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A Room with a View

3.91 of 5 stars 3.91 · rating details · 64,227 ratings · 2,207 reviews

One of E. M. Forster's most celebrated novels, "A Room With a View" is the story of a young English middle-class girl, Lucy Honeychurch. While vacationing in Italy, Lucy meets and is wooed by two gentlemen, George Emerson and Cecil Vyse. After turning down Cecil Vyse's marriage proposals twice Lucy finally accepts. Upon hearing of the engagement George protests and confess...more

Paperback, 240 pages

Published January 1st 2005 by Digireads.com (first published 1908)

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Aug 01, 2009 Elizabeth rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: in-by-of-england, reviewed, in-italy, virginia-woolf-recommends, virginia-woolf-hogarth-bloomsbury

I own a beautiful copy of this book. It's a 1962 pocket edition hardcover printed in England and I have all of Forster's novels in a matching set of them. So when I say that I want to tear this book apart, please understand the very serious implications of that statement.

I want to break the binding, remove each page from its mesh, and lay it out on the table. I want to do this, very badly. I want to do this thing that I would never consider doing to any book, ever (even something by Norman Maile...more I own a beautiful copy of this book. It's a 1962 pocket edition hardcover printed in England and I have all of Forster's novels in a matching set of them. So when I say that I want to tear this book apart, please understand the very serious implications of that statement.

I want to break the binding, remove each page from its mesh, and lay it out on the table. I want to do this, very badly. I want to do this thing that I would never consider doing to any book, ever (even something by Norman Mailer) because it is completely amazing. It is my favorite book. And I want to deconstruct it, physically, because reading it over and over again from the beginning to end hasn't yet shown me how he did it.

HOW DID HE DO THIS! Damn it! Tell me! Forster created a comic novel of social manners in which every character except the young and those with no dialog is the main character. Each and every one: Lucy, Charlotte, Freddy, George, Mr. Emerson, Mr. Beebe, and Cecil, especially Cecil. I somehow think that if I can take the story apart and read it from scene to scene for each character I can see each one's individual development. I will be able to understand how Lucy, whose thoughts we never hear, goes from innocent, to damaged, to loved, to undeserving, to cold, to in love, in 250 pages. I don't know why anyone else bothers to write a coming of age novel about a middle class white girl when this one exists.

And then there are the men. You think of Forster as the old Cambridge don, falling asleep at parties in the fifties, and overly fond of the society of young men (and you'd be right) but his love of young men is most clearly expressed here, not Maurice, when he was fairly young himself. I can't decide if it's actually better expressed in George's silences and joys, or with Cecil's shattering and self discovery. There is a very telling statement made about Cecil at one point, that he is the type that has held England back for a thousand years. You know the type, the pretensions, dry wit of the really well educated English man who thinks he's being clever and doesn't care if it also means he's being rude. He manages to think himself everyone's superior and he tries to collect a young woman (Lucy) who he thinks of as a picture: She was like a woman of Leonardo da Vinci's, whom we love not so much for herself as for the things that she will not tell us. The things are assuredly not of this life; no woman of Leonardo's could have anything so vulgar as a 'story.' Yes, she will not tell him because he does not listen. But then he does; in one of the best scenes I've ever read. It's even better than the deliciously romantic one that comes right before it, which by the way, is fabulously feminist at the same time (not something one would expect from a gay, male author born in the nineteenth century).

So, right, I'm baffled. I'm in awe. Leaving these fascinating men for just a minute, let's return to Lucy Honeychurch and her elder cousin, Charlotte Bartlett. As you read Lucy's story, you're baffled by Charlotte (I am, at least). Here is the classic spinster, the selfish one that displays herself as so unselfish. Prim. Perfectly proper. Totally cold. And as the story unfolds you realize this is actually Charlotte's story as much as it is Lucy's. Does youth learn by example? Clearly not. I don't know how many times I read this book before I realized the connections between them.

And here I am, again, distracted by how rich all these other characters are; I haven't talked about Lucy. That isn't a reflection on her. She's the most complex of the cast, and she gets overlooked sometimes, but not rightly. She is supposed to be overlooked. She's a young woman, a virgin in the old sense of that word, a pucelle, as an Italian might say, and emerging into a world that she doesn't understand. Her muddles are brilliant. The lessons are overwhelming. The beautiful part of what Forster has done here is that she doesn't realize what is happening to her. She experiences these situations that she doesn't know how to interpret. She's had no eduction to prepare her for the real world, which makes her much like most young women of the time, sheltered and protected, and then betrayed because she has not the needed experience to deal with what everyone expects her to be prepared to handle. The scene between Charlotte and Lucy while they are packing is particularly good at showing this. She is damaged by this failure of education. Her life might be ruined by it. And neither Forster or I are talking about her not getting married as the "ruin," there is more to it.

