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Fionnuala's Reviews > A Room with a View
A Room with a View
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by
Fionnuala's review
bookshelves: forster, art-related, place, visited-location-while-reading
May 07, 2016
bookshelves: forster, art-related, place, visited-location-while-reading
There is a great line in A Room with a View about a book that has been abandoned in a garden: The garden was deserted except for a red book, which lay sunning itself upon the gravel path.
The author then describes what the main characters are doing in various locations adjacent to the garden, but meanwhile the red book is allowed to be caressed all the morning by the sun and to raise its covers slightly, as though to acknowledge the caress. The description of the book seems very innocent but the reader’s attention is immediately caught. What is the significance of this book within a book, we wonder, and why does it have a 'red' cover.
As it turns out, the immediate purpose of the red-covered book on that sunny English morning is to move the story along, quickly and dramatically. The red book causes certain things to happen that wouldn't otherwise have happened as if it were in fact a character in the novel with a voice of its own. The plot is really very neat and makes for an entertaining read. The backdrops Forster uses for the action are interesting too: the shifting class structure and the new ideas on religion and politics which were emerging in England in the last decades of the nineteenth century. But my favorite aspect of this beautiful novel is 'Art'. Even when everything else is in flux, Art is a constant and reliable reference which Forster returns to again and again.
The first half of A Room with a View takes place in Florence. The characters meet and avoid each other in a number of locations throughout the city: at the Santa Croce church adorned with frescos by Giotto; in the Piazza Della Signoria where Michaelangelo's David stares across at Benvenuto Cellini's bloody Medusa under the Loggia dei Lanzi; at the San Miniato church, its beautiful facade visible from the very room of the title. Practically every scene in the Italian half of the book features some work of art or another, directly or indirectly. When the characters take a trip into the hills, landscape artists are recalled. When they view Giotto's frescos, their different reactions mirror their approaches to life and living. Forster continually uses the adjectives 'michaelangelesque' and 'leonardesque' to describe the opposing facets of the characters. Once I began to notice that pattern, I recorded it in the status updates but there were more examples than I've listed there.
All of this is by way of explaining that Forster creates a juxtaposition of two modes of being in this novel, the cool and sedate versus the sublimely passionate, as if he himself is involved in some balancing act between sedate predictable prose and wildly unpredictable romanticism, between his own rational leonardesque qualities and his more michaelangelesque tendencies, between the English half of the novel and the Italian half.
Two of the characters are symbols of those two extremes. Lucy Honeychurch's entourage, especially her cousin Charlotte Bartlett, would like to keep Lucy on the side of the sedate. George Emerson and his father would like Lucy to step over into their own more dynamic world. I was reminded of Virginia Woolf's Night and Day which offers similar contrasts and challenges and a similarly nuanced resolution.
I was unsure about what destiny Forster actually wanted for his main characters. According to the introduction, he wrote two different outcomes though only one exists today. However, in the end, it is as if the characters resolve the situation for themselves. Charlotte Bartlett emerges as a curious and unlikely deus ex machina, and the title of the innocent-looking book, sunning itself in the English garden, turns out to be ‘Under a Loggia�, nicely connecting the two halves of the novel and helping to resolve the dilemmas of the characters.
.........…â¶Ä¦â¶Ä¦â¶Ä¦â¶Ä¦â¶Ä¦â¶Ä¦â¶Ä¦â¶Ä¦â¶Ä¦â¶Ä¦â¶Ä¦â¶Ä¦â¶Ä¦â¶Ä�
I've chosen two images that I think illustrate Forster's adjectives 'leonardesque' and 'michaelangelesque'. Leonardo's 'Annunciation' (in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence):
and one of Michelangelo's unfinished 'imprisoned slaves' (now in the Academia Gallery, Florence):
For some further thoughts on how Forster merges his story with the art of Florence, see my review of The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini.
I read both Forster's and Cellini's books while visiting the Tuscan capital last month and found interesting parallels between them.
The author then describes what the main characters are doing in various locations adjacent to the garden, but meanwhile the red book is allowed to be caressed all the morning by the sun and to raise its covers slightly, as though to acknowledge the caress. The description of the book seems very innocent but the reader’s attention is immediately caught. What is the significance of this book within a book, we wonder, and why does it have a 'red' cover.
As it turns out, the immediate purpose of the red-covered book on that sunny English morning is to move the story along, quickly and dramatically. The red book causes certain things to happen that wouldn't otherwise have happened as if it were in fact a character in the novel with a voice of its own. The plot is really very neat and makes for an entertaining read. The backdrops Forster uses for the action are interesting too: the shifting class structure and the new ideas on religion and politics which were emerging in England in the last decades of the nineteenth century. But my favorite aspect of this beautiful novel is 'Art'. Even when everything else is in flux, Art is a constant and reliable reference which Forster returns to again and again.
The first half of A Room with a View takes place in Florence. The characters meet and avoid each other in a number of locations throughout the city: at the Santa Croce church adorned with frescos by Giotto; in the Piazza Della Signoria where Michaelangelo's David stares across at Benvenuto Cellini's bloody Medusa under the Loggia dei Lanzi; at the San Miniato church, its beautiful facade visible from the very room of the title. Practically every scene in the Italian half of the book features some work of art or another, directly or indirectly. When the characters take a trip into the hills, landscape artists are recalled. When they view Giotto's frescos, their different reactions mirror their approaches to life and living. Forster continually uses the adjectives 'michaelangelesque' and 'leonardesque' to describe the opposing facets of the characters. Once I began to notice that pattern, I recorded it in the status updates but there were more examples than I've listed there.
All of this is by way of explaining that Forster creates a juxtaposition of two modes of being in this novel, the cool and sedate versus the sublimely passionate, as if he himself is involved in some balancing act between sedate predictable prose and wildly unpredictable romanticism, between his own rational leonardesque qualities and his more michaelangelesque tendencies, between the English half of the novel and the Italian half.
Two of the characters are symbols of those two extremes. Lucy Honeychurch's entourage, especially her cousin Charlotte Bartlett, would like to keep Lucy on the side of the sedate. George Emerson and his father would like Lucy to step over into their own more dynamic world. I was reminded of Virginia Woolf's Night and Day which offers similar contrasts and challenges and a similarly nuanced resolution.
I was unsure about what destiny Forster actually wanted for his main characters. According to the introduction, he wrote two different outcomes though only one exists today. However, in the end, it is as if the characters resolve the situation for themselves. Charlotte Bartlett emerges as a curious and unlikely deus ex machina, and the title of the innocent-looking book, sunning itself in the English garden, turns out to be ‘Under a Loggia�, nicely connecting the two halves of the novel and helping to resolve the dilemmas of the characters.
.........…â¶Ä¦â¶Ä¦â¶Ä¦â¶Ä¦â¶Ä¦â¶Ä¦â¶Ä¦â¶Ä¦â¶Ä¦â¶Ä¦â¶Ä¦â¶Ä¦â¶Ä¦â¶Ä�
I've chosen two images that I think illustrate Forster's adjectives 'leonardesque' and 'michaelangelesque'. Leonardo's 'Annunciation' (in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence):
and one of Michelangelo's unfinished 'imprisoned slaves' (now in the Academia Gallery, Florence):
For some further thoughts on how Forster merges his story with the art of Florence, see my review of The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini.
I read both Forster's and Cellini's books while visiting the Tuscan capital last month and found interesting parallels between them.
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Reading Progress
May 6, 2016
–
Started Reading
May 7, 2016
– Shelved
May 7, 2016
–
8.59%
""Remember how this church of Santa Croce was built by faith in the full fervour of mediavaleism."
"No," exclaimed Mr Emerson, "Remember nothing of the sort! Built by faith indeed! That simply means the workmen weren't paid properly."
Reading this because it's set in Florence,and happy to find the church I visited today mentioned already"
page
22
"No," exclaimed Mr Emerson, "Remember nothing of the sort! Built by faith indeed! That simply means the workmen weren't paid properly."
Reading this because it's set in Florence,and happy to find the church I visited today mentioned already"
May 9, 2016
–
14.06%
"Evening approached while they chatted; the air became brighter; the colours on the trees were purified, and the Arno lost its muddy solidity and began to twinkle..There were a few patches of watery light upon the earth and the facade of San Miniato shone brilliantly in the declining sun.
"
page
36
"
May 9, 2016
–
21.88%
"We residents sometimes pity tourists--handed about like a parcel of goods from Venice to Florence, from Florence to Rome, living herded together in pensions or hotels, quite unconscious of anything that is outside Beadeker, their one anxiety to get things 'done' and go on somewhere else. The result is, they mix up towns, rivers, palaces in one inextricable whirl. You know the American girl in Punch who says..."
page
56
May 9, 2016
–
22.66%
"Italian in the mouth of Italians is a deep-voiced stream, with unexpected cataracts and boulders to preserve it from monotony. In Mr Eager's mouth it resembled nothing so much as an acid whistling fountain which played ever higher and higher, and quicker and quicker, and more and more shrilly, till abruptly it was turned off with a click."
page
58
May 11, 2016
–
36.33%
"There was indeed something rather incongruous in Lucy's moral outburst over Mr Eager. It was as of one should see the Leonardo on the ceiling of the Sistine. He longed to hint to her that not here lay her vocation; that a oman's power and charm reside in mystery, not in muscular rant.
Is Cecil saying Lucy's outburst is like a work by Michaelangelo when the serenity of a Leonardo would be more fitting? Hmm..."
page
93
Is Cecil saying Lucy's outburst is like a work by Michaelangelo when the serenity of a Leonardo would be more fitting? Hmm..."
May 11, 2016
–
42.58%
"He stared at her, and felt again that she had failed to be Leonardesque.
Poor Cecil. Lucy just insists on showing him her blunt and muscular Michaeangelo side instead of her serene and mysterious Leonardo side."
page
109
Poor Cecil. Lucy just insists on showing him her blunt and muscular Michaeangelo side instead of her serene and mysterious Leonardo side."
May 12, 2016
–
46.09%
""When I was a you man, I always meant to write a history of coincidence," said Mr Beebe"
page
118
May 12, 2016
–
52.34%
"Then he glanced at Lucy, in whose face petty anxieties had marred the smiles. In January he would rescue his Leonardo from this stupefying twaddle.
Forster is determined to have Cecil turn Lucy into 'The Portrait of a Lady' while he himself is determined to have her confront the realities of 'Michelangelesque' maleness. I love when an author conspires against his own characters and has such fun in the process"
page
134
Forster is determined to have Cecil turn Lucy into 'The Portrait of a Lady' while he himself is determined to have her confront the realities of 'Michelangelesque' maleness. I love when an author conspires against his own characters and has such fun in the process"
May 12, 2016
–
68.75%
"Mr Beebe, who loved the art of the past, was reminded of a favorite theme, the 'Santa Conversazione', in which people who care for one another are painted chatting together about noble things, a theme neither sensual or sensational, and therefore ignored by the art of today.
Far Angelico"
page
176
Far Angelico"
May 12, 2016
–
76.56%
""Lucy, come and look at the cypresses; and the church, whatever its name is, still shows."
I had a feeling the hill-side church of San Miniato, shining in the evening sun would be mentioned again. Clearly this was the View from the Room.
"
page
196
I had a feeling the hill-side church of San Miniato, shining in the evening sun would be mentioned again. Clearly this was the View from the Room.
"
May 12, 2016
–
Finished Reading
Comments Showing 1-50 of 149 (149 new)
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Carol
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May 07, 2016 07:55AM
*snort*
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Carol wrote: "*snort*"Mr Emerson is fast becoming a favourite literary character of mine - but it's early days. I'm waiting to see if Forster can keep giving him great lines - or if Mr Emerson can even stay in the story given how badly his great lines are going with the other characters :-)
Finally you got your room, how's the view?
