Howards End
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Howards End is a classic English novel . . . superb and wholly cherishable . . . one that admirers have no trouble reading over and over again --Alfred Kazin
Howards End is undoubtedly Forster's masterpiece; it develops to their full the themes and attitudes of [his] early books and throws back upon them a new and enhancing light --Critic Lionel Trilling --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
Howards End is undoubtedly Forster's masterpiece; it develops to their full the themes and attitudes of [his] early books and throws back upon them a new and enhancing light --Critic Lionel Trilling --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
Product Description
Art and commerce, nature and industry, idealism and pragmatism, women and men: the struggles, partings, and reconciliations between these pairs drive the narrative of one of the great English novels of the twentieth century. One of the newest additions to The Longman Cultural Editions series, Howards End presents the complete text headed by an inviting introduction, and supplemented by helpful annotations; a table of dates to track its composition, publication, and public reception in relation to biographical, cultural and historical events; and a guide for further inquiry and study.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
37 of 39 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Howard's End is a story of relationships, and the differences between people in the late victorian age.
The book's heroines are the two Schlegel sisters, Helen and Margaret - well-to-do women of independent means and philanthropic natures as they find their way through life in the comfort that comes with a steady annual income.
The introduction of the Wilcox family illustrates the vast differences in outlook and behaviour that people of the same class could encapsulate. Whereas the Schlegels hold 'Literature and Art' in the highest of esteem, the Wilcoxes live in a world of 'panic and emptiness' and 'telegrams and anger'.
The novel also shows Forster's views on a changing world - the distasteful motor cutting up the roads, creating dust and killing cats is the Wilcoxes pride and joy, preempting the prevalence of the car in later years and its effect on the world. The phenomenon of urban sprawl is also dealt with in the book, as Forster describes London creeping its way into the countryside. The characters who suffer from hayfever are those who belong to the city and the new order - they have discarded the old way of life in the country and have moved to the city, where money and cars and 'telegrams and anger' prevail.
The idea of the home is also very important in the novel. The Wilcoxes have a disregard for a 'home', seeing each as a device for living in. The Schlegels, and Mrs. Wilcox (who acts as a bridge between the two families) see a house as much more and apply sentimental value to houses and gardens.
Class is also dealt with in the case of Leonard Bast, a lowly clerk whose life is turned upside down by the arrival of these two wealthy families. He is a pathetic and pitiable character, who strives to better himself through literature and art but cannot climb his way out of the depths of his social standing, hampered by a disastrous marriage.
This is (no hyperbole) my favourite book. It has passages and turns of phrase that you will want to remember, and deals with issues in a natural and thought-provoking manner. If you haven't read it already, why not!
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This was perhaps my first real introduction to literature, apart from "1984", the inevitable smart-schoolboy read, and "Sons And Lovers". As such it was a revelation - Forster's empathy, subtlety, lyricism and chracterisation are magnificent, while being oddly inobtrusive. There are no verbal pyrotechnics as you might find in DH Lawrence or Virginia Woolf, but a deeper vision of life that was wonderful to encounter at 15.
Forster's writing trajectory had led him to be able to write a "condition of England" novel - while his previous novels had perhaps erred on the side of social satire and comedy ("A Room With A View" and "Where Angels Fear To Tread"), or been a personal projection ("The Longest Journey"), "Howards End" is more the work of a professional novelist. It has a far greater scale than his previous novels, is in fact a great novel of London, and there is less of the mythology which appears overtly in his short stories and covertly in his previous fiction (especially "The Longest Journey").
The novel is almost entirely character driven - the plot, like life itself, is somewhat formless and inchoate. Two contrasting families, the cultured Schlegels and the financial-sector Wilcoxes, clash and mesh over the course of the novel. Their interactions, contrasts and enmeshings form the action of the novel. At the background Howards End, the house of Mrs Wilcox, stands as repository of all the values Forster cherishes, as the reconcilliation of all divisive opposites.