People have described this book to me as simple, a slog, boring, bourgeois, little more than a comedy of manners, and several other rather insulting things that I cannot understand. There are no poor people in this book. It is not The Grapes of Wrath. But it is about class struggle. It is about the English that colonized the world. It is about the perceived moral superiority of these people. And Forster isn't kind to them. He is writing about Truth (capital T). He is writing about love and passion overcoming social barriers. He shows us what type of man England has created in the past (Cecil) and what it might create in the future (George and Freddy). He is challenging the hollow morality and ideals in which they have lived their lives up until now. He sings about freedom and youth and joy (and there is a glorious scene at a sun-dappled pond to illustrate this point).

I feel like I haven't even started to talk about this book, yet. I haven't mentioned the chapter titles. Seriously, the chapter titles are fantastic. Here's one: The Reverend Arthur Beebe, the Reverend Cuthbert Eager, Mr. Emerson, Mr. George Emerson, Miss Eleanor Lavish, Miss Charlotte Bartlett, and Miss Lucy Honeychurch, Drive out in Carriages to see a View: Italians Drive them. Every word in that title is important (and funny). The chapter is barely ten pages long but it is one of the most important of the book. Not only is this a brilliant book but it's really short! I love that! I don't have to wade through twenty pages of description of the scenery or a hundred pages of subplots. There's no need. As wonderful as the Victorians may have been, what Forster manages to contain in his little book makes me admire him more.

I am quickly putting this book away for another few years before I really do rip it up to see the component parts. Just writing about it makes me want to delve back into it to see if I can figure out just what he did. Damn him.(less)

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May 12, 2012 Emily May rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, 2012, 1001-read

3.5
I am in a classics mood, but after my recent completion of War and Peace I decided to try something a little lighter and less than one tenth of the size. This is how I found my way towards E. M. Forster's 130 page novel about a woman who is forced to make a decision between marrying a wealthy man she will never love and a man of lower class who she knows she can be happy with. Funnily enough, I think it was this story's length that slightly let it down for me, had it been a longer book I'm su...more 3.5
I am in a classics mood, but after my recent completion of War and Peace I decided to try something a little lighter and less than one tenth of the size. This is how I found my way towards E. M. Forster's 130 page novel about a woman who is forced to make a decision between marrying a wealthy man she will never love and a man of lower class who she knows she can be happy with. Funnily enough, I think it was this story's length that slightly let it down for me, had it been a longer book I'm sure I would have fallen in love with George as everyone else seems to.

This book was published in 1908 - a time somewhat between eras for British society. Women could own property and were becoming increasingly free, authors like Jane Austen, George Eliot, Charlotte Brontë(&Co.) had taken the nineteenth century by storm, and yet women still did not have the vote and they would be expected to get married young, stay at home, and have babies for decades to come. Into this world strolls Lucy Honeychurch, at first a very naive and typical young woman of the time period. But a woman who, as the book progresses, eventually challenges societal conventions and limitations.

E. M. Forster is famous for his stories about British society and class and hypocrisy. He was a gay man who spent his entire life hiding his sexuality from an unforgiving world made up of expectations and a very black and white view of what was right and wrong. Though his personal struggles weren't made clear until after his death with the publication of Maurice, it is obvious (to me) that A Room with a View is just one of his various attempts to poke fun at the rigidity of class, gender and sexual boundaries.

Lucy longs for independence, freedom from the constrictions of being a woman in 1908, being upper middle class, being a label with a set of rules that she is expected to follow. She wants to live as she goes and define herself in that way, not in a predetermined fashion that stems from centuries of inequalities and the desire for "appropriateness". I cannot tell you just how much I loved this idea, I only wanted a longer story to make it perfect. Lucy is such a charming and interesting character that she could have easily held my attention for double the amount of pages in this incredibly short book. Also, I wasn't quite sold on George and I think I was supposed to be, that the point was that the reader would come to love the man who wasn't as wealthy, who wasn't as well-educated. A little more time to get to know George would have made me happy.
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Jan 11, 2013 Mosca rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: cynical romantics

Recommended to Mosca by: E.M. Forster

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4 1/2 stars.

