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The Life to Come and Other Stories
From the literary icon, author of Howard's End and A Passage to India, comes a posthumous collection of short works, many never before published.
Featuring fourteen short stories, The Life to Come spans six decades of E. M. Forster's literary career, tracking every phase of his development. Never having sought publication for most of the stories--only two were published in his lifetime--Forster worried his career would suffer because of their overtly homosexual themes. Instead they were shown to an appreciative circle of friends and fellow writers, including Christopher Isherwood, Siegfried Sassoon, Lytton Strachey, and T. E. Lawrence.
With stories that are lively and amusing ("What Does It Matter?"; "The Obelisk"), and others that are more somber and thought-provoking ("Dr Woolacott"; "Arthur Snatchfold"), The Life to Come sheds a light on Forster's powerful but suppressed explorations beyond the strictures of conventional society.
- Ansell
- Albergo Empedocle
- The Purple Envelope
- The Helping Hand
- The Rock
- The Life to Come
- Dr. Woolacott
- Arthur Snatchfold
- The Obelisk
- What Does It Matter? A Morality
- The Classical Annex
- The Torque
- The Other Boat
- Three Courses and a Dessert: Being a New and Gastronomic Version of the Game of Consequences
Featuring fourteen short stories, The Life to Come spans six decades of E. M. Forster's literary career, tracking every phase of his development. Never having sought publication for most of the stories--only two were published in his lifetime--Forster worried his career would suffer because of their overtly homosexual themes. Instead they were shown to an appreciative circle of friends and fellow writers, including Christopher Isherwood, Siegfried Sassoon, Lytton Strachey, and T. E. Lawrence.
With stories that are lively and amusing ("What Does It Matter?"; "The Obelisk"), and others that are more somber and thought-provoking ("Dr Woolacott"; "Arthur Snatchfold"), The Life to Come sheds a light on Forster's powerful but suppressed explorations beyond the strictures of conventional society.
- Ansell
- Albergo Empedocle
- The Purple Envelope
- The Helping Hand
- The Rock
- The Life to Come
- Dr. Woolacott
- Arthur Snatchfold
- The Obelisk
- What Does It Matter? A Morality
- The Classical Annex
- The Torque
- The Other Boat
- Three Courses and a Dessert: Being a New and Gastronomic Version of the Game of Consequences
268 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1972
About the author
E.M. Forster
744 books4,456 followersEdward Morgan Forster, generally published as E.M. Forster, was an English novelist, essayist, and short story writer. He is known best for his ironic and well-plotted novels examining class difference and hypocrisy in early 20th-century British society. His humanistic impulse toward understanding and sympathy may be aptly summed up in the epigraph to his 1910 novel Howards End: "Only connect".
He had five novels published in his lifetime, achieving his greatest success with A Passage to India (1924) which takes as its subject the relationship between East and West, seen through the lens of India in the later days of the British Raj.
Forster's views as a secular humanist are at the heart of his work, which often depicts the pursuit of personal connections in spite of the restrictions of contemporary society. He is noted for his use of symbolism as a technique in his novels, and he has been criticised for his attachment to mysticism. His other works include Where Angels Fear to Tread (1905), The Longest Journey (1907), A Room with a View (1908) and Maurice (1971), his posthumously published novel which tells of the coming of age of an explicitly gay male character.
He had five novels published in his lifetime, achieving his greatest success with A Passage to India (1924) which takes as its subject the relationship between East and West, seen through the lens of India in the later days of the British Raj.
Forster's views as a secular humanist are at the heart of his work, which often depicts the pursuit of personal connections in spite of the restrictions of contemporary society. He is noted for his use of symbolism as a technique in his novels, and he has been criticised for his attachment to mysticism. His other works include Where Angels Fear to Tread (1905), The Longest Journey (1907), A Room with a View (1908) and Maurice (1971), his posthumously published novel which tells of the coming of age of an explicitly gay male character.
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May 29, 2025
This novella forms part of a collection of short stories called The Life to Come, by the Edwardian writer E.M. Forster. For my review of the collection, link here. What follows is a review of the novella.
The Other Boat is the longest story in the collection. It was completed in 1958, when Forster was almost eighty years old. It tells a story of a homosexual relationship between two men of different cultures. Lionel March, a young army captain, is torn between the two aspects of his personality, and the tale describes his struggle to reconcile both parts. He is attracted to Cocoa, a sensuous youth, classless and effeminate who reemerges from his distant past,
"a subtle, supple boy who belonged to no race and always got what he wanted."
Lionel's confusion as to his own sexual and personal identity, his secret love for Cocoa, plus his place within a society which is aggressively racist, escalates into a crisis.
It is never quite clear how manipulative the character of Cocoa may be. The story is very much of its time and a difficult read; at times tragic and beautiful, a haunting tale. At others, the reader may take exception to the language used and attitudes portrayed. The Other Boat is persuasive literature, exploring with profound insight the psychological effects of racism and homophobia. It is an indictment not only of both of these, but also of imperialism, rigid religious orthodoxies, class distinctions, and the distorting pressures of various individual's attitudes towards them.
Merged review:
E.M. Forster is largely remembered as an Edwardian novelist, essayist, and short story writer. His ironic and well-plotted novels examine class difference and hypocrisy in early 20th-century British society. They are novels of manners depicting British morality and Edwardian society. Five major novels remain popular, but another, "Maurice", was never published during his lifetime because of its homosexual content. It was eventually posthumously published in 1971. This review concerns a number of short stories which have themes in common with "Maurice".
Many of the stories in The Life to Come and other stories were written during a period of silence, when the public assumed Forster to be not writing, between the publication of his first short story collection and his greatest novel, "A Passage to India". Of his short stories, two collections were published during Forster's lifetime - "The Celestial Omnibus" in 1911, and "The Eternal Moment" in 1928. The publication of the short story collection "The Eternal Moment" had marked the end of Forster's published fiction-writing. From now on he wrote literary criticism, travel writing, essays, and biographies. But another two collections of earlier stories were published posthumously, significantly later. These are entitled, The Life to Come in 1972 and "Arctic Summer" in 1980.
This review is of The Life to Come and other stories, published in 2013; a collection of fourteen stories, written between 1903 to 1957. All except two of the other stories remained unpublished because of their overtly homosexual themes. Only his friends and fellow writers, including Christopher Isherwood, Siegfried Sassoon, Lytton Strachey, and T. E. Lawrence, read them at the time they were written. His novels concentrated on social satire, and observing what the British wanted to believe was true about themselves. Most include descriptions of prim Edwardian English young ladies, often on their travels and encountering a larger world. The Life to Come and other stories, however includes more experimental, previously suppressed works, using a little risque language designed to amuse and shock. They are about those who were tempted to cross the boundaries, the conventions of the time, in particular homosexual men.
In a personal memorandum from 1935, the author recorded,
"I want to love a strong young man of the lower classes and be loved by him and even hurt by him. That is my ticket, and then I have wanted to write respectable novels".
He certainly achieved the latter, but his exploratory writing including homosexual themes was never published. This is unsurprising, since he died in 1970, only three short years after legislation was passed and homosexuality ceased to be a criminal offence. Until 1967 it had been against the law in the United Kingdom. The stories here have a different tone and concerns from his major novels, being more similar to "Maurice" which tells of the coming of age of an explicitly gay male character.
E.M. Forster's talent here lies in creating believable characters, and placing them in extraordinary situations. Also, in common with many of Forster's other short stories the stories include a characteristic uniting of realism and fantasy; a fusion of natural and the supernatural. Forster uses the supernatural in his stories to break free from the restrictions of Edwardian society. Some critics believe that Forster's use of fantasy is thus a means of social satire; others dismiss his use of the supernatural as whimsical. In the lights of the horrific realities of World War I, Forster's fantasies seemed particularly outdated and irrelevant. Perhaps the perspective of time was needed to judge them fairly.
