Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Search - A Room with a View

A Room with a View
A Room with a View
Author: E. M. Forster
Wit and intelligence are the hallmarks of this probing portrait of the English character. In this story of extreme contrasts -- in values, social class, and cultural perspectives -- an unconventional romantic relationship leads to conventional happiness in a delightful social comedy. — While touring Italy with her overbearing cousin, well-bred Lu...  more »
ISBN-13: 9780486284675
ISBN-10: 0486284670
Publication Date: 1995
Pages: 176
Rating:
  • Currently 4.1/5 Stars.
 20

4.1 stars, based on 20 ratings
Publisher: Dover Publications
Book Type: Paperback
Other Versions: Hardcover, Audio Cassette, Audio CD
Members Wishing: 0
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

bankie79 avatar reviewed A Room with a View on + 40 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
This is my second favorite EM Forster novel, with Maurice being my favorite. In my opinion, it is quite interesting how Forster can take the topics he discusses (classism, sexuality, etc) and can make his novels still remain 'proper' in the eyes of critics. He does an amazing job with this novel, bringing to light the ever-present British class system and emperialism that surrounds these characters despite the fact that they travel quite immensely. This is an amazing novel, along with all of his others. I wouldn't miss this read.
Read All 15 Book Reviews of "A Room with a View"

Please Log in to Rate these Book Reviews

blackrose74023 avatar reviewed A Room with a View on + 56 more book reviews
very good book.
reviewed A Room with a View on + 24 more book reviews
Much funnier than I'd imagined. A quick read with some moments that are bound to stick with me for quite awhile.
canadianeh avatar reviewed A Room with a View on + 242 more book reviews
Much better than the movie! The story contrasts the constraints of Edwardian social propriety with a world of spontaneity and passion. In it a young woman, whose only contact with moments of real emotion is playing Beethoven, awakens to find herself at odds with both worlds. A beautiful love story. Narration is excellent, but English accent takes some adaptation for American listeners: ha ha! another contrast of cultures!
reviewed A Room with a View on + 4 more book reviews
'You can transmute love, ignore it, muddle it, but you can never pull it out of you.'

In this brilliant piece of social comedy Forster is concerned with one of his favourite themes: the 'undeveloped heart' of the English middle classes, who are here represented by a group of tourists and expatriates in Florence. The English abroad are observed with a sharply ironic eye, but one of them, the young and unaffected Lucy Honeychurch, is also drawn with great sympathy.

In her relationships with her dismal cousin Charlotte, with the unconventional Emersons and - the scene transferred to England - with her supercilious fiance, Lucy is torn between lingering Victorian proprieties, social and sexual, and the spontaneous promptings of her heart ('an undeveloped heart, not a cold one'). Thus there are hidden depths of meaning in this sunniest and most readable of Forster's novels.

This edition includes Forster's light-hearted sequel, 'A View Without a Room'.
reviewed A Room with a View on + 289 more book reviews
I found EM Forsters A Room with a View to be a delightful coming-of-age story about love, passion, and self-discovery. When Lucy Honeychurch, chaperoned by her cousin Charlotte, checks into a Florentine pensione, Mr. Emerson offers to change rooms so she may have the title room with a view. A chance encounter with Mr. Emersons son George sparks romance -- or scandal? When we next see Lucy, shes back home in England, engaged to a gentleman named Cecil, but does she really follow through? The symbolism of rooms and views, as well as the backdrops of England and Italy, lends depth to the social interactions. Not only is EM Forster an astute observer of social conventions, but his prose (which strikes me as a cross between Jane Austen and Oscar Wilde) inspires the reader to believe life can be lived more fully, more passionately, more satisfyingly. This was a wonderful read worthy of its place on the list of 1001 books you must read before you die.

Book Wiki

Common Title

Genres: