Maurice: A Novel

I think I'm setting myself up to be abused for an imperfect understanding of Forster's work, but I love Maurice, and I only like everything else he wrote. Forster's plots to me are so controlled that his novels become more like chess games than stories--his characters move entirely according to their classist/symbolic value; their minds are types, their types interact. Sometimes this interaction is delightful, as in Room with a View. Sometimes it is genuinely touching, as in Where Angels Fear to Tread. But it is always highly regimented. This criticism extends for me to his prose, which I find to be too rule-bound--he always leaves the same words out; his style is symbolic of delicate subtlety without necessarily being so.
But in Maurice, Forster lets go some of this reserve. His prose, which I find formulaic in his later stuff, is here undeveloped enough to be idiosyncratic, un-stylized, and gorgeous. Maurice as a character is wonderfully, wonderfully real, and I appreciate the detailed development of the plot because Forster brings home with such ability the hazards of Maurice's struggle, the ever-present possibility of failure, the balance between lesser and more important goals, and the way in which Forster makes clear that these goals, as Maurice knows when he "listens beneath" words, are not the ends that he is really achieving as he achieves them. Maurice himself is drawn with Jane Austen-ian precision: Forster mixes the divine heroism--beauty and brutality--in Maurice's essential, private life with his utterly mundane non-essentials--politics, understanding, relationships with family, opinions, way of talking, appearance, job.
This is a heroic book. It moves me to tears every time I read it.

I wanted to read this before watching the movie. Now I worry that the movie will not measure up. This is a well written love story. Obviously before its time. I would gladly recommend this to my friends, but they just are not readers.

Only published after E. M. Forster's death (by his own request) this a classic no one should be allowed to miss while going through life. Set in Edwardian England it's the story of a young man's sexual awakeness, a journey of self-discovery that brings him to face the social mores of the day and eventually reject them - at a time when a happy ending could still be possible even if only by a return to nature. The characthers of Maurice, Clive and Alec are fully rounded, but on another plan they stand for the divisions of class and how the establishment could entrap you but love could liberate you from class altogether. It's been a life-changing experience for me to read this novel. Dismiss any prejudices you may have against gay love or Forster or 'classic literature'. You probably will find it a very pleasant, refreshing and poetic surprise.

This is a tender, sentimental love story about a young gay Englishman's search for happiness in the early part of the twentieth century. Suppressed by the author until after his death, the world did not see this wonderful story until 1971; more's the pity. For this is in many ways THE classic gay novel; the characters all ring true; the class milieu is perfectly evoked as only Forster can; and the happy ending, however unrealistic it may be given the novel's setting and times, is almost obligatory for such a story. This one is absolutely not to be missed.

Howards End is very good and all, but if you want Forster's heart, seek it here. This book seems not to have been written, but rather *felt* directly onto the page. The reading experience was, for me, likewise emotional: I suffered along with Maurice, my heart leapt with his, and caught in my throat as his heart caught in his throat. A beautiful novel that argues (very persuasively--this is Forster, after all) for the necessity of freedom to life.

** Possible Spoiler **

The tale is bittersweet at best. It's a tale of love between two men when homosexuality was against the law in England. Written in 1917 and not published until 1970, I first watched the movie adaptation which sprung my interest in reading the book.

Maurice is a great complex character and I liked the way he evolved to accept his sexuality. Clive comes across as a jerk for most of the book, especially when he claims to no longer love Maurice since he's turned back to women.

Maurice does get his happy ending such as it is. It's too bad there wasn't a sequel to this book. I would like to have read about Maurice and his new love, Scudder.

One of the most beautifully written novels I ever read. Sophisticatedly sexy, daring for its time yet leaving enough to the imagination for weeks of fantasizing...The difficult thing was trying to avoid seeing before me the characters in the film, which I don't like very much... Read it! It will make you smile,then giggle, then worry, then clench your fists in anger, then cry and then finally jump for joy at the triumphant happy ending! Buckle up it's a bumpy ride!

If you are looking for THE homosexual novel, then this is it. Its theme and characters are so well developed that it is strikingly real. It deals with the disappointments in the life of a young, confused, homosexual man. It also scrutinizes British society of earlier this century in such a way that it reveals so much of the hatred and class prejudices that existed then. Amidst all that is a wonderful love story. What more do we want?