In "Dr Woolacott" a dying patient refuses the aid of his doctor and chooses instead the spirit-saving love of an unknown boy, The feeling conveyed to the reader is dream-like, illusory and elusive. We are never sure whether the boy is real or a figment of the patient's imagination, or a spirit. It is a haunting psychomachia about the inner conflict within one's soul, between virtue and vice.
In many of Forster's most critically regarded stories, a character's denial of love is reveals to the reader the restrictions of conventional society. It is a tool to demonstrate contemporary society's repressiveness, and inevitably leads to his physical, emotional, and spiritual death. Always in Forster there are are themes which figure prominently in the longer works: the deficiencies of the undeveloped heart, desire, truth, beauty, the possibility of transcendence, and the saving power of love. As in this story he frequently explores various mythologies using symbolism as a technique. In his novels too, he has been criticised for his attachment to mysticism. Ultimately though, Forster demonstrates a strong secular humanistic impulse toward understanding and sympathy. His attitude to the ambiguous aspects of human experience, shows time and time again that he believed the efforts to reconcile truth and love was always to be attempted, even if such a reconciliation is ultimately impossible.
"The Life to Come", the title story, was written in 1922, and thus only published 50 years later. It is divided into four chapters: Night, Evening, Day and Morning. In the story, the devotion of a tribal chief for an English Christian missionary is betrayed. This is a typical Forster theme, that of undeveloped emotions and the heart. The story uses satire, prophecy, tragedy and myth, to tell a parable. The reader can see that themes in this story were developed into "A Passage to India" in its opposition of Eastern and Western values. As in the novel, Christianity is tested from an Eastern perspective. The author satirises both the Christian hypocrisy of the missionary, and British Imperialism. It is bitter and scathing in tone.
"The Other Boat" is the longest story, and reviewed separately here
E.M. Forster's fiction has many aspects. Whether or not the reader prefers the social satires, the experimental mysticism or the lesser-known gay fiction, it is well chronicled that in later years he became a significant moral literary presence, a model for young gay writers such as Christopher Isherwood and W. H. Auden to follow. In the 1930's he was viewed as England's most thoughtful exponent of liberal humanism. He was a writer with a conscience, denying the extremes of left and right alike, committed to humanism and responsible intelligence.
Forster's origins were quietly upper middle-class. He was an only child, raised primarily by his widowed mother and other female relations. His education and intellectual tastes led him towards the Bloomsbury Group, informally led by Virginia Woolf at her London home. Like them, Forster had a belief in the importance of the individual, a commitment to friendship, a dismissiveness of conventional values, and a passion for truth. In "What I Believe" (1938), he announced his abiding faith in personal relations and individualism, asserting that,
"if I had to choose between betraying my country and betraying my friend, I hope I should have the guts to betray my country."
In 1928, when Radclyffe Hall's lesbian novel "The Well of Loneliness" was prosecuted under the obscenity laws, he persuaded his Bloomsbury friends Virginia Woolf and Lytton Strachey to join him in defending it. In the event though, no expert testimony was permitted at the trial.
Some of his late stories here, in this collection of gay literature, are among his finest work, and powerful statements of his ethos. They differ widely in mood and setting, being by turn ironic, witty, resonant, and angry. Some express his rage against what he saw as the hypocrisy of society, expressing in the main his concern with its homophobia. He has been called a "tireless defender of humane values". However, his interest and affinity with the visionary and transcendent were uniquely his own, and distinct from the Bloomsbury group.
The collection includes:
classics which rank among his greatest achievements:
Dr. Woolacott
The Life to Come
The Other Boat (link here to a separate review)
Arthur Snatchfold
three comic stories:
The Obelisk
What Does It Matter? A Morality
The Classical Annex
and E. M. Forster's only piece of historical fiction:
The Torque
Further links:
The three posthumous stories reviewed here are also included in E. M. Forster's
Collected Short Stories volume 2
reviewed here
The Collection The Eternal Moment and Other Stories is
reviewed here
The Other Boat is the longest story in the collection. It was completed in 1958, when Forster was almost eighty years old. It tells a story of a homosexual relationship between two men of different cultures. Lionel March, a young army captain, is torn between the two aspects of his personality, and the tale describes his struggle to reconcile both parts. He is attracted to Cocoa, a sensuous youth, classless and effeminate who reemerges from his distant past,
"a subtle, supple boy who belonged to no race and always got what he wanted."
Lionel's confusion as to his own sexual and personal identity, his secret love for Cocoa, plus his place within a society which is aggressively racist, escalates into a crisis.
It is never quite clear how manipulative the character of Cocoa may be. The story is very much of its time and a difficult read; at times tragic and beautiful, a haunting tale. At others, the reader may take exception to the language used and attitudes portrayed. The Other Boat is persuasive literature, exploring with profound insight the psychological effects of racism and homophobia. It is an indictment not only of both of these, but also of imperialism, rigid religious orthodoxies, class distinctions, and the distorting pressures of various individual's attitudes towards them.
Merged review:
E.M. Forster is largely remembered as an Edwardian novelist, essayist, and short story writer. His ironic and well-plotted novels examine class difference and hypocrisy in early 20th-century British society. They are novels of manners depicting British morality and Edwardian society. Five major novels remain popular, but another, "Maurice", was never published during his lifetime because of its homosexual content. It was eventually posthumously published in 1971. This review concerns a number of short stories which have themes in common with "Maurice".
Many of the stories in The Life to Come and other stories were written during a period of silence, when the public assumed Forster to be not writing, between the publication of his first short story collection and his greatest novel, "A Passage to India". Of his short stories, two collections were published during Forster's lifetime - "The Celestial Omnibus" in 1911, and "The Eternal Moment" in 1928. The publication of the short story collection "The Eternal Moment" had marked the end of Forster's published fiction-writing. From now on he wrote literary criticism, travel writing, essays, and biographies. But another two collections of earlier stories were published posthumously, significantly later. These are entitled, The Life to Come in 1972 and "Arctic Summer" in 1980.
This review is of The Life to Come and other stories, published in 2013; a collection of fourteen stories, written between 1903 to 1957. All except two of the other stories remained unpublished because of their overtly homosexual themes. Only his friends and fellow writers, including Christopher Isherwood, Siegfried Sassoon, Lytton Strachey, and T. E. Lawrence, read them at the time they were written. His novels concentrated on social satire, and observing what the British wanted to believe was true about themselves. Most include descriptions of prim Edwardian English young ladies, often on their travels and encountering a larger world. The Life to Come and other stories, however includes more experimental, previously suppressed works, using a little risque language designed to amuse and shock. They are about those who were tempted to cross the boundaries, the conventions of the time, in particular homosexual men.
In a personal memorandum from 1935, the author recorded,
"I want to love a strong young man of the lower classes and be loved by him and even hurt by him. That is my ticket, and then I have wanted to write respectable novels".
He certainly achieved the latter, but his exploratory writing including homosexual themes was never published. This is unsurprising, since he died in 1970, only three short years after legislation was passed and homosexuality ceased to be a criminal offence. Until 1967 it had been against the law in the United Kingdom. The stories here have a different tone and concerns from his major novels, being more similar to "Maurice" which tells of the coming of age of an explicitly gay male character.