During the novel Margaret Schelegel and Mrs Wilcox become friends. But after an illness Mrs Wilcox dies, and Mr Wilcox, Henry, later marries Margaret, the elder and more empathetic of the Schlegel sisters. (Helen in contrast is more impetuous, less considered - poetry rather than prose). But unknown to Margaret, a dying bequest to leave Howards End to Margaret is dismissed and burned. At the end of the novel, after various unlikely contortions, Margaret is finally living in Howards End, as a sort of spiritual sucessor of Mrs Wilcox, in more than name. Here Forster's latent mysticism becomes apparent, but it's not incongruous or off-putting; rather it's a matter of values. Margaret by marrying into the Wilcoxes and infusing her ideals into their (as demonstrated by the novel) rather barren view of life, thus enriches all around her. She stands for integration and completion, rather than seperation and isolation, as seen in Helen's isolating the blame for Leonard Bast's misfortunes on Henry, or Henry's failure to connect his shameful past with his treatment of Helen when she is pregnant.
As said above, Howards End is a symbol of the reconcilliation of opposites - "Only connect!", as Margaret (and Forster) would say. Prose and passion, the inner life and the outer, city life and country life, culture and business, all stand conjoined by the end of the novel, when the baby is being taken out into the hayfield (plainly Forster's imagining of his young self) outside Howards End.
This is a magnificent novel, large in scope, with unforgettable characters (you often see people who you think are like Margaret or Henry or Helen or indeed Tibby), a vision that is unique and a subtle imagery that resonates ever louder with every re-reading. Its discussions of music, art and the topography of England are worth reading the novel for alone. While Forster can sometimes be obscured behind the more famous DH Lawrence or Virginia Woolf, this novel is the greatest to come out of Edwardian England.
Forster's writing trajectory had led him to be able to write a "condition of England" novel - while his previous novels had perhaps erred on the side of social satire and comedy ("A Room With A View" and "Where Angels Fear To Tread"), or been a personal projection ("The Longest Journey"), "Howards End" is more the work of a professional novelist. It has a far greater scale than his previous novels, is in fact a great novel of London, and there is less of the mythology which appears overtly in his short stories and covertly in his previous fiction (especially "The Longest Journey").
The novel is almost entirely character driven - the plot, like life itself, is somewhat formless and inchoate. Two contrasting families, the cultured Schlegels and the financial-sector Wilcoxes, clash and mesh over the course of the novel. Their interactions, contrasts and enmeshings form the action of the novel. At the background Howards End, the house of Mrs Wilcox, stands as repository of all the values Forster cherishes, as the reconcilliation of all divisive opposites.
During the novel Margaret Schelegel and Mrs Wilcox become friends. But after an illness Mrs Wilcox dies, and Mr Wilcox, Henry, later marries Margaret, the elder and more empathetic of the Schlegel sisters. (Helen in contrast is more impetuous, less considered - poetry rather than prose). But unknown to Margaret, a dying bequest to leave Howards End to Margaret is dismissed and burned. At the end of the novel, after various unlikely contortions, Margaret is finally living in Howards End, as a sort of spiritual sucessor of Mrs Wilcox, in more than name. Here Forster's latent mysticism becomes apparent, but it's not incongruous or off-putting; rather it's a matter of values. Margaret by marrying into the Wilcoxes and infusing her ideals into their (as demonstrated by the novel) rather barren view of life, thus enriches all around her. She stands for integration and completion, rather than seperation and isolation, as seen in Helen's isolating the blame for Leonard Bast's misfortunes on Henry, or Henry's failure to connect his shameful past with his treatment of Helen when she is pregnant.
As said above, Howards End is a symbol of the reconcilliation of opposites - "Only connect!", as Margaret (and Forster) would say. Prose and passion, the inner life and the outer, city life and country life, culture and business, all stand conjoined by the end of the novel, when the baby is being taken out into the hayfield (plainly Forster's imagining of his young self) outside Howards End.
This is a magnificent novel, large in scope, with unforgettable characters (you often see people who you think are like Margaret or Henry or Helen or indeed Tibby), a vision that is unique and a subtle imagery that resonates ever louder with every re-reading. Its discussions of music, art and the topography of England are worth reading the novel for alone. While Forster can sometimes be obscured behind the more famous DH Lawrence or Virginia Woolf, this novel is the greatest to come out of Edwardian England.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I know Howards End is considered by many a classic, and gets excellent reviews, but if I am honest I struggled with it. I love classic literature, and any thinness of plot as in this case doesn't usually bother me as I find character far more important. Despite this, and there being some beautiful examples of prose in here, overall I was just not very excited about this book.