Henry wrote: "Finally you got your room, how's the view?"No view, Henry - it's a little room under the roof of a tiny and very old hotel on a narrow street - but when I go down three flights of stone stairs past other people's apartments, and step through the ancient door onto the pavement, I can almost touch the famous Duomo ;-)
What a beautiful view...
Henry wrote: "What a beautiful view..."Yes!
Mind you, that's the north side of the cathedral, Henry, and not nearly as photographed or celebrated as the other sides -but the north side is the part I see at the end of my street when I step out of my door.
Here's the western facade:
In spite of life, this book has finally managed to be reviewed :-)
Fionnuala wrote: "In spite of life, this book has finally managed to be reviewed :-)"Perhaps because of life.
Forster creates a juxtaposition of two modes of being in this novel, the cool and sedate versus the sublimely passionate, as if he himself is involved in some balancing act between sedate predictable prose and wildly unpredictable romanticism, between his own rational leonardesque qualities and his more michaelangelesque tendencies, between the English half of the novel and the Italian halfthis reminds me of Apollonian and Dionysian, might that be what Forster was referring too? Or maybe it is fortuitous, dividing people into two types comes pretty naturally after all - those who write reviews and those who read them for instance! ;)
What a lovely review, Fionnuala, of a wonderful novel (which I must re-read, I realize). I appreciate how you analysed the two different aspects of the novel - and of Forster - which I guess we see in Howards End, too, don't we (and are told to connect them)? Of course, much of that went over my head when I first read it some twenty-odd years ago, but after reading Maurice, it dawned on me that Forster had a view (or, ahem, an inclinination) for which he was never granted a room. And here I though it was just Lucy wanting a view of the Arno!I'm totally jealous of the view you've had, a real view, of that church - gorgeous. I can only boast of having been to Tunbridge Wells - which I specifically went to years ago because (as far as I remember) that's the English location. Have you seen the film adaptation? I guess it missed out on the juxtapositions you observantly speak of, and the references to art, but it's quite good. Maggie Smith is of course perfect as cousin Charlotte.
This review talks about all the reasons why I should pick up Forster without further delay. Splendid Fionnuala !
Tony wrote: "Fionnuala wrote: "In spite of life, this book has finally managed to be reviewed :-)"Perhaps because of life."
Oh yes, Tony, this book is so very full, full, full of life that it insisted on a review though other tasks were more pressing - and it won!
A wonderful review Fionnuala. I read A Room with a View in my youth when I was seeking to become an autodidact, Ã la Colin Wilson. Thus I was consuming as much 'literature' as possible. Unfortunately, I consumed much fine fair as though I were ingesting McDonalds Big Macs. Your review has once again reminded me of my youthful errors. I shall reread A Room soon with you as my guide. Thanks.
Fabulous review, Fi. Especially loved the very original opening observation about the red book. I'd never thought before of that book being the clinching connect between art and life, which is fascinating because the book itself isn't art, rather perhaps an inadequate attempt at creating art.
Jean-Paul wrote: "Grazie mille Fionnuala for this wonderful review. Thanks to you and art, this book has rapidly moved up several rungs of my to-read-ladder. You have brought Florence back into our lives again..."Forster's focus on art will definitely appeal to you, Jean-Paul, and he writes beautifully at a sentence level - that description of the abandoned book - isn't it so fine? I wish you lots of satisfaction when you pick up this book, and if you could just combine it with a trip to Florence, you'd be in heaven :-)
I have yet to read this book; it would be my first contact with this writer. This is another extraordinary review, Fionnuala, so delicately connected with the magnificent city of Florence. Another review where we can breathe art. Beautiful. :)
Jan-Maat wrote: "this reminds me of Apollonian and Dionysian, might that be what Forster was referring too? Or maybe it is fortuitous, dividing people into two types comes pretty naturally after all - those who write reviews and those who read them for instance! ;)"That model fits perfectly with how Forster seems to be viewing the world, in this book at least, Jan-Maat. And from what Helle says, he was saying something similar in Howards End (though I can't remember that book too clearly) and perhaps in Maurice as well. And when I think about A Passage to India, the notion of there being two types of people crops up again: Mrs Moore and Aziz versus most of the others.