E.M. Forster's talent here lies in creating believable characters, and placing them in extraordinary situations. Also, in common with many of Forster's other short stories the stories include a characteristic uniting of realism and fantasy; a fusion of natural and the supernatural. Forster uses the supernatural in his stories to break free from the restrictions of Edwardian society. Some critics believe that Forster's use of fantasy is thus a means of social satire; others dismiss his use of the supernatural as whimsical. In the lights of the horrific realities of World War I, Forster's fantasies seemed particularly outdated and irrelevant. Perhaps the perspective of time was needed to judge them fairly.
In "Dr Woolacott" a dying patient refuses the aid of his doctor and chooses instead the spirit-saving love of an unknown boy, The feeling conveyed to the reader is dream-like, illusory and elusive. We are never sure whether the boy is real or a figment of the patient's imagination, or a spirit. It is a haunting psychomachia about the inner conflict within one's soul, between virtue and vice.
In many of Forster's most critically regarded stories, a character's denial of love is reveals to the reader the restrictions of conventional society. It is a tool to demonstrate contemporary society's repressiveness, and inevitably leads to his physical, emotional, and spiritual death. Always in Forster there are are themes which figure prominently in the longer works: the deficiencies of the undeveloped heart, desire, truth, beauty, the possibility of transcendence, and the saving power of love. As in this story he frequently explores various mythologies using symbolism as a technique. In his novels too, he has been criticised for his attachment to mysticism. Ultimately though, Forster demonstrates a strong secular humanistic impulse toward understanding and sympathy. His attitude to the ambiguous aspects of human experience, shows time and time again that he believed the efforts to reconcile truth and love was always to be attempted, even if such a reconciliation is ultimately impossible.
"The Life to Come", the title story, was written in 1922, and thus only published 50 years later. It is divided into four chapters: Night, Evening, Day and Morning. In the story, the devotion of a tribal chief for an English Christian missionary is betrayed. This is a typical Forster theme, that of undeveloped emotions and the heart. The story uses satire, prophecy, tragedy and myth, to tell a parable. The reader can see that themes in this story were developed into "A Passage to India" in its opposition of Eastern and Western values. As in the novel, Christianity is tested from an Eastern perspective. The author satirises both the Christian hypocrisy of the missionary, and British Imperialism. It is bitter and scathing in tone.
"The Other Boat" is the longest story, and reviewed separately here
E.M. Forster's fiction has many aspects. Whether or not the reader prefers the social satires, the experimental mysticism or the lesser-known gay fiction, it is well chronicled that in later years he became a significant moral literary presence, a model for young gay writers such as Christopher Isherwood and W. H. Auden to follow. In the 1930's he was viewed as England's most thoughtful exponent of liberal humanism. He was a writer with a conscience, denying the extremes of left and right alike, committed to humanism and responsible intelligence.
Forster's origins were quietly upper middle-class. He was an only child, raised primarily by his widowed mother and other female relations. His education and intellectual tastes led him towards the Bloomsbury Group, informally led by Virginia Woolf at her London home. Like them, Forster had a belief in the importance of the individual, a commitment to friendship, a dismissiveness of conventional values, and a passion for truth. In "What I Believe" (1938), he announced his abiding faith in personal relations and individualism, asserting that,
"if I had to choose between betraying my country and betraying my friend, I hope I should have the guts to betray my country."
In 1928, when Radclyffe Hall's lesbian novel "The Well of Loneliness" was prosecuted under the obscenity laws, he persuaded his Bloomsbury friends Virginia Woolf and Lytton Strachey to join him in defending it. In the event though, no expert testimony was permitted at the trial.
Some of his late stories here, in this collection of gay literature, are among his finest work, and powerful statements of his ethos. They differ widely in mood and setting, being by turn ironic, witty, resonant, and angry. Some express his rage against what he saw as the hypocrisy of society, expressing in the main his concern with its homophobia. He has been called a "tireless defender of humane values". However, his interest and affinity with the visionary and transcendent were uniquely his own, and distinct from the Bloomsbury group.
The collection includes:
classics which rank among his greatest achievements:
Dr. Woolacott
The Life to Come
The Other Boat (link here to a separate review)
Arthur Snatchfold
three comic stories:
The Obelisk
What Does It Matter? A Morality
The Classical Annex
and E. M. Forster's only piece of historical fiction:
The Torque
Further links:
The three posthumous stories reviewed here are also included in E. M. Forster's
Collected Short Stories volume 2
reviewed here
The Collection The Eternal Moment and Other Stories is
reviewed here
November 19, 2018
This collection, complete with introduction, made me realise something I hadn't quite realised in so many words before:
Literary criticism of E.M. Forster is so full of snobby bullshit.
The intro here basically reflects what I've heard and read before - "Maurice" isn't as critically acclaimed or technically accomplished as his other novels; most of these stories weren't meant for publication because they were too crude and unpolished (read: too gay); he was at his best when he was subtle; whenever he dealt with subject matters close to his heart, his writing wasn't that good; blah blah blah snobbitycakes.
You know what, though, those other novels, the critically acclaimed and technically accomplished ones? Bored the crap out of me. They were bloodless and tedious and forgettable. (Looking at you, A Room With A View). Maurice, the one that's called sentimental and unpolished and personal wish fulfillment? Is beautiful and real and unforgettable, and I'll fight anyone who says differently :p
It was the same with these stories. The first few, written at a much earlier time, were a bit dull and pointless, and I was debating giving up on the collection altogether. Then came the titular "The Life to Come" and the stories following it; the later ones, the ones "not fit for publication," according to everyone and their uncle, including Forster himself, and what can I say, they were freaking wonderful. No, perhaps they weren't the sort of stories that attract literary acclaim, but you know what, screw that. They had life, and longing, and humour, and tragedy. They had characters with real passions. Some of them were funny (The Obelisk had me cackling out loud), some deeply sad. Some of them shared similar threads and clearly contained early seeds for Maurice (the cross-class relationship is definitely a common theme), and all of them made me feel things.
It's a shame that Forster obviously agreed with and internalised criticism that elevated his "serious" literature and dismissed all his queer-themed work as smutty wish fulfillment stories, because to me it's always felt like the moment he threw his aspirations towards the critically acclaimable aside and just wrote what he wanted to write (and/or read, and/or live), his writing really came alive. I wish he could have lived to an era where he could write stories as gloriously queer and raunchy and fun as he bloody well wanted, and be celebrated for them instead of grudgingly (and post-humously) humoured.
Literary criticism of E.M. Forster is so full of snobby bullshit.
The intro here basically reflects what I've heard and read before - "Maurice" isn't as critically acclaimed or technically accomplished as his other novels; most of these stories weren't meant for publication because they were too crude and unpolished (read: too gay); he was at his best when he was subtle; whenever he dealt with subject matters close to his heart, his writing wasn't that good; blah blah blah snobbitycakes.
You know what, though, those other novels, the critically acclaimed and technically accomplished ones? Bored the crap out of me. They were bloodless and tedious and forgettable. (Looking at you, A Room With A View). Maurice, the one that's called sentimental and unpolished and personal wish fulfillment? Is beautiful and real and unforgettable, and I'll fight anyone who says differently :p
It was the same with these stories. The first few, written at a much earlier time, were a bit dull and pointless, and I was debating giving up on the collection altogether. Then came the titular "The Life to Come" and the stories following it; the later ones, the ones "not fit for publication," according to everyone and their uncle, including Forster himself, and what can I say, they were freaking wonderful. No, perhaps they weren't the sort of stories that attract literary acclaim, but you know what, screw that. They had life, and longing, and humour, and tragedy. They had characters with real passions. Some of them were funny (The Obelisk had me cackling out loud), some deeply sad. Some of them shared similar threads and clearly contained early seeds for Maurice (the cross-class relationship is definitely a common theme), and all of them made me feel things.
