Howards End

I enjoyed this well enough but it took an awful long time for the story to go anywhere. And like his other novels, the characters are all so unlikable! I fear this critique says more about me as a modern reader than it does Forster as a writer. But honestly, there it is.

What bothered me most was how little plot action there is. All this setting up of characters and homes and nothing really happens until halfway through the book. And the moments there are events: Mrs. Wilcox' death, the reveal of adultery, the reveal of an affair the core moment is barely described in half a page while there are endless pages describing less momentous events. I'm sure this is a deliberate choice on Forster's part but it is not very satisfying reading. And a secondary complaint: the actual plot turns are pretty melodramatic. A lot of the book reads as highbrow farce.

What is satisfying is just how excellent the prose writing quality is. I love the first chapter, Forster efficiently characterizing two families and their homes and their roles in society in just a few pages. There's also a lot of complex emotions and social situations on display. And there's lots of little turns of phrase that are quite lovely. To take one example, "He had never known young-manliness, that quality which warms the heart till death".

Overall I recognize this as a very finely written novel but the plot structuring is just a bit inaccessible for me to enjoy.