From far, from eve and morning

[sovay]

After a complete and surprising failure to find anything by E.M. Forster in a used book store in the Boston area—I can only conclude he is beloved and never put up for sale—I gave up and bought A Room with a View (1908) from the Harvard Coop this afternoon; Maurice is next. Tomorrow, Eric and I see Låt den rätte komma in (2008) at the Kendall.

Happy birthday, nineweaving!

Comments

[sovay]

WHUT.

I have no explanation! Maybe I scared him off.

ARWAV is great -- much more pointed and sort of sharply Mozartian than the film, which goes more for the romance.

I think it is amazingly faithful in its translation of the protagonists and the numinous quality of the world when Lucy lets it in; what it loses is the simultaneously satirical and candid depth of the supporting cast, particularly Miss Lavish and the two contrasted clergymen. (Am I the only person who thought Cecil would be much happier if he ran off with Mr. Beebe?) The onscreen preservation of the chapter titles and the score help a lot, though.

What I did not realize I would love so much was Forster's style.

There is some interesting stuff I read somewhere about Forster trying to write heterosexual relationships (which is supposedly why he gave up writing novels) and Lucy Honeychurch, but I forget where it is, duh.

Fascinating. Because I had no difficulty accepting George and Lucy as a couple, which could otherwise have cold-cocked the novel for me: it is a delicate feat to position a marriage as the stamp of independence genuinely achieved, rather than just one expectation traded for another.

Anyway, Lucy is kickass.

Ja.

It feels sort of v Enlightenment comedy to me, in that the plot and consequences are v wind-them-up-and-watch-everyone-freak! but the people are v real. To me it's v Austenian, only I think Austen would have raised her eyebrows a bit at the Romantic Lad and his Da.

Yes. I loved how much of the comedy (and character work) derives from that very mannered clockwork, relays of convention and politesse tripping person to person until they reach the Emersons, at which point social engineering blows a fuse.

I also really like how he tried to create a character v different from hmself in Maurice, so it wasn't just My Big Gay Coming Out Bildungsroman.

If there isn't already something called My Big Gay Bildungsroman, there probably should be.

(I will have more to say about Maurice when I have actually laid my hands on a copy.)

ALSO OKAY THIS IS NOW JUST ME GOING ON AND ON ABOUT FORSTER, BUT, 'HOWARDS END' SRSLY ONE OF THE BEST MODERNIST NOVELS EVER.

All right! It's on the list!

[sovay]

Also Neddy boy why did you give up writing novels?

nineweaving also mentioned this. It seemed like a waste to me.

I also forgot how much more I like Mr Emerson in the movie as Denholm Elliott plays him -- he seems much more sympathetic and less Lawrencian-preachy.

That is because Denholm Elliott is really, really awesome.

SETS TO WORK, AND WITH A WILL

My work here is done.

His first novel! the Apostles at Cambridge! also so so good, altho I think I am overly affectionate towards it b/c of its setting and its being his first.

Explain—was it the first novel of his you read?