Maurice

by E.M. Forster

‘It must be done,’ he said. ‘It is a vow. Every barbarian must give the Acropolis its chance once.’

This isn't a quote that necessarily applies to my praise of this book. I just like this quote as an archaeology nerd and graecophile

A happy ending was imperative. I shouldn’t have bothered to write otherwise. I was determined that in fiction anyway two men should fall in love and remain in it for the ever and ever that fiction allows, and in this sense Maurice and Alec still roam the greenwood.

If it ended unhappily, with a lad dangling from a noose or with a suicide pact, all would be well, for there is no pornography or seduction of minors. But the lovers get away unpunished and consequently recommend crime. Mr Borenius is too incompetent to catch them, and the only penalty society exacts is an exile they gladly embrace.