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Howard's End
A chance acquaintance brings together the prosperous bourgeois Wilcox family and the clever, cultured, and idealistic Schlegel sisters. As clear-eyed Margaret develops a friendship with Mrs. Wilcox, the impetuous Helen brings into their midst a young bank clerk named Leonard Bast, who lives at the edge of poverty and ruin. When Mrs. Wilcox dies, her family discovers that s...more
MP3 Book, 0 pages
Published
September 25th 2009
by AudioGO
(first published 1910)
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My review is not a review of Howard's End as much as it is a review of the negative reviews.
Most of the criticism seems to be that the readers felt that this book had nothing to do with them. They weren't familiar with the places in England referenced in the book. It was too English. It wasn't universal. True on some counts. This book isn't about you. It isn't about now. It isn't directly relevant to today. It won't feed the soul of the egomaniac.
It is, however, a beautifully written book with a...more
Most of the criticism seems to be that the readers felt that this book had nothing to do with them. They weren't familiar with the places in England referenced in the book. It was too English. It wasn't universal. True on some counts. This book isn't about you. It isn't about now. It isn't directly relevant to today. It won't feed the soul of the egomaniac.
It is, however, a beautifully written book with a...more
I'm afraid I'm going to end up saying most of exactly the same things as I said about A Passage to India, but I guess this one gets an extra star? I'm not sure if that's completely fair, but I rather think I might be mellowing in my old age - I'm starting to give stars for enjoyment. I hear that's what one ages.
So firstly, I was a little bit surprised to find myself liking this book at all, because Forster is rather snotty and British, and he does have a tendency to wax lyrical about the meaning...more
So firstly, I was a little bit surprised to find myself liking this book at all, because Forster is rather snotty and British, and he does have a tendency to wax lyrical about the meaning...more
My first Forster; and despite half-consciously interpolating Woolf-like reveries for Mrs. Wilcox—she’s like Mrs. Dalloway but described from a great distance—I enjoyed it very much. Forster’s structure is a perfect fusion of the dramatic and the essayistic; his style maintains a careful balance of lyricism and exposition; and his characters are at once individuals and types. It’s easy to see why Forster is, or was, such a critical darling, especially if that critic be the grave, pouchy-eyed Lion...more
While "only connect . . ." is the book's epigraph, this book also makes me think of the Dalai Lama's statement that "kindness without wisdom is cruelty." The Wilcox family may be positioned as the book's villians but both Schlegel women cause their share of harm too and only faintly seem to make their own connections.
Wow. This was powerful. I would like to read it again, knowing more of what to expect, not that the plot is particularly... central. But, the book starts off so light and slow, almost like a comedy of manners, and a hilarious one at that. But then the middle section, which was hard for me, because I felt a shift. It seemed more like things were being set up to happen but I didn't know what. The middle section didn't exactly connect with me at all times and I found myself kinda forcing myself thr...more
Many critics consider this to be Forster’s masterpiece, and it is hard to imagine a more searing and poignant examination of the social, philosophic, and economic issues facing England during the fascinating window between Queen Victoria and World War I. Forster uses three families—the intellectual and impractical Schlegels, the materialistic and empire-building Wilcoxes (who drove through the bucolic Shropshire countryside and “spoke of Tariff Reform”), and the working class Basts—to explore th...more
Nov 26, 2011
Sarah
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
favourites,
own-and-have-read
This was a really deep book, full of insight and theories on the world, society and people as individuals. Its quite a wordy book, but it was surprisingly captivating and wasn't a chore to read or hard to get into. I found once I channelled into the voice of the writing it all flowed very well, and it all made sense. A lot of the concepts and ideas Forster had about property and class are still kind of relevant. I particularly liked the fact, especially given when it was written and the fact tha...more
Finally a book this year I can LOVE! I have been waiting 8 whole months for it! I love both the movie and now the book. In fact, the movie is pretty much a perfect staging of the book, so if you like the movie you will probably like this.
