A passage to India / E.M. Forster

I read this with a book club not knowing anything about it. I found its images rich and enjoyed the relationship of Aziz and Fielding as a metaphor for the situation between India and England at that time. Makes me wonder if a the west can ever truly know the east even now.

Classic. Brilliant portrait of British Raj India and the ethnic conflicts between the different political and religious groups and genders. Forster captures the essence of India in his beautiful descriptive passages and the rhythm of the English spoken by Indians, Hindu and Muslim, alike. If you've seen 'Indian Summer' on PBS, you will feel it in the pages. It's topicality also brought to mind 'To Kill a Mockingbird', demonstrating a universal prejudice against men of colour by their Anglo-European invaders and oppressors.

Although there is a movie based on this classic, the movie in no way replaces the reading of the book. Understanding colonial India always depends on perspective and I feel author provides a lot of viewpoints. The trial is the center of the movie and obviously important to the book. What I gained from the book is the attempt to provide the view of the native professional class. Well worth reading!!

The subject was interesting, but it was sometimes difficult to determine exactly which character was supposed to be thinking or speaking. Also, there were numerous terms that would be unfamiliar to readers who do not know the Indian cultures involved.

First the kindle version gets five stars for the format. As for the story I'm not sure whether to give it three or four stars. The imagery is vivid and the writing is excellent. This book gave me a great view into colonial India. The characters are well drawn but over all not very likable. A worthwhile read for the historical view.

First the kindle version gets five stars for the format. As for the story I'm not sure whether to give it three or four stars. The imagery is vivid and the writing is excellent. This book gave me a great view into colonial India. The characters are well drawn but over all not very likable. A worthwhile read for the historical view.

The book was shipped immediately and arrived at my door very quickly. Product was exactly as described. Buying used books online is so much less expensive than buying them from the bookstore. I appreciate the amazing service!

One review said that entire sections were missing so I contacted Rosetta books and they said that comment was not true, that the entire book was digitized. I loved the David Lean movie and I am very much enjoying the book.

I found the writing verbose and there was much wandering from the plot in apparent irrelevant areas- much as stated in the review. Whilst this may be a classic I cannot see this type of writing as attracting youngster to reading.

This was an excellent examination of the cultural conflict caused by England's occupation of India, with the climax being a trial that ends better than the later novel, To Kill a Mockingbird . But though the main character, Aziz, lives through the ordeal, he is forever haunted and disillusioned by the experience of being falsely accused based on race. This novel is as relevant today as ever, both in America and in India. The scars of the past may never be erased, as Aziz
seems to have concluded. It is the conqueror, personified by the English character, Fielding, who seems oblivious to the harm done, and who wishes to make right a wrong that he fails to fully admit to in the first place. This is the conundrum faced by both England and America today.

Watched the movie which prompted me to purchase the book. The book 'filled in the gaps' that the movie created. Interesting historical information, from E.M. Fosters point of view. I was easily transported to India by this book. A good look at a different day in time.

I purchased this book for class. The teacher had given specific instructions for which edition to buy, although he himself was uncertain of all of the publishing details. One of them was page count. He had mentioned 362 pages. the store listed this edition as 362 pages, which was a deciding point. This was a more expensive edition to purchase, but I did it anyways. Unfortunately, the edition is actually 316 pages. This was not useful for my class when the professor wanted us to go to a particular page, which was often.

The plot of the book itself is decent: the trials (literally) and travails of intercultural exchange in colonial India circa early 1900s makes for a decent read for a schoolbook. The dialogue was generally good, and the descriptive text evocative. At times, though, I wanted to throw my book against the wall. Some of the characters seemed pure caricature, annoyingly so, and I did not care for how Hindus were viewed at an authorial level. Also, sometimes Forster seemed to be too in love with his own descriptions to scale them back from multiple rage rambles.

The book is OK, but I will not read it again unless required to by a class.

In this book, there is a extreme of verbalization and although it is meant, by E. M. Forster to be differences in cultural expectations, norms and life, I feel there is an English perspective that influences the narrative. The tendency for the main character to completely confuse issues, not seek conformation and not impress one as a doctor of medicine is an example of this perspective.
Parts of the book were quite rambling and what could be said in a few paragraphs actually took a chapter.
The end of the book was markedly remarkable and I would read it again.

Passage to India. I first read this book in college many years ago as required reading. It's a great book with excellect descriptions! Beautifully written. Ourt Classics Group chose it for reading and discussion.

I wonder how this book was received when published in 1924 during the stirrings of Indian independence from Great Britain. Did it accurately reflect the depicted stereotypes and prejudices of both Indians and British colonialists? Or did Forster attempt to explode those stereotypes and prejudices? I saw David Lean's 1984 film (which I, in parts, confused with "Jewel in the Crown" - understandable since both starred Peggy Ashcroft and Art Malik and both take place at the Marabar Caves), and I recall the film being a subtler portrayal of Forster's characters and events. While this is a slow, talky book, emotions, speeches, and prejudices are front and center and overly magnified. The British are cold and reserved, hotheaded when it comes to England and the sanctity of their women, superior, insecure, scornful of Muslims and Hindus alike, and wearily bearing the White Man's Burden - including the well meaning school principal who does his best to go native but remains British to the core. Indians are lazy, cunning, treacherous, noble, mean, rebellious, subservient. Muslims are poetic; Hindus are superstitious. Quite frankly, I don't know what Forster was trying to achieve, reflection of reality or explosion of stereotypes. Does the book retain whatever importance it had in 1924? I don't know, but it did not engage me fully.