By the way, I'm glad that some of my 'friends' here on gr who write reviews also read them ;-)
Helle wrote: "What a lovely review, Fionnuala, of a wonderful novel (which I must re-read, I realize). I appreciate how you analysed the two different aspects of the novel - and of Forster - which I guess we see in Howards End..."I think I need to reread Howards End, Helle, now that I know a bit more about what was going on in Forster's head - and having 'met' him in Virginia Woolf's Writer's Diary where he came across as by far the most human of her writer and artist friends.
I have never seen the film version of A Room with a View but if Maggie Smith is in it, it's bound to be a treat. And it would be lovely to revisit Florence ;-)
One of the most amazing pleasures in reading your reviews has to be how quickly you address thoughts that seem to have just occurred to me - the dance between English and Italian vitalities here, for example. Marvelous...and addicting, Fionnuala. Thank you for sharing this!
Abubakar wrote: "This review talks about all the reasons why I should pick up Forster without further delay. Splendid Fionnuala !"Start with this one, Abubakar. A Passage to India and Howards End are more serious works but this one is more charming.
RK-ique wrote: "A wonderful review Fionnuala. I read A Room with a View in my youth when I was seeking to become an autodidact, Ã la Colin Wilson. Thus I was consuming as much 'literature' as possible.."I think many of us wolfed down 'literature' as if it was fast-food when we were young, RK. However, I think the advent of a forum for posting reviews has changed the way many of us now read, whatever our age. Review writing makes us think about what we've read, and then the pleasure of reading just triples and quadruples.
Violet wrote: "Fabulous review, Fi. Especially loved the very original opening observation about the red book. I'd never thought before of that book being the clinching connect between art and life..."Yes, it is ironic that such a 'romp' of a book should have such a vital role in the story, Violet. I'm sure Forster had a lot of fun with that plot twist. And Miss Lavish was hilarious - I wondered what lavish lady novelist Forster was satirizing...
Florencia wrote: "I have yet to read this book; it would be my first contact with this writer. This is another extraordinary review, Fionnuala, so delicately connected with the magnificent city of Florence..."Delicate is a good word for certain aspects of this book, Florencia. Delicate like this Annunciation by Leonardo da Vinci which I saw in the Uffizi:
But there are other aspects that are more physical and which remind me of Michaelangelo's imprisoned slaves which I saw in the Academia Gallery. Here's one:
Fionnuala wrote: "Florencia wrote: "I have yet to read this book; it would be my first contact with this writer. This is another extraordinary review, Fionnuala, so delicately connected with the magnificent city of ..."Breathtaking images.
As you wisely described it, a book of extremes. Your depiction of that dichotomy you've mentioned and the role the characters play concerning that duality is absolutely compelling. I might give this one a try sooner than expected. :)
lovely review - I now have a yearning to grab a re-read.
Antigone wrote: "One of the most amazing pleasures in reading your reviews has to be how quickly you address thoughts that seem to have just occurred to me - the dance between English and Italian vitalities here..."Thanks for your wonderful comment, Antigone. That 'dance' between the two cultures entails some very amusing scenes featuring boisterous Italians making fun of straight laced English people- and Forster is so subtle about it all that you don't know whose side he is on - even though he wrote the scenes. I read a short story of his recently, The Story of a Panic, which is also set in Italy and presents the same contrasts, but again, you just don't know whose side Forster is on. There was a little of that ambiguity in A Passage to India too.
Bettie� wrote: "lovely review - I now have a yearning to grab a re-read."Go for it, Bettie - it's a book that can definitely stand a reread.
What a nice way to start...the part with the red book sunning itself...(beautiful line from the book)...this must have been something to read this and been around there as well? I love the pictures you added into the comment section...;-)
Lovely review, Fionnuala! I read it many years ago, but I now planning to revisit it.
