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A review by chrissie_whitley
A Room With a View by E.M. Forster
5.0
To disentangle my love for this book with my adoration of the 1985 movie, is nigh on impossible. I don't truly recall which I experienced first, but there is no way for a reread (certainly) to not feature the actors from the film as the same characters in the book in my mind.
Forster, who dealt heavily in writing about the division of classes in society, which is perhaps more starkly demonstrated in Howards End, lays his ideas down with a gentler and more personal hand. Maybe even a less jaded hand.
Miss Lucy Honeychurch, our protagonist, is filled to the brim with flustered versions of supposed-to's...that is, to say...She feels an obligation to the way one is supposed to behave, and be, and do, and live—as well as marry. But as she explores herself within this novel, she gets a firmer grasp on who she is, who she actually wants to be, and what her own ideals really are. Perhaps especially after coming face-to-face with the living embodiment of her ideals and modern thoughts in a father and son duo, the elder and younger Mr. Emersons. Or rather, they are at least two people whose own behavior and philosophies force her to question her own.
As with Howards End, Forster has created a similar little family vignette with no father barring the way and a kooky, rudderless younger brother (growing up without a male role model to constrain him into the typical masculine role of the day). I can't help but think that while there is undoubtedly a lot of Forster in his leading ladies (Miss Honeychurch here and Misses Schlegels in Howards End), I think there is a great deal of something known and familiar to Forster in the two younger brothers—Freddy Honeychurch and Tibby Schlegel. For a critique on early 20th century English society, I found it surprisingly filled with hope, beauty, and romance. There's a late-coming-of-age go at Lucy piecing together her own desires for life, and breaking free from the chains of society.
Audiobook, the Rebecca Hall version, A Room with a View: Rebecca Hall's voice and acting ability were brilliant for this. Her accents, both her own and any affected, as well as her interpretations of the characters, cleanly and neatly cemented this entanglement with the 1985 movie version in my mind. She brought this to life in such a way that felt truest to the tone and delivery in which the book was intended. I'd love to hear more from her.
Forster, who dealt heavily in writing about the division of classes in society, which is perhaps more starkly demonstrated in Howards End, lays his ideas down with a gentler and more personal hand. Maybe even a less jaded hand.
Miss Lucy Honeychurch, our protagonist, is filled to the brim with flustered versions of supposed-to's...that is, to say...She feels an obligation to the way one is supposed to behave, and be, and do, and live—as well as marry. But as she explores herself within this novel, she gets a firmer grasp on who she is, who she actually wants to be, and what her own ideals really are. Perhaps especially after coming face-to-face with the living embodiment of her ideals and modern thoughts in a father and son duo, the elder and younger Mr. Emersons. Or rather, they are at least two people whose own behavior and philosophies force her to question her own.
As with Howards End, Forster has created a similar little family vignette with no father barring the way and a kooky, rudderless younger brother (growing up without a male role model to constrain him into the typical masculine role of the day). I can't help but think that while there is undoubtedly a lot of Forster in his leading ladies (Miss Honeychurch here and Misses Schlegels in Howards End), I think there is a great deal of something known and familiar to Forster in the two younger brothers—Freddy Honeychurch and Tibby Schlegel. For a critique on early 20th century English society, I found it surprisingly filled with hope, beauty, and romance. There's a late-coming-of-age go at Lucy piecing together her own desires for life, and breaking free from the chains of society.
Audiobook, the Rebecca Hall version, A Room with a View: Rebecca Hall's voice and acting ability were brilliant for this. Her accents, both her own and any affected, as well as her interpretations of the characters, cleanly and neatly cemented this entanglement with the 1985 movie version in my mind. She brought this to life in such a way that felt truest to the tone and delivery in which the book was intended. I'd love to hear more from her.