At first glance this book is simply a romance. At second glance is it a manifesto about romance? And if this is simply a romance, why does this old cynic love it so much?

But upon closer inspection there is more than one protagonist whose journey is being witnessed. And tonight, I can think of at least three characters who have grown significantly, in spite of themselves.

There appear at least two others who have changed significantly in ways that are left...more

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May 04, 2012 Jason Koivu rated it 4 of 5 stars

Youth, love and time on your hands...whatever does one do with it all? What an upper class English lady of the early 20th century does with it is the basis for E.M. Forster's A Room with a View.

I expected more of a Death in Venice kind of languishing prose, but instead it felt, for the most part, more akin to Austen...except when it slipped into a borderline Bronte-esque melodrama. There was the snobbish principles and philosophy du jour as well as serious melancholy to be had in plenty, but to...more

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May 09, 2009 April rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, 2008, 1001-books-list

This is the first book that I've just tipped over in love with in a long time.

Having seen the movie Howard's End, and knowing that E.M. Forster wrote in the late 19th/early 20th century, and having watched that episode of The Office where the Finer Things Club discussed this book, I fully expected it to be a dull, dry slog.

But it was not. It was a pleasure.

Lucy Honeychurch learns that the rules of society can--and sometimes should--be broken. She learns that she doesn't have to love a man just...more

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Mar 23, 2012 Pollopicu rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It's hard for me to believe this is considered a romance novel. It seemed like most of the time there were at least half a dozen people guarding Lucy's virtue. I don't understand how an author can take a character from one extreme to the next.
Up until the last chapter it was about Lucy Honeychurch asserting her independence as a young lady. She didn't seem at all interested in finding romance. She just wanted independence from her family. Lucy's character was flaky. She becomes engaged to Cecil,...more

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Apr 20, 2008 Steven rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 1001

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This is yet another book that I was inspired to read prior to the PBS Masterpiece presentation on Sunday 4/13/08. (Again, I was horribly disappointed in the televison adaptation, but that is another story altogether.) Interestingly enough, this book (or more appropriately, the mention thereof) also crossed my path when it was discussed on a recent episode of the American version of The Office wherein Pam, Oscar, and Toby select this book for discussion as part of their “Finer Things Club.” I got...more This is yet another book that I was inspired to read prior to the PBS Masterpiece presentation on Sunday 4/13/08. (Again, I was horribly disappointed in the televison adaptation, but that is another story altogether.) Interestingly enough, this book (or more appropriately, the mention thereof) also crossed my path when it was discussed on a recent episode of the American version of The Office wherein Pam, Oscar, and Toby select this book for discussion as part of their “Finer Things Club.” I got a bit of a chuckle out of that, but I must say that this book truly was a treat. I was expecting a very stuffy, boring British book, but what I got instead was one of the most romantic and heart-tugging books I have ever read.

This is the story of Lucy Honeychurch, a delicate upper middle class English rose, who visits Italy with her older cousin Charlotte. The room at their hotel in Florence contains no view and shockingly, the Emersons – consisting of the rather strange father Mr. Emerson and the son George – offer their rooms because it does have a great view of the Arno River. Lucy constantly runs into the uncouth Emersons, and George Emerson, because he is a bit of a pimp, gets into the habit of kissing her. Things in Italy are always better. As far as romantic situations go, it doesn’t get much better than Lucy accidentally running into George after a carriage trip in the Italian countryside standing on a terrace covered with blue violets. He “contemplates her as one who has fallen out of heaven,” and kisses her again, and she seems to like it, but George Emerson is definitely below her station and being with him would not be sensible. Lucy and her cousin dash off to Rome to be away from the Emersons.

Lucy returns to Surrey and has agreed to marry the snobbish Cecil Vyse. In a rather convoluted coincidence, the Emersons have now moved into a villa in the same town. Everyone is playing tennis at the Honeychurch’s and George finds a way to kiss Lucy again, pointing out that he is the much better man and that he wants her “to have her own thoughts even when he holds her in her arms.” (Whole lot of ahhh moments in this book.) Lucy eventually realizes that Cecil is not right for her and breaks off the engagement. We already knew this was inevitable after a tremendous passage from Forster where he describes a rather flat kiss between Lucy and Cecil and notes that “passion should never ask for leave when there is a right of way” - one, of many, perfect passages in the book.

