Sunday, September 9, 2012

Book review: A Room with a View by E.M. Forster

A Room with a View by E.M. Forester
(my own photo)
At the beginning of the summer, I set myself the admittedly slightly unrealistic goal of reading fifty books.  Now that the holidays are almost officially over, I can say with confidence that I'm not going to achieve that goal.  However, I did manage to read a lot of really great books, some of which I have been meaning to read for ages, and this is one of them.

A Room with a View is the story of Lucy Honeychurch, who travels to Florence chaperoned by her cousin, Charlotte.  When they complain about the fact that their room in the hotel doesn't have a view of the river, Mr. Emerson and his son George offer to swap places with them.  While Mr. Emerson sees it as a gesture of kindness, it is not seen as the "proper" thing to do.  Lucy has many interesting experiences while in Italy, including getting lost while sight-seeing, witnessing a murder, and going into the surrounding hills.  This holiday shapes her perspective on the world and her future actions.

Overall, it was an incredible book.  I thought that the characters were all very memorable and varied.  The relationship between Lucy and George was really romantic and I thought that it was beautiful.

While it didn't really have the satirical edge of Jane Austen, the social commentary was still really effective.  Sadly, too many of the issues that Forester discusses are still relevant today.

In conclusion, this novel is amazing in so many different ways, it has stood the test of time for all the right reasons.

Chances of finding it in my imaginary bookstore? 95%