It's a shame that Forster obviously agreed with and internalised criticism that elevated his "serious" literature and dismissed all his queer-themed work as smutty wish fulfillment stories, because to me it's always felt like the moment he threw his aspirations towards the critically acclaimable aside and just wrote what he wanted to write (and/or read, and/or live), his writing really came alive. I wish he could have lived to an era where he could write stories as gloriously queer and raunchy and fun as he bloody well wanted, and be celebrated for them instead of grudgingly (and post-humously) humoured.
December 31, 2025
Most of these pieces were not published in Forster's lifetime; some of them, along with the novel Maurice, were considered unpublishable because of the homosexual content. The gay content is very understated by today's standards and therefore achieves the appearance of great restraint. Yet in a documentary some of the stories that feature same-sex desire were said to be "erotic" in nature — which goes to show how far these views have shifted.
Some stories contain interracial pairings, which would have been considered even more shocking than partnering outside your class (such as having it off with the undergameskeeper, as in Maurice, or pursuing a relationship with a policeman, as in Forster's own life). The other thing that is vastly interesting is that his characters do not seem to have a gay identity, they just are. People are not defined by their sexual conduct, which becomes the same approach taken by the sexual behaviour researcher Alfred Kinsey of the famous Kinsey Scale.
I really wonder what Forster would have written if he had felt empowered to write about whatever on earth he felt like? I imagine something like a travelogue of Italian men. He had a grand time in Egypt during the First World War. He could have thrilled his audience with tales of the beach scene in Alexandria. Was his famous locked diary ever published?
Some stories contain interracial pairings, which would have been considered even more shocking than partnering outside your class (such as having it off with the undergameskeeper, as in Maurice, or pursuing a relationship with a policeman, as in Forster's own life). The other thing that is vastly interesting is that his characters do not seem to have a gay identity, they just are. People are not defined by their sexual conduct, which becomes the same approach taken by the sexual behaviour researcher Alfred Kinsey of the famous Kinsey Scale.
I really wonder what Forster would have written if he had felt empowered to write about whatever on earth he felt like? I imagine something like a travelogue of Italian men. He had a grand time in Egypt during the First World War. He could have thrilled his audience with tales of the beach scene in Alexandria. Was his famous locked diary ever published?
March 8, 2023
We've found each other, nothing else matters, it's a chance in a million we've found each other.
These same words were exchanged between Maurice and Alec, and reflect how completely isolated people must have felt, how slim the hope of finding a like-minded companion.
"Dr Woolacott" is a complicated short story from Forster, and included in his posthumous collection, The Life to Come and Other Stories. In this story, an ailing young man, Clesant, forms an attachment to a handsome young farm labourer whom he spots one day outside hunting for mushrooms.
Complicated? Well, yes, in so many ways. Why is the title character the doctor, who warns Clesant against the dangers of "intimacy"? Complicated because although a fairly simple story, when one begins to describe it or attempt an analysis it continues to unfold, growing larger and murkier, more powerful and haunting.
Oh, Morgan—can I call you Morgan? I love you more each day.
Note: this review was originally posted for the short story "Dr Woolacott" not the collection which is now shown here.
These same words were exchanged between Maurice and Alec, and reflect how completely isolated people must have felt, how slim the hope of finding a like-minded companion.
"Dr Woolacott" is a complicated short story from Forster, and included in his posthumous collection, The Life to Come and Other Stories. In this story, an ailing young man, Clesant, forms an attachment to a handsome young farm labourer whom he spots one day outside hunting for mushrooms.
Complicated? Well, yes, in so many ways. Why is the title character the doctor, who warns Clesant against the dangers of "intimacy"? Complicated because although a fairly simple story, when one begins to describe it or attempt an analysis it continues to unfold, growing larger and murkier, more powerful and haunting.
Oh, Morgan—can I call you Morgan? I love you more each day.
Note: this review was originally posted for the short story "Dr Woolacott" not the collection which is now shown here.
November 3, 2014
When English novelist E. M. Forster died in 1970 at the age of 91 he left behind a large amount of unpublished materials. The reasons for this are simple: either they were not deemed of sufficient quality or they contained sexual content that he felt could not be published during his lifetime. The most important of these works was his fully completed novel Maurice, which many, myself included, believe is his best novel—it's his most honest, least contrived, not as overwritten.
Shortly after Maurice was published posthumously in 1971, this volume of fourteen short stories, The Life to Come and Other Short Stories, was released. The first four are early works too insubstantial or uninteresting to bother reading. To save time, skip these and proceed directly to the title story, "The Life to Come," which is the best of the lot. This, and the following seven stories are mature works; all but one were written after his last and most famous novel A Passage to India. These are the stories Forster held unpublishable due to content. If the reader is comfortable with the subject matter of Maurice, these eight stories will delight, amuse, sadden, and excite.
Shortly after Maurice was published posthumously in 1971, this volume of fourteen short stories, The Life to Come and Other Short Stories, was released. The first four are early works too insubstantial or uninteresting to bother reading. To save time, skip these and proceed directly to the title story, "The Life to Come," which is the best of the lot. This, and the following seven stories are mature works; all but one were written after his last and most famous novel A Passage to India. These are the stories Forster held unpublishable due to content. If the reader is comfortable with the subject matter of Maurice, these eight stories will delight, amuse, sadden, and excite.
February 20, 2008
"The Obelisk" is one of my favourite short stories. Brits on holiday: your husbands are gay.
December 22, 2024
Kind of a goldmine for people interested in early c20th sexuality and queerness 🫡 loved it
December 28, 2007
this is a great book if you love the craft of forster. the stories in this are short enough to read on the bus, but written in the same style and with as much care as his novels. each one is a perfect little package.
August 3, 2020
What a fun little collection, I didn't expect to laugh that much over E.M. Forster... I mean his writings always have a touch of the humorous, but I find not a lot of laugh out loud moments; here we have that, lighter atmospheres and a lot of cheekiness. Published also after the death of the author, we find him writing several stories where homosexuality is on the center stage, we have to remember than for most of E.M. Forster life, in his country (England) this was illegal and punishable by law, I don't know exactly when he wrote these, but some of the short stories are set in the Edwardian era, some later on (not specified, but I thought the 30s to 50s maybe?) and since the law changed only in the last two to three years of his life, they have to predate that.
The one that got me the most emotionally is the title story The Life to Come (5 stars on that one): it's about a christian missionary and a tribal chief. It has a lot to say about colonialism and mission work, I thought it reflected what we are living the consequences of now. I love the ending how A very good story still talking to us all these years later.
What is fun too is how Forster writes about homosexual characters who have the attitude of "what the heck, it's worth it even if I get caught". In The Obelisk it's all just fun and games . Another one Arthur Snatchford is about how one thinks there is no consequences, but learns that maybe that's not true? I thought that the author was able to show more facets to this subject than in Maurice.
The last short story of the book is a collaboration on the idea of continuing the story another author started. The authors were Christopher Dilke (who's story was okay, but not that exciting a start point, he had to establish the characters), Forster, A.E. Coppard (his part was the most exciting, but Forster did finish on a BIG cliffhanger) and James Laver (he cheated, jumped years and even if the ending is funny, it makes no sense...). Their story is set in WWII and is about an arrested nazi bigwig and the German might be trying to rescue him, it's a lot of fun nonsense until the last author just abandon the story and doesn't even try to give us an ending that follows the other. Those collaboration don't always work, this one work for the most part.
Other subjects Forster explores are the theft of ideas, growing in different classes (that one felt Edwardian). losing your mind through imagining you are someone from the past (Forster would love our time on that one!), inheritance (with a bit of vegetarianism), putting to much stock in a doctor. There's a lot in these 14 stories.
A very good, solid collection that made me discover another side to E.M. Forster. It was good to see some of his later writings when he was well established at Cambridge University and wasn't writing fiction as much.
The one that got me the most emotionally is the title story The Life to Come (5 stars on that one): it's about a christian missionary and a tribal chief. It has a lot to say about colonialism and mission work, I thought it reflected what we are living the consequences of now. I love the ending how A very good story still talking to us all these years later.
What is fun too is how Forster writes about homosexual characters who have the attitude of "what the heck, it's worth it even if I get caught". In The Obelisk it's all just fun and games . Another one Arthur Snatchford is about how one thinks there is no consequences, but learns that maybe that's not true? I thought that the author was able to show more facets to this subject than in Maurice.
The last short story of the book is a collaboration on the idea of continuing the story another author started. The authors were Christopher Dilke (who's story was okay, but not that exciting a start point, he had to establish the characters), Forster, A.E. Coppard (his part was the most exciting, but Forster did finish on a BIG cliffhanger) and James Laver (he cheated, jumped years and even if the ending is funny, it makes no sense...). Their story is set in WWII and is about an arrested nazi bigwig and the German might be trying to rescue him, it's a lot of fun nonsense until the last author just abandon the story and doesn't even try to give us an ending that follows the other. Those collaboration don't always work, this one work for the most part.
Other subjects Forster explores are the theft of ideas, growing in different classes (that one felt Edwardian). losing your mind through imagining you are someone from the past (Forster would love our time on that one!), inheritance (with a bit of vegetarianism), putting to much stock in a doctor. There's a lot in these 14 stories.
A very good, solid collection that made me discover another side to E.M. Forster. It was good to see some of his later writings when he was well established at Cambridge University and wasn't writing fiction as much.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 24, 2020
Oliver Stallybrass offers in his introduction a bit of background concerning these stories. “On his death in June 1970, E. M. Forster left behind, at King’s College, Cambridge, England, a considerable corpus of unpublished literary work, complete and incomplete, and in a wide range of genres: novels (Maurice, published in 1971, and two substantial fragments), stories, plays, poems, essays, talks—to say nothing of letters, diaries and notebooks” (vii). A number of these stories—because Forster creates gay characters and situations that cannot be published at the time he writes them—are instructive for gay writers alive today. One, he is courageous, given his prodigious talent, to write them anyway, not to edit his mind, his heart, his soul. Even if he stashes them away or editors reject them, he senses perhaps that subsequent generations might read and appreciate them. The language and imagery are tame, of course, compared with any so-called gay fiction written since the early 1970s. But the fact that he is willing to portray two men together sexually, employing words like “member” for “penis,” is quite remarkable. Second, he provides a foundation for writers to come, people such as Paul Monette, who, in his book of essays, Last Watch of the Night: Essays Too Personal and Otherwise, pays quick homage to Forster as a mentor. Forster is a formidable and lyrical writer whose work transcends all and deserves to be read by anyone, even fifty years following his death.
December 17, 2010
(Warning: this book seems to have evoked my inner analytical writing nerd. Sorry.)
Forster's subtle social commentaries tend to blow right over my head, and since subtle social commentary is basically the point of his writing, I tend to have a mixed relationship with it. This is a weirdly compelling collection of mostly-formerly-unpublished stories, though, in large part because it's such an incredibly mixed bag. The first section is made up of very early works, which consistently fall somewhere between mediocre and decently interesting. The second section is made up of his unpublishable gay short stories, which range from touching to slapstick (E.M. Forster slapstick is totally worth the read, if only for its complete incongruity) to painfully irritating. His racism and orientalism are in fine form here and pretty much at their most unpalatable in this middle batch of stories, since they're so disturbingly intertwined with issues of desire and intimacy and power. The last section is a serial piece written by Forster and three of his contemporaries, with each writer contributing a different section. It's silly but an easy enough read, and interesting to compare the different writing styles.
So in conclusion... if you already heart E.M. Forster, give it a go. Otherwise, read Howards End. (Or you could not read E.M. Forster at all. That's fine too.)
Forster's subtle social commentaries tend to blow right over my head, and since subtle social commentary is basically the point of his writing, I tend to have a mixed relationship with it. This is a weirdly compelling collection of mostly-formerly-unpublished stories, though, in large part because it's such an incredibly mixed bag. The first section is made up of very early works, which consistently fall somewhere between mediocre and decently interesting. The second section is made up of his unpublishable gay short stories, which range from touching to slapstick (E.M. Forster slapstick is totally worth the read, if only for its complete incongruity) to painfully irritating. His racism and orientalism are in fine form here and pretty much at their most unpalatable in this middle batch of stories, since they're so disturbingly intertwined with issues of desire and intimacy and power. The last section is a serial piece written by Forster and three of his contemporaries, with each writer contributing a different section. It's silly but an easy enough read, and interesting to compare the different writing styles.
So in conclusion... if you already heart E.M. Forster, give it a go. Otherwise, read Howards End. (Or you could not read E.M. Forster at all. That's fine too.)
July 7, 2015
Since "Maurice" - the most precious and beloved above all novels I've ever read, I literally became obsessed with Forster and his writing. And after "Maurice" nothing could satisfy that craving of mine for something exactly like "Maurice" yet something different.
At last! I have it. The essence of the "darkest corners" of E.M.Forster's soul (certainly I mean his homosexual short stories).
And at last - I am able to appreciate and admire his genius when it is revealed without reserve or restraint. When he is writing on the subject that is the very core of his soul.
That is unknown Forster - the one that we usually do not meet - and yet that is "The Forster" to the bones. He is harsh, savage and violent, he is wild, he is free and alive - you would be surprised...and yet you wouldn't. For he is subtle, gentle and soul-piercing.
Fascinating: the subtlest blend of passion, emotion, insight, violent power (the darkest power that is), poetry, magic and art. Well - it is bewitching, it is mind-blowing and breathtaking.
"The Other Boat" and "Dr.Woolacott" are the favourites (for the admirers of Forster - definitely must-read).
At last! I have it. The essence of the "darkest corners" of E.M.Forster's soul (certainly I mean his homosexual short stories).
And at last - I am able to appreciate and admire his genius when it is revealed without reserve or restraint. When he is writing on the subject that is the very core of his soul.
That is unknown Forster - the one that we usually do not meet - and yet that is "The Forster" to the bones. He is harsh, savage and violent, he is wild, he is free and alive - you would be surprised...and yet you wouldn't. For he is subtle, gentle and soul-piercing.
Fascinating: the subtlest blend of passion, emotion, insight, violent power (the darkest power that is), poetry, magic and art. Well - it is bewitching, it is mind-blowing and breathtaking.
"The Other Boat" and "Dr.Woolacott" are the favourites (for the admirers of Forster - definitely must-read).
May 13, 2011
I have a love/hate relationship with E.M. Forster. I have suffered through some works, only to fall head over heels for the next one I read! His voice ranges widely, from depressing and nihilistic to uplifting and romantic. Like every writer, E.M. Forster is at his best when focusing on subjects personal to him, such as the love and affection between men. These are an absolute pleasure to read, examples being "The Life to Come," "Dr Woolacott", "Arthur Snatchfold", and "The Other Boat." This collection of short stories was published posthumously due to it's homosexual content, along with his novel Maurice. Such a shame, for Forster's passion really shines through in these works!
January 16, 2020
A few of the stories in this book are staggeringly beautiful; several are merely interesting. I'll be remembering the emotional richness and grace of the good ones, like Albergo Empedocle, for the rest of my life.
June 5, 2017
5 stars for Arthur Snatchfold.
July 17, 2026
A remarkable collection of stories Forster left unpublished until after his death. The best are the later stories he wrote that are explicitly gay, ones that were unpublishable in his time, just like Maurice.