Lucy is very confused and eventually runs into Mr. Emerson and he lets her know she is in quite a muddle. Tremendous lines here from Forster about not knowing you are in love with someone even when you are and that “you can transmute love, ignore it, muddle it, but you can never pull it out of you. . . . love is eternal.” Lucy eventually realizes she loves George and the book ends with her and George and the same hotel in Florence, enjoying a room with a view.

A lot I can say about this book, but one thing I will say is that I think it is a better romantic novel than anything Austen has ever done (that I have read as of yet). I say this from the obviously biased perspective of a man. Unlike the Austen male leads who tend to sit back and do nice guy things hoping that the heroines will come to appreciate that they are honorable and decent and deserving of affection, George Emerson knows what he wants and takes proactive steps to go our and get it. My experiences with romantic pursuit, which are indeed quite limited and quite chock full of failures, has indicated that the guys who just sit back trying to be “nice guys” and hoping that the object of their affection will fall head over heels because they do such nice things, tend to end up alone and frustrated. The guys, like George Emerson, who spends a good portion of the novel simply relaying to Lucy that he is the better man, are the one’s that tend to do the kissing. (I could write a bit more on the misguided attempts of so-called nice guys, but I will refrain.) More than that, though, I thought the dialogue and romantic parts of this book were far superior. Matter of opinion, I guess, it just surprises me that this book does not get more play.
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Oct 26, 2008 Ann rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Fans of Austen or Montgomery or Alcott

Recommended to Ann by: Katie!

Shelves: absolute-favorites, character-stories, classics, romance, favorites

What a beautiful story!
I really didn't know what to expect—would this be a character story, a philosophical one, a romance? It ended up being a lovely mix of all three. The story centers around Lucy, a young woman who realizes, for the first time, that she has ideas of her own. In other words, it's about Lucy learning how to make decisions for herself, and learning what she truly wants out of life.
The book is full of delightful characters and beautiful passages. Yet, Forster isn't above seeing t...more

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Apr 17, 2012 Joshua Beachy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

I like the story he's crafted and the characters he's populated it with, but his writing leaves something to be desired at times. Some brilliance does shine through though. Through dialogue mostly. A wonderful example of this is this quote by George Emerson: "It is Fate that I am here. But you can call it Italy if it makes you less unhappy." I love that quote. Another highlight is the conversation between Cecil and Lucy wherein Cecil explains that when he thinks of her he thinks of a view, and w...more I like the story he's crafted and the characters he's populated it with, but his writing leaves something to be desired at times. Some brilliance does shine through though. Through dialogue mostly. A wonderful example of this is this quote by George Emerson: "It is Fate that I am here. But you can call it Italy if it makes you less unhappy." I love that quote. Another highlight is the conversation between Cecil and Lucy wherein Cecil explains that when he thinks of her he thinks of a view, and when she thinks of him, she thinks of a room--a room without a view. It's also said later that there are two types of men in the world: those who remember views and those who don't.

This room and view comparison is, in my opinion, a metaphor for two types of people. The first being people who are closed off within society, with no access to the aesthetic life. The view is that aesthetic life, but it is also the future--a wide open expanse with limitless possibilities. You'll find none of that back in the room. And so, it is a conflict between the past and the future. Which is interesting, considering the title: A Room with a View. Obviously, this is a combination of both the past and the future. The societal safety of an enclosed room with the aesthetic freedom of a view.

There is another aspect of the room and view comparison. It is stated at a certain point that Lucy says to Cecil, "I won't be stifled, not by the most glorious music, for people are more glorious, and you hide them from me." This is easily a call-back to the notion that Cecil is a room without a view, and he would bring Lucy into the room if she would let him. He would surround her with beautiful things--books, art, music--but he would keep her from people. People are the one thing Cecil cannot stand. He grows tired of every person he meets in the book. Forster isn't saying we shouldn't surround ourselves with these beautiful things, but we should never remove people--the view--because people are the most beautiful things. (As a misanthrope, I'm a little inclined to disagree, but I'm just stating what I think Forster was saying in the book.)