It might sound odd but one of the things I love about this story is its reassurance that there is a potential for good in all of us- the rich, the poor, the educated etc. There are no villains or heroes in this story. Everyone wants to be good and lead a good l...more
It might sound odd but one of the things I love about this story is its reassurance that there is a potential for good in all of us- the rich, the poor, the educated etc. There are no villains or heroes in this story. Everyone wants to be good and lead a good l...more
Mar 27, 2011
Manussawee
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Manussawee by:
Rebecca
It took me a long while to get into the book. As the matter of fact, I still don't like his writing style - it was too confusing to me. I felt that conversations were fused together that I often didn't know who was talking. However, after finishing the book, his writing style became a minor flaw in my eyes. I just loved his character developments, and I just couldn't get over the plot! I really wanted to know if Margaget would ever find out that Mrs. Wilcox had bequeathed her Howards End. On the...more
May 09, 2009
April
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Forster fans, Merchant/Ivory fans, FLDS members, women who follow The Rules, misogynists
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Oct 24, 2007
Joe
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
anyone who loves flawless literature
"I'm afraid that in nine cases out of ten Nature pulls one way and human nature another."
Young and impressionable at the age of 18, I fell in love with an older man who introduced me to E.M. Forster. Being a busy college student, I never gave myself the time to read his works, but instead watched every movie version. Howards End was my favorite.
Ten years later, I finally read the book.
And it stirred in me the kind of visceral response that only true art can do.
This is more than a novel about...more
Young and impressionable at the age of 18, I fell in love with an older man who introduced me to E.M. Forster. Being a busy college student, I never gave myself the time to read his works, but instead watched every movie version. Howards End was my favorite.
Ten years later, I finally read the book.
And it stirred in me the kind of visceral response that only true art can do.
This is more than a novel about...more
This is by far the best Forster I've read. The characters are subtle and completely relatable. The narrator makes himself known in a way that draws you closer to the characters because it is what the would want. The discussions on London are easily applicable to New York, or any other big city. Forster basically divides people into two kinds: those who are "practical" and those who are poetic. Having done this, he allows for each to have a bit of the other within them.
Some favorite lines: "[Lif...more
Some favorite lines: "[Lif...more
Not all are the same! Experince the world with no prejudice! Break the existing order and make a new and better one! Love! Is these what Forster trys to say for about hundred years ago?
رمز و راز باغ و باغچه در خاطره ی اضمحلال و سقوط یک طبقه از روزگاری که رفته است. داستان سه خانواده؛ ویلکاکس ها، ثروتمند و سرمایه دار، شله گل های نیمه آلمانی، سه خواهر؛ مارگارت، تیبی و هلن، و بالاخره "بَست"ها، زوجی از طبقه ی متوسط. در میان خواهران شله گل، مارگارت قهرمان داستان بنظر می آید. مارگارت شله گل بی آن که بخ...more
رمز و راز باغ و باغچه در خاطره ی اضمحلال و سقوط یک طبقه از روزگاری که رفته است. داستان سه خانواده؛ ویلکاکس ها، ثروتمند و سرمایه دار، شله گل های نیمه آلمانی، سه خواهر؛ مارگارت، تیبی و هلن، و بالاخره "بَست"ها، زوجی از طبقه ی متوسط. در میان خواهران شله گل، مارگارت قهرمان داستان بنظر می آید. مارگارت شله گل بی آن که بخ...more
I had forgotten how good, how amazingly good, Forster's writing is. The rendering of conversation, the revealing of characters in their distinct and separate personalities through their conversation, is astonishing, and full of comedy and perception. His social portraiture makes me smile, laugh, nod in recognition. Then suddenly the prose turns inward and with equal acuity probes the obscure recesses of sensibility. And all the while, one watches as Forster shows how these small comic contingenc...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
May 02, 2011
La Stamberga dei Lettori
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
sakura87
Only connect,
questa la frase centrale del romanzo, parole che si possono ancora leggere sul monumento dedicato a Edward Morgan Forster nella chiesa di St. Nicholas, a Stevenage.
Casa Howard è infatti considerata, ancor più che Passaggio in India, l'opera più significativa dell'autore britannico, e arduo è sfondare il velo simbolico che permea tutta l'opera per penetrare al livello superiore rispetto a quello immediatamente leggibile: accennare alla trama del romanzo, infatti, significherebbe pros...more
questa la frase centrale del romanzo, parole che si possono ancora leggere sul monumento dedicato a Edward Morgan Forster nella chiesa di St. Nicholas, a Stevenage.
Casa Howard è infatti considerata, ancor più che Passaggio in India, l'opera più significativa dell'autore britannico, e arduo è sfondare il velo simbolico che permea tutta l'opera per penetrare al livello superiore rispetto a quello immediatamente leggibile: accennare alla trama del romanzo, infatti, significherebbe pros...more
I enjoyed the book quite a bit, not only because of the social commentary and fantastic characterizations, but also because it is set in the guise of a wholly interesting story.
