of the social situation he is describing.

Knowing how it will end doesn't help this book on a re-read, although I'm not sure why. When I read Forster a decade ago his prose was so exciting and now it seems so mannered.

Hopefully I'll feel differently next time.

If you haven't read it, you probably should. (US link).

If I've put you off, the film really is excellent, and full of stars. (US link).

If you are only going to read one Forster novel, read Passage to India. (US link).

His favourite was the underrated book, The Longest Journey. (US link). If I read him again, it will probably be that.