Well I really haven't heard of anyone ever reviewing a book they haven't yet completed but here I am. I have already read Forster's 'Where Angels fear to tread' and I didn't think too much of it. Our college library, however, is stacked with copies of all sorts of material on Forster & I do remember the Merchant Ivory film although I never saw it. I had a terrible day at college the other day when I picked up Maurice for a read, I never take fiction from the library - I always like to have my own copy. But reading Maurice - well I can't find words sufficient to describe how much I already love the book & how I don't want it to end - so I'm prolonging my love-affair with it. I wanted to read other people's opinions & it's nice to know that the book has received its due admiration. For anyone who hasn't read it - Do read it, it's beautiful and interesting. None of the best-seller crap & yet a page-turner. I highly recommend it.

Maurice is one of the greatest books I have ever read. In terms of a gay novel, it is the only one that I can really stand. And it is the best one I have read thus far. This novel helped me to hope and dream at the start of a long sexual journey (I'm still young, so I have a long way to go).
Now, you might wonder for all my high praises, why I didn't give Maurice five stars. Maurice is not a simple a novel as one might figure. It's extremely layered, and more than most novels esp. the 'classics' different people get widely different things from it. If you read it at the surface, you get the story of the sexually confused/frustrated Maurice Hall who falls in and out of love with Clive, and eventually forms a lifelong companionship with Alec Scudder, a man of the lower classes who works on Clive's estate. But if you look closer, then look away real quickly the picture becomes clearer. Archetypes form, and a beautiful story takes shape. It might not come to you like a bolt, but more like a rainy day that floods the passages of the mind until it spills all over.

I must say though that while I commend Mr. Forster for his presence in the literary landscape, but I feel like he didn't work to his potential. I think he was bound by the time he was born in. If he was born nearly 100 years later, Maurice would have been a bestseller and a classic.

I read Maurice after watching the film starring James Wilby and Hugh Grant.I thought the movie which was by the way really good has been touched by the hands of a screenplay writer from the nineties to make it look so convincing. I was skeptical about whether a "straight" author of the Edwardian age would be able to write convincingly about homosexual love so I bought the book to find out for myself .Well , it was money well spent .I read it all over one night (it is not that long anyway).The author's portrayal of human emotions is mesmerizing.His descripton of anger,frustration,despair and despondency experienced by a homosexual man at that time is outstanding.The escape routes utilized by the major characters in the novel(religion,psychiatry,hypnotism and marriage) are so authentic.I recommend it strongly to anyone who is serious about ridding themselves of the contempt our society feels toward homosexual people.It is a very well written book.

"Maurice" is an excellent book. Written between 1913 and 1914,
it was not published until 1971 because of the sensitive subject
matter. Forster portrays the difficulty of being homosexual at an
age when it was nowhere near acceptable. He adroitly describes
the feelings of self-discovery, denial, and in the end, he proves
that happiness and love are attainable

"Maurice" is an excellent book. Written between 1913 and 1914,
it was not published until 1971 because of the sensitive subject
matter. Forster portrays the difficulty of being homosexual at an
age when it was nowhere near acceptable. He adroitly describes
the feelings of self-discovery, denial, and in the end, he proves
that happiness and love are attainable

"Maurice" is an excellent book. Written between 1913 and 1914,
it was not published until 1971 because of the sensitive subject
matter. Forster portrays the difficulty of being homosexual at an
age when it was nowhere near acceptable. He adroitly describes
the feelings of self-discovery, denial, and in the end, he proves
that happiness and love are attainable

The film of "Maurice" produced by Merchant Ivory a number of years ago is one my favorite films. I was curious, having never read E.M. Forster before, to see how much of the issue of homosexuality was a product of the book and how much was played-up for the film. The book did not dissapoint. An honest, self-aware writer, E.M. Forster tells a beautiful story of a fairly unremarkable young man who is forced to (by virtue of being gay) become remarkable. Problems of English repugnance at homosexuality (a feeling he shares himself at first) and of class make him into a grownup, into a real man. In the book this becomes a wonderful liberation--that does not come through as well in the film. A marvelous read. Not published until after his death in 1970. Only a few read it when he actually wrote it in the teens. Too dangerous. A shame. Far ahead of it's time.

This is one of the few books I plan to read again. What a beautiful story. For those of us who have not had a same-sex relationship, it illustrates that, love is just love, the emotions and feelings are the same regardless. This book was impossible to put down yet difficult to finish and say goodbye to.

