A Passage to India

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Summary: Serendipity Indeed
Review: Forster writes late in the book,"...composed in English to indicate His universality." But does using English really make one belong? In the book, all the primary characters communicate with one another in English but miscomprehension abounds; there is a disconnect. The disconnect is both vertical and horizontal: a disconnect between the English and the Indians but also one among the English and among the Indians. And, here, there, moments of reaching out to the other interrupt the prevailing tension.

This is the first Forster book that I've read completely. I have seen all the movie adaptations of his books (except A Pssage To India) and have enjoyed them thoroughly. But an attempt at reading A Room With A View wasn't at all successful (stopped twice at chapter 3) and I gave up (perhaps a little too hastily) reading any of the books themselves. Recently however, I have become intrigued with Indian authors and books about India and suddenly, A Passage to India popped into my mind and I picked up a copy. Forster's prose reminds me of F. Scott Fitzgerald's in its
nuanced simplicity although the former can at times become somewhat abstract. Forster conveys the complexity of colonial India but the read was spectacularly easy, aided by many humorous points. Halfway through the book, I was so impressed by the book and wondered if it had made it onto the Modern Library's best 100 works of fiction in the 20th century. And it did.

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Summary: India
Review: I think this book was great. It shows the way life was in India during the British control. It was good. It couldnt of been more correctly writen. Forester was a great writer that captured the essaence of india.

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Summary: ECHOES OF THE RAJ
Review: E.M. Forster's 320-page novel probes the intimate workings of the human heart and mind, especially when brought into the stark, Victorian contrast of cross-cultural prejudice. Set in India during the Raj (British imperialsim at its height and worst), the story reveals how Anglos strive to maintain a proper distance from the natives they felt destined to rule. The frustrated Indians--themselves fragmented by religion and caste--struggle in various ways to be accepted as fully-accredited persons by the dominant race, who dismiss them categorically as "niggers." Each sub-society seeks to perpetuate its social survival, for self-image is precious to all members of humanity. Still the Anglo community has a long memory of perceived disloyalty, while that of Indians is even longer. Despite decades of uneasy coexistence between the Masters and the Conquered, sparks of rebellion quickly ignite when fanned by the flames of confusion, false accusation, racial bigotry and social polarization.

The two naive Englishwomen who have booked passage to India should have read a manual on social survival skills; it simply will not Do to upset the proven status quo--however it seems tipped in the favor of Western power. The herd instinct must prevail or all is lost; woe to those Anglos who defy experience and tradition in dealing with treacherous, scheming, unreliable or childlike natives. Whom to trust and whom to defend--whom to choose as a loyal ally, a friend or even a life's partner? How can one make these critical decisions in an atmosphere of mutual suspicion,
cultural snobbery and religious extremism?

The normally straightforward British lifestyle is suddenly complicated in a myriad ways as soon as one is transported to the steaming sub- continent. What is it about India which brings out the worst or hidden weakness of the British? Is it safe, wise or even possible for natives to seek lasting relationships with Anglos?
Will it ever be an equal partnershp? Can the East truly accept and peacefully coexist with the West and vice-versa? This is a novel of deep instrospection, as readers are forced to analyze the devastating ripples of human error and frailty. Despite many instances of captivating dialogue and fast-paced events, PASSAGE TO INDIA remains a classic psychological novel.

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Summary: One of the best
Review: E.M. Forster is a masterful writer. This book is my favourite of his novels, although all of them are excellent. This is as much a novel as a composition, in fact one of the few books I know that can be read for the beauty of its language; it is almost musical in its form. But it is also much more than that: The story is compelling, the characters are vivid, and political themes hover in the background and are treated in a masterful manner - although they are by no means central to the novel. This book should be standard reading for all who love classic English novels.

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Summary: elegent
Review: This is an accomplished novel. Beautifully written and interesting, it portrays a very believable world of people who quite probably no longer exist. Everything is visualized, from the tedious monotiny of the 'proper British sort' of the early 20th Century to the haunting menace and lingering sense of doubt that such a shallow and repressed existence must struggle with. Add to that the mysterious and incomprhensible alien nature of a foreign society the lead characters never imagined and the force of the book can take on a fascinating sociological spin.

Of what I've read, this is my favorite book by Forester, an author whom I regard as a pretty and absorbing writer of generally dull moments. This book simply succeeds in keeping the reader rivited on numbness in the face of catastrophe more consistantly than Howard's End or A Room With A View.

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Summary: The Kindness and Caring Required to Bridge Cultural Gaps
Review: A Passage to India vividly demonstrates the psychology of how people avoid those who are different than themselves. The litmus test of this problem is identified by how even friendly people assume the worst about others, rather than keeping an open mind or assuming the best.

The book is less successful at providing a model of how to overcome those weaknesses. Mrs. Moore, a visiting Englishwoman, in the book successfully establishes a friendship with Dr. Aziz, a Muslim physician in Chandrapore, India. The connection is deeply embedded in her sincere interest in all other people and their feelings. She arrives in the book with that empathy, and only one of her sons also seems to have the same fineness of emotional connection. Another son clearly doesn't. So, it's a rare trait, even in families. There is no evidence of how to create that attitude which leads to such rapid and firm trust.