This novel has been a comfort read for me and your lovely review, Fionnuala, brought that back to me.
This is a highly visual review built on meaningful juxtapositions, which I missed when I read this novel years ago. (view spoiler)Also, having read "Night&Day" pretty recently, I understand the comparison you bring up, although I would have chosen D.H. Lawrence as a closer match for Woolf in that case because of its introspective style and the inner struggle that goes on in the minds of the characters, which I don't remember (I might be wrong) as explicit in Forster's novel.
A super review Fionnuala and I especially liked the images.I haven't read this book. I don't know why. But then there are just so many books around.
I so enjoyed this review, Fionnuala. I love the way you start from the book image, and your comments about Forster's use of Italy as a shorthand for forbidden freedoms. I was just having a conversation last week about Forster vs Penelope Fitzgerald as observers of Italy and Italians. Have you read Where Angels Fear to Tread?
Tbrando wrote: "What a nice way to start...the part with the red book sunning itself...(beautiful line from the book)...this must have been something to read this and been around there as well?.."It's a perfect book to read in Florence, Tbrando - and even if you're not in Florence when you read it, it will take you there ;-)
Lizzy wrote: "Lovely review, Fionnuala! I read it many years ago, but I now planning to revisit it."When I reread something I read years ago, Lizzy, I'm often bowled over not only by the fact that I've wiped most of the book from my memory but also by the realization that my reactions have changed drastically. Books I thought I loved can disappoint, and books I was indifferent to can turn out to be treasures. Here's hoping this one turns out to be a treasure for you.
Teresa wrote: "This novel has been a comfort read for me and your lovely review, Fionnuala, brought that back to me."I know you are an out and out Forster fan, Teresa, so I'm glad to have given you some pleasure. I found a long short story of his recently, also set in Florence, and it's available free online, The Story of a Panic. Perhaps you've read it? Parts of it are very similar to ARwaV. A group of English people go on an outing to the hills above Florence and then there's a storm and a strange thing happens.. Forster uses that strategem in A Passage to India too - an outing which ends in a strange happening...
Curious.
Like the red book in the beginning of your review, you suspend the climax too, in a tantalizing duality of interpretations. Very clever, Fio ;) I remember reading the first few pages of this book, when the girls invite unexpected guests and keep going to and fro with their affections and inclinations. Hmm... the dilemmas run deeper than I thought perhaps!
Dolors wrote: "Also, having read "Night&Day" pretty recently, I understand the comparison you bring up, although I would have chosen D.H. Lawrence as a closer match for Woolf in that case because of its introspective style and the inner struggle that goes on in the minds of the characters, which I don't remember (I might be wrong) as explicit in Forster's novel."Good points, Dolors, but I wasn't thinking of style so much as the dilemma the characters face. I felt that the two main characters in Night and Day (from different social classes), were trying to break away from society's expectations of them, and that is what Lucy and George (also from different social classes) are struggling to do too. (view spoiler)
Lynne wrote: "A super review Fionnuala and I especially liked the images.I haven't read this book. I don't know why. But then there are just so many books around."
So many books, so little time, Lynne - but we'd be worse off if we ran the risk of running out of books. When I first moved to France, there were hardly any English bookshops and no online possibilities. I used to pack my cases with books on every trip home and I began hoarding them like a miser. I still have unread books from that period which I'll never read now - they were bought in desperation, just in case I'd run out. Books became like money in the bank for a while - but then I discovered the delights of French bookshops and I became a little less crazy with the book buying :-)
Marita wrote: "A lovely review if an old favourite. I liked the film too."I can well imagine how this book is a favourite of yours, Marita, set as it is in Italy.