George Emerson seems to embody this notion. His father is obviously a radical and a very strange man. George takes after him somewhat, though he is different in many aspects. He's described as "ill-bred" and that he "didn't do," but he is easily the most likable character and obviously has better morals and understanding than the well-bred Cecil, who finds amusement in putting everyone down, so long as they hold nothing for him to gain. George seems like what one would get from a cross between a country squire and a liberal-minded aristocrat: he is philosophical and gentlemanly, but he'll kiss the girl he loves regardless of her fiance being present not a minute earlier, because he "loves passionately."

I think this is what Forster was hoping for the future gentleman to be like. Free of many Victorian restrains, replacing them with true morals and true philosophy rather than hypocrisy and regurgitated knowledge. (I must point out that I do not hold the Victorian lifestyle to be nearly as bad as many of Edwardians and Modernists did, but that's neither here nor there.) If Forster had understood the Medieval mind better, he would've called George medieval rather than that cold and cynical Cecil.

Or maybe I'm over-analyzing the whole damned thing, and it's just about a girl growing up and falling in love.(less)

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Mar 11, 2008 Maggie rated it 1 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Jane Austen fans

I find comedies of manners and WASP dramas about one's place in society so tiring... last night we finally got a true plot development and I woke up a bit. I'm such a bad "girl" reader this way. Cue some action, PLEASE.

UPDATE: I can't keep reading this. Taking it off the bedside table. I am such a bad girl!

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Jun 20, 2011 Jo rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: hometown-glories-uk, gorgeous-prose, just-been-cutting-onions, boy-crush, soul-sister-heroine

After an unfortunate incident with A Passage to India (I left reading it until the last minute because I found it so dull and tedious when I had to read it at university and it almost resulted in my failing of a module), I have been reluctant to return to the works of E. M. Forster.

If there is one thing I learnt from this incident it is this: Don’t leave your essays until the last minute, kids!

But I believe I was suitably punished for my flippant attitude towards my degree because my self-impo...more

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May 15, 2008 Laura rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classic, english-lit

Forster’s most delightful novel chronicles the awakening of Lucy Honeychurch, whose sojourn in Italy broadens her views, and ultimately her life, far beyond anyone’s expectations—not least of all her own! Forster draws the characters with precision, humor, and depth, from the spinsterish cousin Charlotte Bartlett to the priggish fiancé Cecil Vyse (“He was mediaeval. Like a Gothic statue.”). Many laugh-out-loud moments as Forster satirizes an Edwardian middle class desperately clinging to the las...more

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Nov 20, 2011 Lavinia rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, 2011, in-en

"A Room with a View" was one of my favourite films as a teenager, as well as most Merchant-Ivory productions. I saw it on TV one night, then caught the next day rerun and watched it a few more times over the years. I obviously fell for Julian Sands at first, but then I came to love most of the the other characters (to this day I cannot accept Helena Bonham Carter as Lucy and cannot despise Cecil, simply because Daniel Day-Lewis is beyond magnificence).

Reading the book I realised one thing. I pre...more

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Feb 16, 2012 Qt rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to Qt by: Kathryn

Shelves: drama, romantic

What a wonderful book for the Valentine season! I loved the romantic passages, the way some of the characters talked about love, and the beautiful descriptions of nature and scenery; the language and writing style were really lovely, I thought, and there were also some humorous parts as well :-)

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Jun 12, 2007 Alison rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: romantics

Shelves: modernlibrary100best

I wish I had just re-read this book so I could speak to it more justly. This is one of the most romantic books of all time. I wanted to name my daughter Lucy because of this book (Jason vetoed the idea). It's so short and easy to read at least once a year. Love. It.

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May 11, 2012 Angie Palau rated it 5 of 5 stars

I re-read this book for bookclub, and I thoroughly enjoyed it again. I'm such a Monstrous Fan of the wonderful Merchant-Ivory movie production that it's a challenge to look at the book as a stand-alone. In fact, I wasn't particularly successful, since the movie follows the book so faithfully, it was almost like watching the film in my head as I read.

But the characterization is a little different, and social commentary is even more pointed in the book than in the movie. The movie suggested the d...more

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May 10, 2011 Lauraadriana rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: classics, re-read, 1001books-to-read-before-i-die

I like EM Forster A LOT, Maurice is a favorite. This book is the de riguer critiquie of English society and the repressive ridiculousness of it all.