First and foremost, I see this book as a commentary on the differences between the classes in turn of the century (20th) England. The main characters are the Schlegel sisters who are members of the intellectual bourgeoisie, the Wilcox family who are members of the capitalist upper class and the Basts who are struggling me...more
First and foremost, I see this book as a commentary on the differences between the classes in turn of the century (20th) England. The main characters are the Schlegel sisters who are members of the intellectual bourgeoisie, the Wilcox family who are members of the capitalist upper class and the Basts who are struggling me...more
I really loved this book. It's been on my to-read list for a long time.
Forster starts his novel in a very light-hearted way. The characters are likeable and funny. As they mature and face the complexities of life, the tone of the novel changes too. It becomes more serious and philosophical through the middle, then moves to reflection and redemption in the end. I sense the author changes and adapts right along with his characters. Even the houses, Wickham Place and Howard's End, evolve with the...more
Forster starts his novel in a very light-hearted way. The characters are likeable and funny. As they mature and face the complexities of life, the tone of the novel changes too. It becomes more serious and philosophical through the middle, then moves to reflection and redemption in the end. I sense the author changes and adapts right along with his characters. Even the houses, Wickham Place and Howard's End, evolve with the...more
"Son altı aya bakınca, Margaret, gündelik hayatımızın karmaşık niteliğini ve tarihçilerin uydurduğu düzenli gidişattan farkını kavradı. Gerçek hayat yanlış yollarla ve hiçbir yere götürmeyen trafik levhalarıyla doludur. Çok büyük bir çabayla, asla yaşanmayacak bir bunalım için kendimizi yer bitiririz. Mesleklerin en başarılısı, dağları yerinden oynatabilecek bir enerjiyi boşa harcamış olmalıdır ve en acınası durumda olan, hazırlıksız yakalanan değil, hazırlanan, ama beklediği şey hiçbir zaman ol...more
This gets five stars for being a good read in the most basic sense: entertaining, absorbing, uplifting and joyous, the kind of book you enjoy all the way through and feel better for having read.
Howards End is a ghost story in which nothing remotely supernatural happens. As a work of art and of the writer's craft it has its flaws. The tone wavers through the first half and the sociopolitical subtext is imperfectly integrated with the story. However, the author seems to gain increasing mastery of...more
Howards End is a ghost story in which nothing remotely supernatural happens. As a work of art and of the writer's craft it has its flaws. The tone wavers through the first half and the sociopolitical subtext is imperfectly integrated with the story. However, the author seems to gain increasing mastery of...more
"Looking back on the past six months, Margaret realized the chaotic nature of our daily life, and its difference from the orderly sequence that has been fabricated by historians. Actual life is full of false clues and sign-posts that lead nowhere. With infinite effort we nerve ourselves for a crisis that never comes. The most successful career must show a waste of strength that might have removed mountains, and the most unsuccessful is not that of the man who is taken unprepared, but of him who...more
Only connect,
questa la frase centrale del romanzo, parole che si possono ancora leggere sul monumento dedicato a Edward Morgan Forster nella chiesa di St. Nicholas, a Stevenage.
Casa Howard è infatti considerata, ancor più che Passaggio in India, l'opera più significativa dell'autore britannico, e arduo è sfondare il velo simbolico che permea tutta l'opera per penetrare al livello superiore rispetto a quello immediatamente leggibile: accennare alla trama del romanzo, infatti, significherebbe pro...more
questa la frase centrale del romanzo, parole che si possono ancora leggere sul monumento dedicato a Edward Morgan Forster nella chiesa di St. Nicholas, a Stevenage.
Casa Howard è infatti considerata, ancor più che Passaggio in India, l'opera più significativa dell'autore britannico, e arduo è sfondare il velo simbolico che permea tutta l'opera per penetrare al livello superiore rispetto a quello immediatamente leggibile: accennare alla trama del romanzo, infatti, significherebbe pro...more
"Either some very dear person or some very dear place seems necessary to relieve life’s daily grey and to show that it is grey. If possible, one should have both." "Love was so unlike the article served up in books." "It is the starved imagination, not the well-nourished, that is afraid."
