Lisa's Reviews > Howards End

It has taken me years, and I have finally met E.M. Forster through his classic novel Howards End. Written in the early 1900's when Britain was a colonial empire, suffragettes were beginning to march, and London's boundaries were encroaching into previously rural areas, this novel explores the themes of class and privilege, capitalism, colonialism and imperialism, and sexism. Forster also asks us to think about what contributions we make to our worlds.

The writing in this story is good; the dialogue sparkles. I think the characterization, though not nuanced is good too; I get a clear picture of each and can recognize all of these types. I find myself applauding the speeches that resonate with me and hissing at the words and actions that I abhor. In other words, I am quite caught up in the story.

A few quotes that provoke some thought for me:

"I don't like those men. They are scientific themselves, and talk of the survival of the fittest, and cut down the salaries of their clerks, and stunt the independence of all who may menace their comfort, but yet they believe that somehow good--it is always that sloppy 'somehow'--will be the outcome, and that in some mystical way the Mr. Basts of the future will benefit because the Mr. Basts of today are in pain."

"Charles had never been in such a position before. It was a woman in revolt who was hobbling away from him, and the sight was too strange to leave any room for anger."

"Now she understood why some women prefer influence to rights. Mrs.Plynlimmon, when condemning suffragettes, had said: 'The woman who can't influence her husband to vote the way she wants ought to be ashamed of herself.' "

"It is only that people are far more different than is pretended. All over the world men and women are worrying because they cannot develop as they are supposed to develop. Here and there they have the matter out, and it comforts them. Don't fret yourself, Helen. Develop what you have; love your child. I do not love children. I am thankful to have none. I can play with their beauty and charm, but that is all--nothing real, not one scrap of what there ought to be. And others--others go farther still, and move outside humanity altogether. 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."

There are a few passages in this novel that are opaque to me, and they do not interfere with my enjoyment of the story.

If you fancy a step back into late Edwardian era England, I heartily recommend that you start here.

Buddy read with Mark. Mark's review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...