Lucy is touring Italy accompanied by incredible uptight cousin/chaperone Charlotte. Lucy explores Italy and her feelings about love and herself and meets interesting and different people along the way that alternately aid and confuse her self-exploration. An interesting statement and a finely written book. Then again it's Forster, so that's kind of d...more

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Jun 14, 2008 Michelle rated it 5 of 5 stars

Having been unimpressed with "A Passage to India," I wasn't expecting too much from this Forster novel. I was tickled to be proved wrong. The plot is interesting, the language is "clever," and the philosophy is respectfully thoughtful and ridiculous. However, what really makes the novel great is the author-reader relationship. From the opening pages the narrator/author is openly aware of his audience. He mocks, pities, pokes at, and exposes his own characters, at the same time rendering each one...more

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Jun 10, 2008 Lisa rated it 4 of 5 stars

I picked up this book because I'd liked "Howards End" and because it was 50 cents at a book fair. I was pleased to discover that the first part of the book takes place in Florence and enjoyed reading scenes in Santa Croce, near the Arno, etc.

I also enjoyed reading this book because I just finished teaching a semester of Survey of British Lit II, and so it's fun to see how Forster exemplifies the Edwardian era, the transition between the Victorians and the Moderns. The protagonist, Lucy Honeychur...more I picked up this book because I'd liked "Howards End" and because it was 50 cents at a book fair. I was pleased to discover that the first part of the book takes place in Florence and enjoyed reading scenes in Santa Croce, near the Arno, etc.

I also enjoyed reading this book because I just finished teaching a semester of Survey of British Lit II, and so it's fun to see how Forster exemplifies the Edwardian era, the transition between the Victorians and the Moderns. The protagonist, Lucy Honeychurch, is bound by various norms--it's such a scandal when she's caught kissing a man that she's rushed off from Florence to Rome. Attitudes about class are also under the microscope, but the central concern of the book seems to be Lucy's freedom or lack thereof. As the narrator says when Lucy's first kiss with her fiance is awkward, "Passion should believe itself irresistible. It should forget civility and consideration and all the other curses of a refined nature."

Yet, even though this book was published nearly a decade before WWI (which I have thought, mistakenly, to be the main trigger for Modernism), certain attitudes seem closer to the disillusionment of Modernism than the ennui of the decadents. For example, Lucy wonders why she and George Emerson met "in the rout of a civilization, amidst an army of coats and collars and boots that lay wounded over the sunlit earth." The form of the book is definitely not Modern, and the disillusionment is temporary rather than pervasive, but it's interesting to see the roots of Modernism in this Edwardian work.

And the chapter titles themselves are enjoyable: a string of chapters at the end titled "Lying to [insert a character]"; the fourth chapter titled "Fourth Chapter," the twelfth titled "Twelfth Chapter"; and the sixth titled "The Reverend Arthur Beebe, the Reverend Cuthbert Eager, Mr. Emerson, Mr. George Emerson, Miss Eleanor Lavish, Miss Charlotte Bartlett, and Miss Lucy Honeychurch Drive Out in Carriages to See a View; Italians Drive Them."

I thought I'd have to take Forster to task for his one-sided portrayal of an unmarried older woman (i.e. stereotypical old maid), but the final few pages made her character a bit more complex.(less)

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Aug 20, 2008 Caoimhe rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: anyone 14 years or older

I read this whilst on holiday in Tuscany, as I thought it perfect for the setting. I loved it, but for me the book is inseparable from the fantastic 1985 film adaptation by Merchant-Ivory. In this case I would actually recommend seeing the film before reading the book; especially if you have never been to Italy before. It was a bonus to have an image of the characters and settings in my head to refer to beforehand and the film brought the real potential drama of the book out. On a straightforwar...more

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Apr 30, 2008 Jo rated it 3 of 5 stars

I went into this book not really knowing what to expect, or to be more honest, I think I went into it expecting a romance. I had seen the movie when I was 11 or 12, so I had a vague recollection of passionate kisses in the bushes (that makes it sound so errotic, but it is really not at all--I wish it were.)

I have to say, I was slightly disappointed. It is a victorian-type novel that starts out in Italy with various characters, the main one being the love-interest, Lucy. She and the other charac...more

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Jan 30, 2009 Sarah Null rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, page-to-screen, 1001-must-read, brit-lit, a-z-title-challenge, owned

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Nov 05, 2007 Leanna rated it 3 of 5 stars

First, I must be clear that I started reading A Room with a View before this week’s episode of The Office. Although I would gladly join the Good Things Club, it did not inspire me.