"Pity was at the bottom of her actions all through this crisis. Pity, if one may generalize, lays at the bottom of woman. When men like us, it is for our better qualities, and however tender their liking, we dar...more
"Pity was at the bottom of her actions all through this crisis. Pity, if one may generalize, lays at the bottom of woman. When men like us, it is for our better qualities, and however tender their liking, we dar...more
Published in 1910 this is an interesting study of British life preceding WWI - especially if you've caught yourself up in Downtown Abbey. It's not always the easiest read. Forster sometimes jumps into chapters leaving the reader a little bewildered (not unlike the way the Schlegel sisters bewildered the Wilcoxes) but with a little persistence and rereading sense could be made of it.
At times, Helen's carefree exploits brought literary heroine Holly Golightly to mind. While sensible, orderly Marga...more
At times, Helen's carefree exploits brought literary heroine Holly Golightly to mind. While sensible, orderly Marga...more
Howards End is about class, gender, and culture at the beginning of the 20th century. It is also about notions of home and different ways of being in the world. I'd especially recommend it to fans of Downton Abbey.
Some gems from the book:
"Some are born cultured; the rest had better go in for whatever comes easy. To see life steadily and to see it whole was not for the likes of him" (46).
"Her thought drew being from the obscure borderland. She could not explain in so many words, but she felt that...more
Some gems from the book:
"Some are born cultured; the rest had better go in for whatever comes easy. To see life steadily and to see it whole was not for the likes of him" (46).
"Her thought drew being from the obscure borderland. She could not explain in so many words, but she felt that...more
Although this had more plot than I had anticipated, I could understand its reputation as an elegy for what remains, a few days after finishing, is the sense of time. A time where the final destinies of the characters makes perfect moral sense. A time that I'm glad I don't live in: I repeatedly thought 'Why is she doing this?' about the elder sister (but that's probably to do with the existence at least one intolerant man in my own past rather than a mere 21st century perspective), proud of the d...more
Howards End is somewhat like a Dickens’ novel, save where the light storytelling charm of Dickens would be found is instead a more philosophical and serious variety of narrative.
The novel is beautifully written at times and deeply philosophical at others, but in the end, as a synopsis the core issue of Howards End is the lead character’s struggle to deal with incompetence: whether it be willful ignorance (of the political type) or insubstantial dreams (of the poetical type). To reduce the novel...more
The novel is beautifully written at times and deeply philosophical at others, but in the end, as a synopsis the core issue of Howards End is the lead character’s struggle to deal with incompetence: whether it be willful ignorance (of the political type) or insubstantial dreams (of the poetical type). To reduce the novel...more
Casa Howard racconta la storia di tre famiglie che intrecciano le loro esistenze in modo decisamente romanzesco. In mezzo a loro, fatale (in modo diverso) per tutti, sta proprio casa Howard.
Margaret, Helen e Tibby Schlegel sono i componenti di una famiglia inglese di origini tedesche. Rappresentano l’anelito alla libertà, alle pari opportunità, alla cultura.
I Wilcox sono invece una famiglia borghese, profondamente radicata in quella cultura del lavoro che in quel periodo cambiò così tanto la s...more
Margaret, Helen e Tibby Schlegel sono i componenti di una famiglia inglese di origini tedesche. Rappresentano l’anelito alla libertà, alle pari opportunità, alla cultura.
I Wilcox sono invece una famiglia borghese, profondamente radicata in quella cultura del lavoro che in quel periodo cambiò così tanto la s...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
This was good to revisit (I read it in high school and loved it, and reread it at some point in the intervening years). I enjoyed it, but this quote from Forster colored the way I read the whole thing (found in the introductory essay, originally from his "Commonplace Book"):
"Howards End my best novel and approaching a good novel. Very elaborate and all pervading plot that is seldom tiresome or forced, range of characters, social sense, wit, wisdom, color. Have only just discovered why I don't ca...more
"Howards End my best novel and approaching a good novel. Very elaborate and all pervading plot that is seldom tiresome or forced, range of characters, social sense, wit, wisdom, color. Have only just discovered why I don't ca...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Classics Corner | 81 | 166 | Oct 13, 2011 06:08pm |
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
More about E.M. Forster...
He had five novels published in hi...more
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“Only connect!”
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“Death destroys a man: the idea of Death saves him.”
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Thanks for your thoughtful opinion.
Oct 19, 2012 07:22pm
May 17, 2013 04:58pm