The real jewel of gay literature here is Arthur Snatchfold, a story of gay solidarity along with an amusing and very modern scene of cruising and tricking. I think Dr Woolacott and The Other Boat are also very good reading for a queer studies curriculum. There's some other fun stories here too, some queer or transgressive. Unfortunately the earliest stories are not nearly as good, one wonders if they were unpublished because no one wanted to buy them.
It's fun reading a few of Forster's regular themes in short story form. Mocking the English upper classes. Upholding the noble strength (and sexiness) of the working man. Manly love between an intellectual and a commoner. Also a surprising theme I don't think is in his novels: a love of the supernatural, of ghost stories.
Here's my story-by-story commentary.
Ansell (1903)
A wistful, tender portrayal of a close friendship between two completely different young men. Has the Forster theme of the connection between an intellectual and a "common man." Without condescension; the self-important intellectual is the one who is mocked.
Albergo Empedocle (1903)
Weird story, reads like a prototype of A Room with a View (tourism) and then Maurice (insanity because of being a closeted homosexual). None of it quite works, he's trying to get too much stuffed into too small a story.
The Purple Envelope (1903–1905)
Not good, better left unpublished. The story makes no sense in places and the borrowing of a Gothic ghost story does not work.
The Helping Hand (1904)
Another forgettable story. It's a funny parody of English society but the plot isn't good at the irony and the end is unearned.
The Rock (1906)
Punches hard for such a short, short story. About the value of life and the tension between spirituality and lusty physical life. A little opaque.
The Life to Come (1922)
A remarkably interesting story. A dual critique of Christian missionaries and of homophobia. And with a remarkable twist ending, a sort of violent apotheosis.
Dr Woolacott (1927)
A lovely tragic story about a gay man struggling to accept himself. And being trodden down by a doctor who requires him to repress himself. The supernatural element here gets in the way but gives Forster room to write an emotional story.
Arthur Snatchfold (1928)
My favorite of the stories, a real jewel. At its core is a casual morning trick between an older man and the milkman. It's written very modern and matter of fact, quite relatable! But then it's couched in a tragic story and some unlikely gay solidarity. At least on the part of the younger man; the older man comes off as insensitive and glib. This story would make a great short movie and is totally relatable in the contemporary era.
The Classical Annex (1930–1931)
A silly story, and a little porny. More supernatural stuff I don't care for. I appreciate Forster writing this for his gay amusement but it's not particularly good.
What Does It Matter? A Morality (1935)
Another slightly silly story but this one works much better. It's a sort of queer liberation story in 1935, the idea that a whole country could just decide that sex in general and homosexuality in particular doesn't really matter and how easy that would be.
The Obelisk (1939)
A funny sort of sex romp, reads like a Three's Company episode. It's interesting reading something from Forster so light and yet still so transgressive. Honestly the whole story looks like it's a setup for a dick joke
The Torque (1958)
Also a funny sex romp! Sort of a spoof on pagan vs. Christian, with lots of lusty sex. Forster did say he wrote some of these stories to arouse himself... Unfortunately it's also tinged with some unconsidered sexual violence. It doesn't ruin the story but it does date it a bit.
The Other Boat (1957–1958)
What a tragic, dreadful story! But also a story of true queer liberation, or at least a temporary autonomous zone of same sex love for a few days. Until it all goes disastrously wrong when the British social order comes crashing down on them. Feels dated but interesting and relevant.
The real jewel of gay literature here is Arthur Snatchfold, a story of gay solidarity along with an amusing and very modern scene of cruising and tricking. I think Dr Woolacott and The Other Boat are also very good reading for a queer studies curriculum. There's some other fun stories here too, some queer or transgressive. Unfortunately the earliest stories are not nearly as good, one wonders if they were unpublished because no one wanted to buy them.
It's fun reading a few of Forster's regular themes in short story form. Mocking the English upper classes. Upholding the noble strength (and sexiness) of the working man. Manly love between an intellectual and a commoner. Also a surprising theme I don't think is in his novels: a love of the supernatural, of ghost stories.
Here's my story-by-story commentary.
Ansell (1903)
A wistful, tender portrayal of a close friendship between two completely different young men. Has the Forster theme of the connection between an intellectual and a "common man." Without condescension; the self-important intellectual is the one who is mocked.
Albergo Empedocle (1903)
Weird story, reads like a prototype of A Room with a View (tourism) and then Maurice (insanity because of being a closeted homosexual). None of it quite works, he's trying to get too much stuffed into too small a story.
The Purple Envelope (1903–1905)
Not good, better left unpublished. The story makes no sense in places and the borrowing of a Gothic ghost story does not work.
The Helping Hand (1904)
Another forgettable story. It's a funny parody of English society but the plot isn't good at the irony and the end is unearned.
The Rock (1906)
Punches hard for such a short, short story. About the value of life and the tension between spirituality and lusty physical life. A little opaque.
The Life to Come (1922)
A remarkably interesting story. A dual critique of Christian missionaries and of homophobia. And with a remarkable twist ending, a sort of violent apotheosis.
Dr Woolacott (1927)
A lovely tragic story about a gay man struggling to accept himself. And being trodden down by a doctor who requires him to repress himself. The supernatural element here gets in the way but gives Forster room to write an emotional story.
Arthur Snatchfold (1928)
My favorite of the stories, a real jewel. At its core is a casual morning trick between an older man and the milkman. It's written very modern and matter of fact, quite relatable! But then it's couched in a tragic story and some unlikely gay solidarity. At least on the part of the younger man; the older man comes off as insensitive and glib. This story would make a great short movie and is totally relatable in the contemporary era.
The Classical Annex (1930–1931)
A silly story, and a little porny. More supernatural stuff I don't care for. I appreciate Forster writing this for his gay amusement but it's not particularly good.
What Does It Matter? A Morality (1935)
Another slightly silly story but this one works much better. It's a sort of queer liberation story in 1935, the idea that a whole country could just decide that sex in general and homosexuality in particular doesn't really matter and how easy that would be.
The Obelisk (1939)
A funny sort of sex romp, reads like a Three's Company episode. It's interesting reading something from Forster so light and yet still so transgressive. Honestly the whole story looks like it's a setup for a dick joke
“Anyone ever seed a bigger one?” he inquired. No one replied, and how should they to so foolish a question? “Stands up, don’t it?” he continued. No one spoke. “No wonder they call that a needle, for wouldn’t that just prick.”
The Torque (1958)
Also a funny sex romp! Sort of a spoof on pagan vs. Christian, with lots of lusty sex. Forster did say he wrote some of these stories to arouse himself... Unfortunately it's also tinged with some unconsidered sexual violence. It doesn't ruin the story but it does date it a bit.
The Other Boat (1957–1958)
What a tragic, dreadful story! But also a story of true queer liberation, or at least a temporary autonomous zone of same sex love for a few days. Until it all goes disastrously wrong when the British social order comes crashing down on them. Feels dated but interesting and relevant.
December 31, 2021
In the long Oliver Stallybrass introduction to E M Forster’s short stories The Life to Come and Other stories, Stallbrass explains that nearly half of Forster’s short stories remained unpublished in his lifetime. He goes into details about the rejection of the early stories, the latter ones are mainly about homosexuality. “If Forster wrote these stories (the latter ones) ‘not to express myself but to excite myself’ – the distinction is perhaps a little too neat and simple – they have all, in varying degrees, transcended their origin. Though no two have quite the same flavour, they fall roughly into two categories: those where Forster seems to be cocking a more or less cheerful snook at the heterosexual world in general and certain selected targets – women, the Church, pedantic schoolmasters, town councillors – in particular; and those in which some of his profoundest concerns – love, death, truth, social and racial differences – find powerful and sombre expression.”