Instead, I found this book at my apartment and decided it is time I read it. I started it as a teenager, but when I discovered the film version—which I adore—was so faithful to the book, I didn’t see the purpose.

I enjoyed A Room with a View, but this is a case of the film spoiling the book. The Merchant-Ivory productio...more

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Feb 17, 2007 علی rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: world-literature

How social expectations can change your way of life... and what a terrible situation is when you face prejudice ...
اتاقی با یک منظره 1908، روایت آرامی ست از تقابل روشنایی و تاریکی؛ لوسی (روشن) در مقابل سسیل (کور، تاریک). بخشی از واقعه در ایتالیا اتفاق می افتد، سرشار از عصیان و طغیان شخصیت، و روشن، در برابر بخشی که در انگلستان دوران ادوارد رخ می دهد، کهنه و سنتی. "لوسی چرچ" در مورد احساسش به جورج مطمئن نیست. بنا به عادت اجتماعی از گستاخی ها و پرده دری های جورج در عذاب است، اما بنا بر روحیه ی باز...more How social expectations can change your way of life... and what a terrible situation is when you face prejudice ...
اتاقی با یک منظره 1908، روایت آرامی ست از تقابل روشنایی و تاریکی؛ لوسی (روشن) در مقابل سسیل (کور، تاریک). بخشی از واقعه در ایتالیا اتفاق می افتد، سرشار از عصیان و طغیان شخصیت، و روشن، در برابر بخشی که در انگلستان دوران ادوارد رخ می دهد، کهنه و سنتی. "لوسی چرچ" در مورد احساسش به جورج مطمئن نیست. بنا به عادت اجتماعی از گستاخی ها و پرده دری های جورج در عذاب است، اما بنا بر روحیه ی باز خودش، نا موزونی های اخلاقی و اجتماعی جورج را ستایش می کند. با این همه به خواستگاری سسیل بورژوا و سنتی پاسخ مثبت می دهد و جورج را از خود می راند. کاری که جامعه طلب می کند و می ستاید. لوسی و شارلوته در سفر فلورانس، می پندارند که صاحب هتل آنها را فریب داده، به آنها قول اتاقی با منظره ی رودخانه داده است، اما پنجره ی اتاقشان به حیاط پشتی هتل باز می شود. لوسی پیشنهاد آقای امرسون را برای تعویض اتاقشان می پذیرد چرا که به راستی به داشتن منظره ی رود (جاری) علاقمند است. اما شارلوته این پیشنهاد را گستاخی می داند و ترجیح می دهد در همان اتاق با پنجره ی رو به حیاط (ایستا و منجمد) بماند. یک بعدازظهر، لوسی شاهد مرگی است و از جورج که در همان نزدیکی ست، می خواهد چند عکس از او در محل واقعه بگیرد. او مایل است سندی از حضور در این دریدگی داشته باشد؛ من اینجا بودم! در صحنه ای دیگر در انگلستان، "فردی" برادر لوسی، جورج را به شنا در برکه دعوت می کند. آنها لخت در اطراف برکه و لای بوته ها یکدیگر را تعقیب می کنند و از مصاحبت هم لذت می برند. این خلاف عادت و اخلاق اجتماعی، از چشم لوسی و مادرش که برای قدم زدن بیرون رفته اند، پنهان نمی ماند. طی دیدارهای گاه و بیگاه آنها، لوسی بی پروایی و آزادگی جورج را پیش رو تقبیح می کند اما در پنهان، او را بخاطر بی پروایی در بوسیدنش، ستایش می کند. پیش روی شارلوته، به جورج می گوید از آنجا برود و دیگر هرگز باز نگردد. اما جورج بر خلاف انتظار لوسی، این امر را نمی پذیرد و در نهایت سادگی و شهامت می گوید؛ نگاه سسیل به تو، همانند شیئ روی قفسه ی اتاقش است، در حالی که من (جورج) تو را بخاطر استقلالت دوست دارم. لوسی همان شب به بهانه ای کوچک، نامزدی اش را بهم می زند و تصمیم می گیرد به یونان بگریزد. اما کمی پیش از سفر، اتفاقی به آقای امرسون پدر بر می خورد. او سبب می شود که لوسی اعتراف کند در تمام این مدت پسرش جورج را دوست می داشته. رمان در فلورانس پایان می یابد، جایی که جورج و لوسی بهم می پیوندند.
موضوع اصلی رمان، آزادی از نهادینه کردن مذهب، تمایلات جنسی میان زن و مرد، مرد و مرد، رشد عشقی طبیعی و تقابل شخصیت های پر شور و خشک است، ایده هایی که بروز داده نمی شوند، شخصیت هایی که پیوسته در حال تغییر اند... اگرچه انتشار این رمان در 1908 بسیاری را مجذوب کرد، اما با خط فاصلی که فارستر میان محافظه کار و تحول خواه کشید و با تصویر شخصیت هایی چون شارلوته و سسیل، در مقابل شخصیت هایی چون لوسی و امرسون ها، از مرزبندی های سنتی عبور کرد. فارستر با وصف لوسی، میل خود به دگرگونی های اجتماعی را به روشنی ابراز می کند؛ زندگی آزاد با مردی که دوستش دارد.
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Aug 31, 2007 Marcie rated it 4 of 5 stars