I'm wondering about the film version - do I want to replace my images from the book with someone else's - or do I want to see beautiful images of Florence so badly that I don't care. I'll probably watch it ;-)
Issicratea wrote: "I so enjoyed this review, Fionnuala. I love the way you start from the book image, and your comments about Forster's use of Italy as a shorthand for forbidden freedoms. I was just having a conversation last week about Forster vs Penelope Fitzgerald as observers of Italy and Italians. Have you read Where Angels Fear to Tread?"Issicratea, your mention of a conversation reminded me of this quote from the book about the very interesting Mr Beebe: Mr Beebe, who loved the art of the past, was reminded of a favorite theme, the 'Santa Conversazione', in which people who care for one another are painted chatting together about noble things, a theme neither sensual or sensational, and therefore ignored by the art of today.
I'm thinking that apart from here on goodreads, it might be difficult to find anyone to engage in conversation about Forster's and Fitzgerald's views on Italians - you're lucky that you can.
I was going to take one of Fitzgerald's Italian books along on the trip but then changed my mind but I would still like to read her version of Italy so eventually perhaps...
I would love to read the Forster book you mentioned - soon perhaps.
Seemita wrote: "Like the red book in the beginning of your review, you suspend the climax too, in a tantalizing duality of interpretations. Very clever, Fio ;) I remember reading the first few pages of this book..."I do love a little bit of suspense, Seemita ;-)
If you ever pick this book up again, I hope it will be a satisfying read - and that I haven't built it up too much...
Loved the way you linked up each paragraph to the next in this review with a theme or keyword passing the baton, Fionnuala - I'm especially intrigued by the red book, of course. :-)
Fionnuala wrote: "That model fits perfectly with how Forster seems to be viewing the world, in this book at least, Jan-Maat. And from what Helle says, he was saying something similar in Howards End (though I can't remember that book too clearly) and perhaps in Maurice as well. And when I think about A Passage to India, the notion of there being two types of people crops up again: Mrs Moore and Aziz versus most of the others. "Good thinking - Dr Aziz I would feel is definitely Apollonian in contrast to the Hindu festival that he is caught up in at the end, while Miss Quested's experience in the Marabar caves I suppose we could see as Dionysian - felt but not capable of rational explanation? Maybe that was part of her quest?
Helle wrote: " but after reading Maurice, it dawned on me that Forster had a view (or, ahem, an inclinination) for which he was never granted a room. And here I though it was just Lucy wanting a view of the Arno!"in case you hadn't heard I do believe that he eventually was granted a room in a ménage a trois with a policeman. The policeman was very happy, Forster and his wife however had some trouble reaching an accommodation.
The juxtapositions of two modes of being reflected in the prose sounds very interesting, Fio, and reminds me how a change of place and surroundings engenders a very different outlook, a very different approach towards how we observe life. Lovely review that has me intrigued.
Fionnuala wrote: "Dolors wrote: "Also, having read "Night&Day" pretty recently, I understand the comparison you bring up, although I would have chosen D.H. Lawrence as a closer match for Woolf in that case because o..."Hhmmm... I viewed Katharine's struggle in "Night & Day" more in the sense of not surrendering her individuality for the sake of "romantic love". (view spoiler)
Fionnuala wrote: "The Story of a Panic. Perhaps you've read it? Parts of it are very similar to ARwaV. A group of English people go on an outing to the hills above Florence and then there's a storm and a strange thing happens..."Yes, I've read it, in the collection The Celestial Omnibus & The Eternal Moment. I still remember the atmosphere of that story. And, yes, there's that ambiguity, a kind of muddle (which seems to be his favorite word) ;) but much more than a muddle -- a hidden sexual tension even, that's also present in A Passage to India.
Jan-Maat wrote: " The policeman was very happy, Forster and his wife however had some trouble reaching an accommodation."I recently finished a bio of Forster and according to it, the wife and Forster eventually became very good friends.
Jan-Maat wrote: "Good thinking - Dr Aziz I would feel is definitely Apollonian in contrast to the Hindu festival that he is caught up in at the end, while Miss Quested's experience in the Marabar caves I suppose we could see as Dionysian - felt but not capable of rational explanation? Maybe that was part of her quest? .."More great connections, Jan-Maat.
