A Passage to India by E.M. Forster


 

I have concluded my year of reading E.M. Forster with the work that many consider his magnum opus, A Passage to India. It was good in the way that all Forster's fiction is good. The prose is shapely, the characters well-drawn, the humor humorous. Those who like that sort of thing will probably also applaud his philosophizing, but I much prefer the wit.

As the title indicates, Forster has stepped outside of England and Europe, and in spite of his being a pre-postcolonial, he does a good job of treating Indian culture and people with respect. He doesn't make them into downtrodden saints or paragons of goodness, but rather allows them to be human. Likewise, he gives us a clear view of how inhuman were the colonialists in the country they administered.

 It's hard to say which of Forster's novels I like best, but although I did enjoy Passage, it is certainly not my favorite of his works. Perhaps that would be A Room With a View as it's the most humorous of the lot and it's the comedy in his comedies of manners that I enjoy most.

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