I first read this book in high school but picked it up again when I was studying in London. The strange thing is the British version, or perhaps only this mysterious edition found only in this particular university library, had an alternate ending written later and added in. No longer closing with a happy ending in Florence this edition's chapter took you into Lucy and George's future. A post-WWI future where he cheated on her while away at war. And though he stills loves her, he (and the rest o...more

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Aug 19, 2008 Scott rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: edwardian, bloomsbury, humor, 1900s

This comes as a surprise. I really didn't expect that my favorite novel this summer would be a hundred-year-old Edwardian romance full of snobs, twits, and silly young girls. But every page of E M Forster's A Room with a View (1908) was a delight. The book is an almost perfect blend of humor and seriousness (heavy on the humor with just enough earnestness to keep it all on an even keel). The characters are all memorable, the settings splendid, and the plot (though just a bit weak at the end) kep...more

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May 20, 2013 Dennis Johansson rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A fantastic quote from Mr Emerson:

It seems to me, that you are in a muddle.

Take an old man's word, there's nothing worse than a muddle in all the world. It is easy to face death and fate and the things that sound so dreadful. It is on my muddles that I look back in horror. On the things that I might have avoided.

We can help one another, but little. I used to think that I could teach young people the whole of life, but I know better now, and all my teaching of George has come down to this: Beware...more

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Jun 11, 2012 Thomas rated it 2 of 5 stars

This is the romance that Forster had to write: the one that he could get published and sell lots of, without abandoning his progressive principles. Bourgeois girl attempts to pick a suitor who isn't evil; learns how to self-advocate.

However, it's boring. That, and the author is swinging outside of his wheelhouse.

"Maurice," on the other hand, is the romance that Forster was born to write: he tackles classism and homophobia square-on. The book resolves exactly as it should, and he doesn't pull any...more

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Apr 09, 2008 Amy rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: dandies, fops, women of means

I finally got around to reading this book, and I'll admit it was a challenge not just playing the movie along in my head the whole time. Happily, it's an enjoyable read in its own right. Forster's prose is playful and wise and surprisingly relevant to the 21st Century -- Cecil Vyse may be the first literary character who enjoys popular culture ironically, who is utterly exhausted by the hard work of constant scorn, and he lives on in every sneering hipster in a trucker hat.

This book made me wan...more

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Dec 21, 2008 Matthew rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

It is so pleasing to me to return to so-called "classic" literature and love it just as much as I love contemporary fiction. Don't read Forster for his plots, which are relatively traditional, or his style, which is nothing too amazing. Don't read him for his characters, all of whom, despite being excellently done, are rather clichéd. Read him instead for his narrators, which talk directly to the reader with a flippant, almost mocking tone that makes you smile despite yourself. A ROOM WITH A VIE...more

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About E.M. Forster

Edward Morgan Forster, E.M., was an English novelist, short story writer, and essayist. He is known best for his ironic and well-plotted novels examining class difference and hypocrisy in early 20th-century British society. His humanistic impulse toward understanding and sympathy may be aptly summed up in the epigraph to his 1910 novel Howards End: "Only connect".

He had five novels published in hi...more

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Quotes from A Room with a View

“It isn't possible to love and part. You will wish that it was. You can transmute love, ignore it, muddle it, but you can never pull it out of you. I know by experience that the poets are right: love is eternal.” — 2,730 people liked it

“When I think of what life is, and how seldom love is answered by love; it is one of the moments for which the world was made.” — 120 people liked it

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