More typical is the friendship between Dr. Aziz and Cyril Fielding. Both are committed to each other, but are quick to suspect each other's motives. A continuing effort allows them to reconcile. One has to suppose that their relationship is the model that E.M. Forester had in mind for most of us. We can connect with others we respect and like, and with hard work can overcome miscommunications and suspicion.

Dr. Aziz is portrayed in a very thoughtful way. He wants to have friends across the cultural divide, and makes enormous efforts in that respect. However, his intentions often have unintended consequences. He bears up and moves forward. I was impressed from this character about the need to have many people who seek friendship in order to make connections possible.

The plot builds around the arrival of Mrs. Moore, the mother of a local English magistrate, with Miss Adela Quested, who is considering whether to marry Mrs. Moore's magistrate son. Like many newcomers to colonial India, they are interested in meeting native people and seeing the local sites. In attempting to respond to their interests, the various connections take place. Both are initially appalled by the attitude of those English people who have long lived in India towards the Hindus and Muslims there.

The book raises important questions at several levels, such as:

(1) Can people with very different religious beliefs live in peace with one another?

(2) Can colonialism ever be anything other than bad for all involved?

(3) How should one adapt to the local community in which one lives, if it is different from one's own background?

(4) What should people be willing to do to help one another?

(5) What should people not do to help one another?

(6) How can mistrust be dispelled?

(7) How does racism harm the person who is a racist?

A major drawback of the book is that many of the characters are usually unappealing. Even Mrs. Moore, who serves as the ideal in many ways, retreats into self-centered inaction as her health fails. Miss Quested repays Dr. Aziz's hospitality with putting his life and finances in great peril. Cyril Fielding seems to often do too little to bridge the cultural gaps. Dr. Aziz often comes across as a toady. The other English people have severe drawbacks. The characters are often surmounted by their agendas.

One aspect of the book that I liked was the way it showed how those accused of crimes bring out the fundamental social flaws of the community. This happens in fiction in Gone with the Wind in the sequence where Scarlett has some problems driving her carriage, and her complaints lead the white men to attack the African-Americans who live in the area where her problem occurred. In France, the trial of the Jewish Captain Dreyfus created a similar split in the community and rise in racist feelings and actions.

The story also seems a little dated, so that the characters seem too extreme to us today to be credible. They more often seem to be caricatures than characters.

After you read this story, think about whom you ignore. Why do you do that? What effect does it have on those you ignore? What effect does it have on you? What should you do?

Seek friendship and mutual understanding among all those you meet!

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Summary: Bad characters, but a good story
Review: Forester portrays India through a few main characters in an Indian city called Chandrapore. He describes an incident concerning an English school teacher, a local Muslim doctor, and two English woman. He tries, and the keyword here is "tries", to show the racial and cultural tensions between the English rulers and the Indian locals.

The way the people are presented in this book is a joke. The main character, Aziz, is laughable. He's unbelievably subservient. Also, the portrayal of Hindus is almost clownlike, and the English are presented as extreme snobs. Forester's India should not be taken as a true representation of India at all.

The first half is barely readable. The language is not too fluid, and the action is slow. One of my main gripes is that Forester interludes a lot dialog without referring to who is speaking. It's quite disconcerting. The second half is much better. It concentrates on a trial, and the aftermath on friendship. I was able to read this half in one sitting.

The story itself is enjoyable. The aspects of justice, prejudice and friendship penetrates this novels story in every way. If this book was about some anonymous countrymen in an anonymous country, this would be well worth the price.

I recommend this book, but as a story, and not as a cultural portrayal.

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Summary: Forster At His Finest
Review: A Passage to India is the quintessential British novel of the twentieth century. It is E.M. Forster at his finest. Forster uses his experiences as a foreigner abroad to vividly display the strained relations between colonial Brits and their Indian subjects. The importance of this cross cultural novel is as relevant today as it was when first published in the 1920's. The descriptions of India are striking and beautiful, told with a simplicity reminiscent of Hemingway and an honesty I thought peculiar only to Capote. Easily Forster's most memorable and engaging novel wherein the author shows that with age comes a kind of excellence.

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Summary: Stellar performance
Review: As one of Forster's greatest fans, A Passage to India is undoubtedly his greatest work. His abillity to conjure characters so different and yet so solidly entrenched in 'englishness.'

Don't let the film version disswade you, indeed, Merchant & Ivory are masters in adapting Forster's words to images, but if you like Forster's writings, then by all means choose this one!

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Summary: Expected More
Review: This having been praised as one of the great works of literature, I thought I was in for something more enriching. I did enjoy some of the images Forster paints, as in the scene in the mosque where Miss Quested and Mrs. Moore first meet Aziz, and some moments of light humor, such as the scene where Aziz lends Fielding his shirt pin (or whatever it was) and Ronny later uses this against him and his culture.

However, I just can't recommend it. I really tried to like it. Perhaps I've played too many video games, but it was just extremely plodding, and the dialogue was not interesting enough to justify its length. It's a shame because it's books like this that make me shy away from reading more "classic" literature, some of which I really love, but some disappoints me as Passage did. The good news is I tend to stay up a lot later that I should and this helped me get to sleep early on numerous occasions.