A Room with a View (Penguin Modern Classics): Amazon.co.uk: E.M. Forster, Oliver Stallybrass: Books

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Product Description

Product Description
Forster's social comedy is a witty observation of the English middle classes as they holiday abroad in Florence. One of these tourists is Lucy Honeychurch, a young girl whose heart is awakened by her experiences in Italy.

About the Author
Edward Morgan Forster was born in London in 1879, attended Tonbridge School and went on to King’s College, Cambridge in 1897, where he retained a lifelong connection and was elected to an Honorary Fellowship in 1946. He died in June 1970. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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17 Reviews

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4.1 out of 5 stars (17 customer reviews)

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21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Spectacular Reading by Joanna David, 21 Jan 2005

By	Professor Donald Mitchell "Jesus Makes Me a P... (Boston) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)

This review is from: A Room with a View: Complete & Unabridged (Audio Cassette)

It's hard to know which to praise more, E. M. Forester's witty comedy of manners, or Joanna David's nuanced and entertaining reading of the book. Clearly, the combination of the two is that rare marriage of great writing brought to life by a talented actress. If you only listen to one audio book this year, you would do well to make it this one.

Forester writes about an England that is long gone . . . but not forgotten. The middle class has its wits and its respectability to defend itself from the vagaries of a challenging world. Naturally, the middle class prefers its own company and so-called manners are merely an excuse to keep everyone else at bay. The absurdity of this way of living is highlighted when Forester takes a young Englishwoman, Lucy Honeychurch (don't you love that name?), off for a trip to Florence in the company of her maiden cousin, Charlotte, who also serves as chaperone.

A variety of English tourists are gathered in a small Italian pensione in Florence when Lucy and Charlotte arrive. Both women had asked for and been promised rooms with a view. Upon arrival, they got just the opposite. Complaining over dinner about this, two men, a father and his son, immediately offer to exchange rooms. This offer breaks most rules of good manners at the time, and the women turn down the kind, well-intentioned offer. Thus far can manners cause one to go against one's best interests. During their time in Florence, the women find themselves confounded and redirected by the honest helpfulness of the Emerson men. But the familiarity raises dangerous challenges for Lucy, and she flees their company.

The rest of the story looks at the consequences of the flight and focuses on Lucy's attempts to find a way of life that makes sense for her . . . rather than being a slave to social convention.

Describing the story's plot doesn't do justice to the witty satires and ironic comments about the pompously respectable. It's a delicious romp, and Ms. David makes it all the more so.

If you are like me, you'll find yourself racing to the end to find out what Lucy does with herself.

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15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Room with a View, 23 Nov 2005

By	Dan Crawford "dancrawford" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a fantastic book about a girl who is torn between love and duty - between truth and hypocrisy. Set in florence and england at the turn of the century it is less a love story than a psychological study and a comedy-of-manners. Endlessly engaging and with Forsters characteristicaly beautiful prose, this is a must-read for fans of classic literature. To my thinking, this is a better book by far than all of its nineteenth and eighteenth century contemporaries (including Austen, whom i think overated)

One is given to think, as the novel closes, that the book marks the border between the old world of English manners and social rules and the new free-thinking twentieth century.

Read it! Read it now!

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9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars one of the most beautiful love stories of the 20th century, 13 Jun 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: A Room with a View (Paperback)

A Room with a View was by E.M. Forster himself considered 'rather slight'. He did not do himself justice. One cannot agree with him: it is the kind of novel that reverbarates in one's mind - it has the stature of a major classic. As the story unfolds the major character learns to acknowledge her true feelings. A delicate story with beautiful philosophical insight, witty ironical social comedy and a touch of deep warmth and romance.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars Lucy awakened? She should have done it sooner.......
I first read 'A Room with a View' when I was studying
it for my English Literature O-level back in 1975 and
yes, gentle reader, I passed! Read more

Published 1 month ago by Peter S. Kinnison

5.0 out of 5 stars A Room with a View by E.M.Forster
I bought the novel because I lost or lent out my existing copy. I read it years ago and wouldn't be without it; it's a classic and there is a wonderful film of it. Read more

Published 2 months ago by Delma

3.0 out of 5 stars A truer word was never spoke...
Contrary to the back cover precis of EM Forster's classic, I found this story neither a '...brilliant social comedy...' nor '... Read more

Published 6 months ago by Barbara C Browning

3.0 out of 5 stars And so it goes...
Intelligent social observations and subtle wit make this a pleasant little novel. To be fair, this is not Jane Austen, though it does fall into that kind of genre. Read more

Published 7 months ago by Mark Dickens

5.0 out of 5 stars A Personal Awakening a Century Ago - Still a Valid Lesson
This charming little novel which has recently celebrated its centennary can be easily put down as a period piece. Read more

Published 7 months ago by Ford Ka

2.0 out of 5 stars Mostly very dull
I read this purely because of the Italian setting, though only the first section is set there, in Florence. Read more

Published 9 months ago by John Hopper

5.0 out of 5 stars The best drug
It's very simple really. I work all day in an office as part of a modern globalised monoculture.

And then on the way home I read A Room with a View and reacquaint... Read more

Published on 3 April 2007 by Gaz

4.0 out of 5 stars Predominantly sunny, pink and fluffy
As predictable and slow as it often is ARWAV has much charm. The storyline is as old as the hills- a girl of means falls for a less worthy man- but Forster's art and verve saves... Read more

Published on 29 Jan 2003 by lexi_wades

5.0 out of 5 stars beautiful, romantic, funny
and full of references (which I love). The metamorphosis of the main character is subtle against the background of classic and Florence and Victorian England. Read more

Published on 7 May 2001 by christine_van_rossum@yahoo.com

5.0 out of 5 stars Everyone knows the film but read the book too!
Forster's classic easy read....a love story divided between Tuscany & Florence and the English countryside. Read more

Published on 19 April 2001

› See all 17 customer reviews...

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A Room with a View

Forster's social comedy is a witty observation of the English middle... Read more
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	91% buy the item featured on this page: A Room with a View (Penguin Modern Classics) 4.1 out of 5 stars (17)
	3% buy A Room With A View (Special Edition) [DVD] [1985] 4.1 out of 5 stars (20) �4.77
	2% buy Where Angels Fear to Tread (Penguin Classics) 3.6 out of 5 stars (9) �6.99
	2% buy The Remains of the Day 4.7 out of 5 stars (58) �4.79


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A Room with a View (Penguin Modern Classics) (Paperback)

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