Rating: 
Summary: A Good Twist then a Weak Ending
Review: Forster's classic is yet another one of those books I probably would not have read save for its selection by my bookgroup. For a good half of the book I was fully expecting a nicely written standard story of colonial injustice. Thankfully, the story turns a different way and is thus saved from what at the time might have been controversial, but now is merely banal commentary. Forster's writing is decent, and he did a really good job of conveying the psychologically confusing aura of the place. However, the ending is very weak and oddly done compared to the rest of the book. I'm glad I read it, but I don't foresee reading much else by Forster.
Rating: 
Summary: Pretentious, overrated and boring
Review: How this book, and Forster's work in general, can be so highly rated by critics who actually appear to be intelligent at the expense of genuine geniuses of the time like Joyce, Huxley is amazing. Just because I find something dry and boring doesn't mean it isn't great literature, but this does not apply to Forster, who is dry, boring, shows no psychological insight whatsoever, has wooden, unrealistic characters and dialogue and very few redeeming features at all. This novel has been described as "enchanting, epic and profound"; if you've heard this and are thinking of buying it then you should direct your attentions to Joyce's "Finnegans Wake", Huxley's "Point Counter Point" or T.S. Eliot's poetry, all of which are far superior to this aristocratic, narrow sighted rubbish.
Rating:
Summary: Mixed feelings
Review: Forster makes a lot of wonderful points highlighting the relationship between imperial England and India. However, the book is rather slow and boring to read.
Rating: 
Summary: Read carelessly, read carefully, just read it
Review: We can read this book at several levels. Jung said somewhere that a dream can be interpreted at many levels, and every interpretation is right. (If Jung didn't say it, I did, and he would have said it.) On the surface, Passage informs contemporary England of the state of affairs in India. At the same time, it shows how East and West differ. It also leaves a record for later generations about English colonialism, the relations between Hindus and Muslims in India, social practices, and speech, and the historian may even infer quite a bit about the industrialization and technology of the early twentieth century. In "Homo Aestheticus," Ellen Dissanayake says, "Behavior is, essentially, choice." To analyze Forster's book (or any work of art), we have to ask, why did the author choose these particular elements to express whatever was in his mind? (A novel is more than Stendhal's mirror; it expresses what the author sees, and what the author sees is decided by what the author is.) Here we slip into deeper strata. India, the dark, amorphous, timeless, ancient land, represents the unconscious, peopled by unknowable, unreachable, dark-skinned masses worshipping an accumulation of gods in a number of tongues. The identity of India as the unattainable contents of the unconscious is indicated by the very first conversation in the book, in which two Indians tell the third that they are dead, in "another and a happier world." Adele Quested, the noble quest, is an intrusion from the known, civilized conscious. This female character goes past the outposts of light into the darkness of India, where, because she is introduced by aged Mrs Moore (more), she is escorted into the womb of the rock at the Malabar caves by Dr Aziz (A through Z is everything). Dr Aziz may escort her because he is not a true denizen of the inner world (he is the third Indian, not "dead"), he is a modern healer who originated in Muslim Afghanistan: a bridge. When Quested enters the cave, she is, or is not confronted by a shadow which may have been guiding her. In her struggle to avoid the union of male and female, conscious and unconscious, she loses her vision (her field glasses) and, because she rejects the shadow, the injuries she suffers (earns) are only skin-deep; her compatriots do not permit the cactus spines to enter her blood. Since Mrs Moore, the prescient old woman, does not assert Dr Aziz's innocence, she dies as soon as she reaches the sea, the eternal, unfathomable depths of life and psyche. Fielding, the educator, ego, wishes to befriend Aziz, but Aziz, wounded, enters deeper into polytheistic India, the unconscious which he hopes to unite, but the horses, the earth, the temples don't want it. Fielding never marries Quested. Although the book is titled A PASSAGE to India, practically the whole book takes place *in* India, and yet, passage is never realized. Now it would be absurd to suggest that Forster sat chewing his pencil thinking, "What symbol am I to use to show the quest had only superficial results? Cactus, that's it!" The book succeeds because his mind was ordered and open enough to dredge up the effective symbol: effective for him, effective for us. What I propose is that work which delves deep into the unconscious cultivates psychological growth and, by inspiring internal harmony, alleviates problems, if only by facing them. This is the standard I would raise to distinguish good (successful) art (art which succeeds in promoting psychological growth) and mediocre art, the product of shallow minds.
Rating: 
Summary: a waste of time
Review: i can not believe people consider this book good literature. i am ashamed of the time i wasted reading this book. the plot is very very slow, and if you think the second half of the book will improve, i am sorry to say it doesn't. this book does a pathetic job with sybolism and theme. i hated this book. please read something else if you are considering reading it...
Rating:
Summary: A seemingly simple but very complex book............
Review: This book displays the relationship between the British and the Indians during British rule in India in a fascinating way. I was amazed at how much this book can reveal about the Indians and British just through dialouge. I recommend this book to all and urge you to buy it.
Rating: 
Summary: An excellent work
Review: There are times, I'll admit, when Forster's novel seems a bit dry, a bit lacking in character (and character development), and a bit prolix. Nevertheless, some of the prose is absolutely stunning, and the end of the book (in my opinion) is one of the most beautiful achievements in any novel. A book I would highly recommend.
Rating:
Summary: A masterpiece.
Review: This is book is incredible, and one of my personal favorites. Its beauty is too easily overlooked, because it is so elegantly subtle. Every aspect of the storytelling is masterful: the prose is lush and nuanced, and every character is exquisitely drawn. Drawing from the slimmest of plots, Forster weaves what seems to be an isolated incident into a complex tapestry of emotion. The central focus are the characters, who are sharply realistic and utterly, utterly human. Another aspect that I liked very much is that it takes an era, the British Raj in India, which is otherwise interpreted only with the most hotly colored emotions, and presents it with a marked neutrality, presenting it only through the eyes of the characters. A marvelous read.
Rating:
Summary: beautiful prose
Review: This sad, cathartic novel makes one think.. read it!
Rating:
Summary: One of the better books I've read in my life...
Review: Forester's A Passage to India is a masterful novel. True, to the unknowledgable reader it may seem to be a lacking indictment of the Raj. When this book is read with adaquete background knowledge of India though, it becomes something exquisite. The imagery and writing paint such beautiful pictures of a vibrant yet torn India. Forester follows in the third person narrative but is able to slip, unawares, into the minds of the characters at will. This provides the reader with amazing insight into all the characters involved. Aside from the writing, the story itself serves as a wonderful metaphor for India and the Raj. Through Mrs. Quested,Esmiss Esmore, Dr. Aziz, Mr. Fielding and the rest of the British, a painful picture of seperation is crafted. Seperation of love in the case of Ronnie and Adela, and Ronnie and his mother, and seperation of friendship as seen with Dr. Aziz and Fielding. These personal "anecdotes" broaden ones view of the bigger picture: India and Britain's inability to be "friends." A definite must read!
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