Howards End

Despite its hyperbole, this class critique cum romance has its charms, including a fascinating glimpse of how Forster saw the Stephen children (later destined to become Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell).

As the last century settles in the political and social attitudes of various families to one another and to members thereof are treated in a complex action that is both smooth and colorful in its treatment and in its physical and metaphysical descriptions. I picked this story after reading another by Forster.

This book almost seems to be written by two people. Some chapters are very long, verbose and dripped with heavy poetic license. Others are quick and concise, and often merely two people talking. However, the story in itself (although you can see the answer like a Hollywood ending) is quite entertaining. I felt as if he was going in one direction, got distracted, then quickly tried to tie everything to get (editor's cut?). However, if you are seeking an interesting relaxing book, the story is entertaining and has quite a few high spots!

It would have been unlikely for someone in 2016 to find a read from 1910 without help. Mine came from wishing to understand Wendell Berry, a contemporary favorite, who referenced the Forested book in one of his own. I had to read it. I was not disappointed. A place can very much be a character in a book, much more than a backdrop, and so with Howard's End. Anyone who enjoys Wendell Berry or Henry David Thoreau or Edwin Way Teale or Edward Abbey or Sarah Wheeler would love this book.

I enjoyed the way the book revealed the rigid class divisions of English society at the time. Great character development revealing the spiritual dimensions of people, especially for Margaret and Helen. Lyrical treatment of place and countryside.

This review is for the book quality. The typography is truly awful to the point where it is distracting (extra spaces, missing spaces, double hyphens instead of en dashes, no paragraph indents, etc.), and the author's name is even spelled wrong on the back cover. Did anyone look at this before reproducing it? Additionally, there is no publisher, city or state listed (or copyright information, for that matter), which makes it worse than worthless when trying to cite the book for a college class.

Knowing that this took place in victorian times, I expected something more like Jane Austen. The style of writing is not like hers. Not sure when it was written, but the narrator has a sort of a strange tone of voice. I saw part of the movie on tv and can't place that within the book... possibly I haven't gotten to that part yet.

This is a beautifully written book about two unconventional sisters who outwit societal constrictions to find rich and satisfying lives. It's also a hell of a yarn. I read this during a trip, and picked it up and put it down along the way. It is stunning, as is a film of the same name.

This Classic Literature ebook edition is a perfectly adequate reading copy and very reasonably priced. It contains only the text itself, with no introduction and no appendix of extra materials. This edition did contain a few editorial mistakes (misspellings and such), but it was still very readable and I wasn’t overly troubled by it. For the price, a good reading copy.

This is a great classic. So enjoyed reading this book! I had seen the movie first and wanted to read the book, too. Usually I read first, then see the movie. Wouldn't make any difference; both were great. Of course there is more detail in the book and I loved it. Forster was a pretty good author. We are fortunate to have had him.

With my new iPad, I was very interested in downloading some "freebies." One thing I am very interested in is whether I should be downloading books with Kindle (the app) or iBooks (in iTunes).

Well, both versions have pros and cons. For this book, I went iBooks.

Both versions have identical text (I believe the text is from Gutenberg) but the formatting on both DRIVES ME CRAZY! My biggest complaint with the Kindle is the wide amount of space between paragraphs. Every paragraph is followed by TWO BLANK LINES. Even reducing the font doesn't make a difference...

The iBooks version, however, doesn't use "smart" quotes and the dashes are merely two hyphens rather than the unbroken longer dash. (the 'm"dash). The paragraph indent space also varies, which drives me crazy too. It also seems like apostrophes are missing ...

CLOSELY FOLLOWS THE MOVIE VERSION. STIFF FORMAL DEPICTION OF LIFE IN BRITAIN AT THAT TIME.
EDUCATIONAL TO SEE HOW HOME LIFE IN A VERY RICH FAMILYS' HOME WAS REGULATED. ANTHONY HOPKINS
IS WONDERFULL. OVERSEEING THE CORRECTNESS OF EVERYTHING, FROM SERVANTS APPARELL TO, TO MENUS,
TABLE SETTINGS, ANTHONY IS AS STIFF AND REGULATED HIMSELF.

AT THE END, HE QUESTIONS WHETHER HE ALLOWED HIMSELF FREEDOM IN HIS PERSONAL LIFE.
READ THIS BOOK. IT WILL HELP YOU TO ENJOY THE PRESENT TV PRODUCTION OF " DOWNTON ABBY"

The novel juxtaposes early 20th c. British humanists and nature lovers--one's a tree hugger--to the nation's imperialists/industrialists who fetishize cars and cash. Forester argues for the marriage of the two in heavy handed authorial interventions and questionable support for Empire. I'm pulling punches in this rating. The truth is that I read it groaning this time around, but liked it okay when I read it at 17.

Very pleased with the condition! The book was received in very good, clean condition!

I only online collect the Readers Digest Worlds Best Reading series of classical novels and short stories.

If this quality persists, I will order the rest of this series completely from the store.
Thank you,

Joe Lomas

I did not like the pamphlet style format. I found it hard to read and had to fold back one side or the other. Also, the text was small and hard to read. When I ordered the book I was not aware it was this unusual size.

I originally selected this book for the cover. It had trees and was reminiscent of the story itself in which a tree figured prominently. Upon opening the book my husband and I were at first dismayed, then alarmed, amused, and ultimately perplexed; but let me hasten to add that in spite of being amused by the heading for Chapter 11 beginning at the very bottom of a page (there was an obvious penchant for saving paper), I do not recommend this book. The typesetting spaces the character's dialogue with large, uneven white space, has differing margins on opposing pages, and is not centered; all in all a rather displeasing layout. Curiously, my husband points out that he has never before seen a book sans publisher of any kind. An interesting, but ultimately, unsatisfying experience.