stargazer

A Room With a View by E. M. Forster

When someone mentions A Room With a View, I get these images in my head of a very young Helena Bonham Carter gallivanting around in an enchanting Florence featuring excessively picturesque scenery. It has been a while since I watched the film adaptation though, which may explain my more muted reaction to the novel.

Young Lucy travels to Italy with her cousin Charlotte. A Room With a View refers to the room they get in the little pension. It also refers to a personality type; some people clearly have a broad outlook in life, whereas others … well…. don’t. In Italy Lucy meets a range of people, who are different and more colourful than her usual circle. These people influence her own views and attitude.

Helena Bonham Carter and Julian Sands in film adaptation

At the core of the novel is a love story, where Lucy has to choose between two men representing two different life choices as well. Should she choose the conventional route and go for the wealthy, hypocritical and rather pompous Cecil, who on paper is the perfect husband? Or the untraditional and mentally unstable George, who is honest and true to his heart? Well, actually there is a third option on the table: To travel the world and see Greece, Constantinople and other places. I was strongly rooting for Lucy to choose the latter option, but of course that wasn’t meant to be.

The contrast between the two life choices and the two suitors is mirrored by the countries (England vs. Italy), nature (indoors vs. outdoors), music and art, rooms (with or without a view), etc. Generally, I found the novel a bit heavy on overt symbolism.

As you may know, I’m not much of a romance reader, so my opinion may be skewed. But the romance plot-line in A Room with a View wasn’t remotely interesting to me1. Cecil was obviously the wrong man for Lucy and it was a mystery, why she accepted his marriage proposal in the first place. But even George didn’t come across as particularly interesting and we didn’t hear much about him at all. Still, I suppose Lucy’s coming-of-age process was the focus of the novel, hence the romance was of less importance.

I enjoyed Forster’s writing and the humour and social commentary made me think of Jane Austen.

All in all, A Room with a View was a charming little story, but rather predictable and at times a bit boring, especially during the last half. It’s amongst Forster’s earliest works and I wonder if I might get on better with some of his later books, which apparently have more meat on them.

Rating: 3 out of 5.
Title: A Room With a View [1908] 
Author: E. M. Forster
Format: Audiobook, narrated by Rebecca Hall
Genre: Classics

A Room With a View is number 32 on BBC’s list of Best British Books.

  1. Incidentally, I didn’t find the romance plot-line in Howard’s End remotely interesting either. Maybe there is a pattern, there. ↩︎

33 comments

  1. A passage to India is a powerful book as I recollect. I would love to read it again. I have recently re-read Howard’s End and I’d highly recommend it as being meaty, along with being another example of his great writing.

    I thought there was some satirical critique in this novel, but it’s so long since I’ve read it that I can’t comment. It may be as you say, that, being an early novel, it’s a bit light on.

    • Yes, you are absolutely right, there was some great satirical commentary on the social norms and class society of that time. Still, that wasn’t enough to keep my attention fixed. Perhaps, I would have enjoyed it more if reading it as a teen. Howard’s End and A Passage to India are both candidates for my next E. M. Forster read.

    • I have had Room on my watch list for a long time, but for some reason, I’ve never got around to it. Thanks for reminding me!

    • I am not sure, I would rush to this one. It was quite sweet, but not exactly ground-breaking! (Well, perhaps it was rather ground-breaking back then with a heroine who didn’t at all behave the way women ought to behave, but I meant when reading it today…).

    • I wonder if I will remember this one for a long time to come? Potentially, I may remember the scenes from the film adaptation better than the book.

    • Nah, I wouldn’t rush to reread this one. I think, I might have enjoyed it more if reading as a teenager.

  6. I’ve read it once and seen the film once, but don’t have any inclination to revisit! Not generally a Forster fan, although I did read A Passage to India a few times as I studied it. Probably if you’re going to try any more, that would be the one.

    • I don’t mean to revisit this one either. Yes, A Passage to India might be a good suggestion. Like A Room with a View I’ve watched the film adaptation, but I remember very little.

  7. I’m not crazy about Forster although I’ve found his books to be memorable, which is my definition of a classic. I haven’t read A Room With a View but am tempted after reading your review. I generally miss symbolism in stories so feel as if I would like to read it while your comments are fresh in my mind!

    • I don’t know if A Room with a View really is memorable? Some of the scenes from the film adaptation stood out very clearly to me even before reading the book, but I didn’t remember any details. However, if you are in the mood for something relatively light, with some wonderful satire and great Italian setting, then give it a try! It was the latter part, which took place in England, which I struggled with.

  8. Thanks for this review. I did love the movie but your review reminded me I have not yet read the actual book, and I’ve got a “classics” challenge prompt so I think I may grab the audiobook and give it a go.

    • Compared to many other classics, it was easy accessible and the Italian setting was very charming. So not a bad choice for a “classics” prompt.

  9. Years since I read this and I don’t really remember my reaction now, which suggests I neither hated nor loved it. I agree with the other people who’ve suggested A Passage to India, and another one that is very quirky but enjoyable is The Machine Stops – a kind of science fiction from 1909 looking at his future which is surprisingly close to our present…

    • A Passage to India sounds like a good suggestion, but The Machine Stops intrigues me. I always wonder how good artists, writers and scientists of today are in predicting what the world will look like in 100 years. Personally, I would have thought they would be far off, so it’s surprising if E.M. Forster got it relatively right 100 years ago!

  11. I’ve watched this film so many times that when I eventually read it I was intrigued by the script writing. Whole passages are almost word for word but they switch the characters speaking them around to build up the characterization quickly – it’s so interesting! It is only slight as you say, and I presume that Cecil has just been chosen for Lucy, but it’s a book that sticks in my mind. When I look at my old sofa I think of Mrs Honeychurch saying ‘ your father bought the drawing room furniture and we shall have to live with it!’ I’m interested in his comments on the London sprawl out into Surrey as well. I think I’ve talked myself into reading it again!

    • Now I think, I may have to watch the film adaptation again. I do have fond memories of it, and it may even be one of the few cases, where I prefer the film over the book.

      I guess the jury is still out re. whether this is memorable for me or not. The film was in some sense memorable, although I think the visuals may have played a large role, since I didn’t remember too much of the story.

      Haha, it’s nice when you can relate to certain sentences in a book, There were a lot of great quotes, although I normally have to read a book several times, before I start to remember them.

  12. Gosh it’s been a long while since I saw that movie with Bonham Carter. She certainly did all the EM Forster parts … also with Howard’s End and Where Angels Fear to Tread … I might be dating myself to say I saw them all … back then … deliciously good. But I should see them now and see if they still hold up decades later …

    • I enjoyed the film adaptations as well. I haven’t watched Where Angels Fear to Tread, but I may have to rectify that. It always feels a bit risky to re-watch films you enjoyed many years ago – you may be disillusioned! Haven’t said that, I am highly tempted to give A Room with a View another go!

  13. I’m very bad with classics, hence, I haven’t read many, this included :S and this being romance (though not its focus), I’m mostly likely to skip it. Thank you for sharing your honest review! I loved it!

    • Haha, I remember that; non of us are keen on romance in our reading! In any case, if you are going to try one of the classics, I wouldn’t recommend this one. Thanks Jee!

  14. I’m grateful for your thoughts, as always, Stargazer. This is one of those classics that I’ve wanted to read but just haven’t gotten to. Interesting about the dose of romance too.

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