As the themes started to develop I felt like the book became a bit bogged down, repetitive, ponderous, moralistic and that the characters started to feel more wooden, with an over-reliance on coincidence to make the story go anywhere. In the end it felt like this was more a commentary on society of the time, including the role of class and gender in Britain, than actually a novel. I also felt I preferred all the wrong characters instead of what the author had set out to make me like. Margaret seemed too good to be true, Helen and Leonard annoyed me intensely from the middle of the book onwards, and I really didn't think that badly of the personalities of the Wilcoxes (with a few exceptions in their actions).
I am glad I persevered as the end of the book was by far the best bit, with the most action and the characters finally beginning in to make sense to me. I can also see why many people do love the book, particularly as Forster is a most able writer and a pleasure to read in that sense. For me personally though, I just felt that the author tried to weave his philosophical ponderings around a thin story which lacked engagement and ended up losing out on both fronts.
As the themes started to develop I felt like the book became a bit bogged down, repetitive, ponderous, moralistic and that the characters started to feel more wooden, with an over-reliance on coincidence to make the story go anywhere. In the end it felt like this was more a commentary on society of the time, including the role of class and gender in Britain, than actually a novel. I also felt I preferred all the wrong characters instead of what the author had set out to make me like. Margaret seemed too good to be true, Helen and Leonard annoyed me intensely from the middle of the book onwards, and I really didn't think that badly of the personalities of the Wilcoxes (with a few exceptions in their actions).
I am glad I persevered as the end of the book was by far the best bit, with the most action and the characters finally beginning in to make sense to me. I can also see why many people do love the book, particularly as Forster is a most able writer and a pleasure to read in that sense. For me personally though, I just felt that the author tried to weave his philosophical ponderings around a thin story which lacked engagement and ended up losing out on both fronts.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Humane, eloquent, this is Forster's finest hour
Howards End, the novel, is glorious; so much is it a product of its time and place that no such novel could ever be written again: it is a fragile and melancholy creation. Read more
Published 5 months ago by LittleMoon
Connect with Forster
Forster's perhaps most renowned novel is a story abundant with connections, hence the characteristic 'just connect' which embellishes the book. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Vickie
SNAPSHOT OF LATE VICTORIAN VIEWPOINTS
Having read more about E M Forster and his life than his novels it was interesting to read one. I had read Passage to India many years ago as required readind and remembered not... Read more
Published 20 months ago by bibliophile
Not a vibrant portrait
`Howards End' is not E.M. Forster's best work and it should not be used as compulsory reading in schools. It is not a vibrant portrait of Edwardian English society. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Luc REYNAERT
Insightful
For me this is a novel that exposes the overtly polarised, occasionally compassionate but often patronising nature of English society in the early twentieth century. Read more
Published on 12 April 2010 by Room For A View
An old friend
Re-reading Howards End after 40+ years was like meeting an old friend again.
The plot is unimportant - what matters is the people. Read more
The plot is unimportant - what matters is the people. Read more
Published on 29 Nov 2009 by A. C. Dickens
Overall very good
This book was described as in very good condition, however there were a few creases and written notes in it. This doesnt bother me at all (in fact the notes helped! Read more
Published on 3 July 2009 by A. V. Middleton
Filled with exquisite writing and very deftly packaged
Simply superb. A cracking story, which follows the entanglements of three families in the early 1900s. Read more
Published on 24 May 2009 by Brownbear101
A classic worthy of the name.
Really enjoyed this, got caught up in Forster's world of the Schlegel sisters. At times it is a very sad book, there seems to be a lot of compromising and misunderstandings, but... Read more
Published on 10 Nov 2008 by soffitta1
A waste of my life!
I was FORCED to study this novel for a-level english literature and LOATHED it! I found it very difficult to stay awake when reading it due to the dull and unrealistic... Read more
Published on 16 Sep 2008 by ShelleyW
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