I am so glad I read these stories whichever category they fit into. My favourite ‘homosexual stories’ are really doors to another world namely The Obelisk and the very sensual and powerful The Other Boat. Of his early stories I really enjoyed Ansell and the lost books and the haunting Albergo Empedocle. Recommended for Forster fans. Three and a half stars
I am so glad I read these stories whichever category they fit into. My favourite ‘homosexual stories’ are really doors to another world namely The Obelisk and the very sensual and powerful The Other Boat. Of his early stories I really enjoyed Ansell and the lost books and the haunting Albergo Empedocle. Recommended for Forster fans. Three and a half stars
July 31, 2025
I enjoy all of Forster's writings, his style is always appealing to me. This collection gives a wonderful insight into Forster's own desires and imaginings. I wonder how different his writings may have been if he had been able to write openly about homosexuality. Well worth reading, each piece entertaining in itself.
July 14, 2025
I found many of these to be surprising and fun! There was a sense of nostalgic romance throughout, a bit of tongue in cheek, and some evocative uses of allusions, symbolism, and/or magical realism. It was a great collection, though I did find the last two stories dragged a bit, which is a shame to end on.
April 19, 2025
A short story collection by E.M Forster. Only two of the fourteen stories appeared in print in Forster’s lifetime - some were deemed not good enough by the author, while others explore queerness at a time where homosexuality was a crime. I love Forster's sharp dialogue and vivid descriptions, but these stories could not reach the heights of his greater works.
February 2, 2026
Me parece una tragedia demasiado grande que hayamos perdido la oportunidad de ver a un gran escritor, precisamente escribir. Amé todos los cuentos y me gustó como mezclaba las historias homosexuales con la crítica social. A pesar de que según sus palabras "escribía para excitarse" (Por la culpa que sentía al escribir) los cuentos fueron buenísimos. Pero debo incluir el hecho de que Forster no sabía escribir finales porque no estuve totalmente satisfecho con ninguno (sobre todo el final de "el sobre morado"), no por como terminaba la historia, sino por las conclusiones apresuradas. Por eso siento que si hubiera tenido el valor de convertir sus cuentos en libros (como casi lo hace con "el otro barco") hubieran terminados siendo joyas iguales o mejores a Maurice. A pesar de esas deficiencias, pude sentir la pasión de Forster a traves de las páginas cuando leía, y eso para mí es lo más importante a la hora de escribir, la pasión. Otro punto que debo mencionar es que hubiera amado que "La vida futura" y "El otro barco" hubieran sido libros individuales porque tenían demasiado potencial para una historia más cruel, reflexiva y profunda. Mi cuento favorito fue sin duda "Ansell" y su moraleja me perseguirá para toda la vida en un buen sentido. Para terminar, sufrí leyendo el prefacio por la manera en que Forster se culpaba a sí mismo por escribir este tipo de literatura, pero yo amé cada segundo leyendo este compilatorio y saber que la mayoría de lo que leí no está 100% bien traducido debido a los manuscritos perdidos, rotos, rayados y que las ideas que quiso expresar, y los pedazos de su alma que dejó incrustados en cada cuento no llegaron en toda su forma a mí, me pone triste. Terminar este libro no es suficiente necesito viajar en el tiempo y sentarme con él para que me lea en persona todo lo que escribió. Descansa en paz E.M Forster hubieras amado AO3
April 30, 2019
Finished this book at long last after almost three years of very slowly savoring it at a rate of one story every couple of months. I'm both glad and sorry to have finished it - on the one hand, I never regret reading my beloved Forster, but on the other hand I wanted it to last forever...
The stories:
"Ansell" - Probably my favorite story in the entire volume; a beautiful little microcosm of everything Forster was about.
"Albergo Empedocle" - One of the only stories in the collection to have been published during Forster's life; entertaining but hardly the peak of his powers.
"The Purple Envelope" - A little weird but entertaining.
"The Helping Hand" - Clever Forster affectionately skewering the failures of the well-intentioned is always a treat.
"The Rock" - A bit weak as a piece of fiction, but the idea behind it is hugely compelling.
"The Life to Come" - What to say about this one? In his introduction, Oliver Stallybrass writes of this story that "T. E. Lawrence... laughed at it - a reaction that puzzles me as much as it puzzled Forster" (xiii). In perfect honesty, I don't find Lawrence's reaction puzzling. While this is in many ways a typically Forsterian story, its premise is just a bit too implausible and it teeters just a little too close to the brink of melodrama for perfect comfort. The surprise ending is well-executed - it's not often Forster surprises me enough to elicit an audible gasp, but he succeeded sufficiently with this one to earn me strange looks in the library - but overall this particular story, though based on an interesting idea, is in delivery a bit overwrought.
"Dr Woolacott" - A quintessentially Forsterian fantasy that nicely blends the depiction of bourgeois worries and carnal instincts with an eerie otherworldly twist.
"Arthur Snatchfold" - How Maurice probably ended.
"The Obelisk" - Deeper than it seems at a first pass, and also funny and a little bit naughty...
"What Does It Matter? A Morality" - Even naughtier Forster is very funny indeed!
"The Classical Annex" - Also very silly, slightly naughty, and generally amusing.
"The Torque" - Not sure what to make of this one... And in fact not entirely sure it's appropriate to try to make anything of it; this is the least complete story in the book (Stallybrass speculates in his introduction that the story had not reached its intended final form), to the point that I'm inclined to question its inclusion among pieces that are generally more coherent. Conceptually it's engaging, but technically it's a bit of a mess.
"The Other Boat" - Absolutely brilliant; this story makes me grieve for the post-Passage novels Forster might have written had he been less socially-constrained.
"Three Courses and a Desert" - Amusing concept and amusing story, but hardly the best showcase of Forster's talents; he's out of his element in terms of genre and his contribution may be the weakest section of this collaboratively-written story. While I appreciate the story's inclusion in the collection, I'm not pleased with the decision to place it last in the book - chronologically it belongs between "The Obelisk" and "The Torque", and it would have been better placed there, as its silliness is a real anticlimax after the gut-wrenching conclusion of "The Other Boat."
The stories:
"Ansell" - Probably my favorite story in the entire volume; a beautiful little microcosm of everything Forster was about.
"Albergo Empedocle" - One of the only stories in the collection to have been published during Forster's life; entertaining but hardly the peak of his powers.
"The Purple Envelope" - A little weird but entertaining.
"The Helping Hand" - Clever Forster affectionately skewering the failures of the well-intentioned is always a treat.
"The Rock" - A bit weak as a piece of fiction, but the idea behind it is hugely compelling.
"The Life to Come" - What to say about this one? In his introduction, Oliver Stallybrass writes of this story that "T. E. Lawrence... laughed at it - a reaction that puzzles me as much as it puzzled Forster" (xiii). In perfect honesty, I don't find Lawrence's reaction puzzling. While this is in many ways a typically Forsterian story, its premise is just a bit too implausible and it teeters just a little too close to the brink of melodrama for perfect comfort. The surprise ending is well-executed - it's not often Forster surprises me enough to elicit an audible gasp, but he succeeded sufficiently with this one to earn me strange looks in the library - but overall this particular story, though based on an interesting idea, is in delivery a bit overwrought.
"Dr Woolacott" - A quintessentially Forsterian fantasy that nicely blends the depiction of bourgeois worries and carnal instincts with an eerie otherworldly twist.
"Arthur Snatchfold" - How Maurice probably ended.
"The Obelisk" - Deeper than it seems at a first pass, and also funny and a little bit naughty...
"What Does It Matter? A Morality" - Even naughtier Forster is very funny indeed!