Maurice is beautifully, insightfully written, and far ahead of its time. No one can argue with that. It's also a quick, engaging read. But I don't believe that it deserves all the praise that's being heaped on it. E.M. Forster purposely makes all his characters as unlikeable as possible. He states over and over again that Maurice is stupid, unremarkable, and mediocre until I wanted to scream "Why are you being so cruel to your own creation!?!" It's one thing to give your protagonist flaws, but it's quite another to degrade him every time he enters a scene. Clive is a pretentious fop who decides to become straight for no particular reason, and Alec isn't given any personality whatsoever. As hard as I tried, I couldn't really sympathize with any of these people. This book makes me so mad simply because it had the potential to be so much better.

A just wonderful book. Moving, sexy, with an almost unreal happy ending. I've read that Forster was ashamed about this book and it was only published after his death. He didn't have to be ashamed. It's his best book. I fell in love with it.

This is one of the best books on the thought processes of a young boy/Man on various stages of maturity. I saw the movie before reading the book. So I always visualized Hugh Grant as Clive and James Wilby as Hall. The movie has not deviated much from the book at all. The movie is a must see!
A beautifully written book. The words, imagery and intellectual ideas on Christianity, art, perceptions, greek philosophy, psychology - all superbly written. This book will fine tune your perceptive faculties and intellect.

This old book has 8 stories with Tom Baker, 13 stories with Peter Davison, 6 stories with Colin Baker, and 1 with each of the 1st 3 Doctors. Some are in comic book form. Some of these stories were written by Charles Pemberton and Lesley Scott.

Like Howards End and The Longest Journey, Maurice belongs to the Novels of England, works which mourned the country's vanishing landscape and celebrated its unique people. Although undoubtedly not one of Forster's greatest novels, Maurice nonethelesss exudes a brilliance of style in every sentence whilst a biting intelligence permeates throughout, far outshining most contemporary works. Written swiftly and without a hitch during one of Forster's most intensely creative periods, the novel affords crucial insight into a writer at the height of his powers.

we have here, to my knowledge, the finest book about homosexuality, written in a perfect style. Why the american people had to wait so long to have it, since its edition in 1917 ? always censorship !

(Audio CD review)

Although ahead of its time, Maurice is now a 'typical' representative of themes in gay romance literature, including the ex-lover who marries a woman, internalized self-hatred and repression, etc. The prose is excellent, so this work is highly recommended (it's short). That said, it's not life changing, just satisfying.

EM Forster wrote this book in 1913-14 but declined to allow it to be published till after his death. It tells of Maurice Hall (which immediately made me think of Radclyffe Hall's classic 'The Well of Loneliness) growing up with an awareness and horror of his homosexuality. As I struggled to develop a 'oneness' with characters who were so alien to my own natural preference an amazing thing happened in the story. One of the two main 'gay' (Forster does not use this word) characters suddenly decides he likes women. Does this happen, I wondered? Or was it an excuse used by one 'gay' (or bisexual) person to disengage from a partner they no longer enjoyed? For me, of course, it drove another knife between the remaining 'gay' character and myself. It seemed that homosexuals could be changed/change - they could all be like me! Was this a literary device of Forster that aims to modify the responses of readers - making the job harder for heterosexual readers to identify with Maurice, making homosexual readers even more keenly feel the alienation of society (especially when the book was written)?
In an afterword Forster explains that his book had to have a happy ending (despite great trauma suicide is mentioned only once throughout the book). This made me think again of Radclyffe Hall's 'Well of Loneliness' with its remorseless and, for me, unsatisfyingly negative ending. Hall wrote her novel about lesbians in 1928 and it created a furore in its time. That Forster was sitting on his novel at the time is an intersting thing to me. Was he tempted to publish? Perhaps he felt he could not join the same storm. Perhaps he originally had the miserable ending Hall wrote, and changed to distinguish his novel. In the end, these can be little more than speculations.
When I read Richard Fortey's book 'Trilobite' I complained in my review that I never really got to like trilobites as Mr Fortey obviosly does, despite enjoying the book immensely. The case is the same here. Forster's writing is inventive and rich, but I am left feeling just as alienated from homosexuals - I am simply not one of them. Am I more sympathetic? Perhaps. But the best that I can hope for is probably to be more tolerant.

This novel has been on my to-read pile for a long time. Despite all the rave reviews, I think it was just okay.

There was character development on the part of the main characters, but the scenes seemed flat and dull.

Also, Forster's writing is tough to follow at times. I'm not sure if it's the syntax of the sentences, or what. Maurice's dialogue lines, especially, were almost unintelligible. I get that this is how people spoke colloquially during that time period. (Not that this is a flaw, just makes the reading a bit jarred at times.)

Overall the novel left me sort of blasé and relieved to have finished it.