"The Classical Annex" - Also very silly, slightly naughty, and generally amusing.
"The Torque" - Not sure what to make of this one... And in fact not entirely sure it's appropriate to try to make anything of it; this is the least complete story in the book (Stallybrass speculates in his introduction that the story had not reached its intended final form), to the point that I'm inclined to question its inclusion among pieces that are generally more coherent. Conceptually it's engaging, but technically it's a bit of a mess.
"The Other Boat" - Absolutely brilliant; this story makes me grieve for the post-Passage novels Forster might have written had he been less socially-constrained.
"Three Courses and a Desert" - Amusing concept and amusing story, but hardly the best showcase of Forster's talents; he's out of his element in terms of genre and his contribution may be the weakest section of this collaboratively-written story. While I appreciate the story's inclusion in the collection, I'm not pleased with the decision to place it last in the book - chronologically it belongs between "The Obelisk" and "The Torque", and it would have been better placed there, as its silliness is a real anticlimax after the gut-wrenching conclusion of "The Other Boat."
March 8, 2024
The problem with this collection of stories is, not their quality, although it is pretty mixed but that, like the novel Maurice, they were not published in the author's lifetime. Of course the situation of Gays in pre-Wolfenden Britain was difficult but Forster's position was more then secure, indeed he was in many ways untouchable, a prosecution of him for publishing homosexual stories even in the 40s and certainly by the 50s and 60s was more likely to result in the humiliation of the authorities. But they weren't published until after Forster's death (in 1970) by which time their moment of potential influence and interest had passed. They were simply curiosities. To be frank it is doubtful if Forster would have his position reputation amongst gays if his equally dated novel, Maurice, hadn't been made into a very good film.
It should be remembered that these stories, like Maurice, were passed around, and known about, by 'everyone' who was 'anyone' as the expression went back then - the literary homosexual establishment that flitted between Bloomsbury parties and Maugham's villa in the south of France - when Gore Vidal came to England after the second World War II and was invited to have tea with Forster Vidal knew Foster as the grand old man of 'gay' literature who young writers should want to meet and sit at his feet and imbibe wisdom (along with a grope. Vidal turned down the invitation not wanting to waste an afternoon with 'old men with pee stains on their trousers' as he rather bitchily but honestly phrased it) and, maybe one suspects, Forster preferred it that way, all the frisson of being daring without any consequence.
This may be ungenerous on my part but I get tired of hearing how Forster 'had' to suppress his gay themed writings - to see if it was necessary look at what was being published, in both the USA and UK in the post WWII years. It wasn't a desert, in fact it was a time when some remarkable 'gay' literary
classics were published, like 'The Gallery' by John Horne Burns, to mention one. By the 1950's, never mind the 60's Foster had nothing to fear, his position was unassailable, and he could have done immense good by publishing some of his 'gay' works, He stepped back, without good reason, from following his own credo of 'just connect' just step out of the prejudices of society and make a stand for what is right. But it was easier just to be the queer 'guru' in private amongst the 'right sort' (even though he lusted after the wrong sort) I think he failed in an important challenge.
As for the stories in this book - some are very good - but quite a few are embarrassingly slight. Well worth reading - at least some - but lets spare the tears for poor Forster.
It should be remembered that these stories, like Maurice, were passed around, and known about, by 'everyone' who was 'anyone' as the expression went back then - the literary homosexual establishment that flitted between Bloomsbury parties and Maugham's villa in the south of France - when Gore Vidal came to England after the second World War II and was invited to have tea with Forster Vidal knew Foster as the grand old man of 'gay' literature who young writers should want to meet and sit at his feet and imbibe wisdom (along with a grope. Vidal turned down the invitation not wanting to waste an afternoon with 'old men with pee stains on their trousers' as he rather bitchily but honestly phrased it) and, maybe one suspects, Forster preferred it that way, all the frisson of being daring without any consequence.
This may be ungenerous on my part but I get tired of hearing how Forster 'had' to suppress his gay themed writings - to see if it was necessary look at what was being published, in both the USA and UK in the post WWII years. It wasn't a desert, in fact it was a time when some remarkable 'gay' literary
classics were published, like 'The Gallery' by John Horne Burns, to mention one. By the 1950's, never mind the 60's Foster had nothing to fear, his position was unassailable, and he could have done immense good by publishing some of his 'gay' works, He stepped back, without good reason, from following his own credo of 'just connect' just step out of the prejudices of society and make a stand for what is right. But it was easier just to be the queer 'guru' in private amongst the 'right sort' (even though he lusted after the wrong sort) I think he failed in an important challenge.
As for the stories in this book - some are very good - but quite a few are embarrassingly slight. Well worth reading - at least some - but lets spare the tears for poor Forster.
December 5, 2024
It makes for an odd reading experience, when the latent homoeroticism of Forster’s canon is typically something simmering and unspoken, a queer presence displaced into stories of heterosexual marriage plots and young ingenues, such that his wistful register and English ‘good taste’ becomes suffused with a queer sensibility. How do we reconcile that with these stories, then, openly and candidly about homosexuality, and with no use for Forster’s great aptitude at veiling and suffusing? Well, one way is to laugh. These are incredibly funny stories. Part of his getting to be more open here with the sexual subtext of his other works is that he can play more; these are decidedly less ‘stuffy’ (a charge often levelled at Forster but not one I am convinced by; I think he’s the master of the English erotic) than some might take him to be, and infinitely more unbound in their boyish humour.
Highlights being The Purple Envelope, Albergo Empedocle, The Obelisk (bc who better to do insufferably bourgeois tourists blathering on about nothing than Forster), and The Torque. Whoever arranged this collection and decided to end with Three Courses has a wicked sense of humour. An absolute tonic of a book
Highlights being The Purple Envelope, Albergo Empedocle, The Obelisk (bc who better to do insufferably bourgeois tourists blathering on about nothing than Forster), and The Torque. Whoever arranged this collection and decided to end with Three Courses has a wicked sense of humour. An absolute tonic of a book
June 4, 2014
This is the first work of Forster's that I've laid eyes on and It certainly wont be the last. I had to read two of the stories, the tragic "Arthur Snatchfold" and the funny "the classical Annex" for my Gay/lesbian literature class, but I ended up reading the rest of the collection once the semester was over. The two previously mentioned are certainly an example of the best and my personal favorites, in the batch of favorites I would also include "The Obelisk", another humorous story well worth the read. I enjoy Forster's writing, his style is honest and clear and witty. What's amazing is how diversified this collection is, as many of the other reviews will say the same. Though I enjoyed some stories far more then others, I still think Forster is a great writer and i'm glad i read the whole thing.
the entire collection is also good in its diversity in style and ideas. Well recommended.
the entire collection is also good in its diversity in style and ideas. Well recommended.
July 1, 2016
As with all collections of short stories, there will be favorites. I particularly enjoyed "The Helping Hand" and found "The Rock" gave me something to think about.
Neither of these two fit with E.M.'s recurrent theme that homosexual acts should be regarded as fun and consequence-free. (He meant socially, not disease-wise. He didn't address the latter.) It is interesting to read the stories he constructed to convey this message.
But E. wasn't just about that. His final story, written in collaboration with 3 other authors, has a delightful ending that I really didn't see coming.
Neither of these two fit with E.M.'s recurrent theme that homosexual acts should be regarded as fun and consequence-free. (He meant socially, not disease-wise. He didn't address the latter.) It is interesting to read the stories he constructed to convey this message.
But E. wasn't just about that. His final story, written in collaboration with 3 other authors, has a delightful ending that I really didn't see coming.
September 18, 2010
This is a fantastic collection of stories from a brilliant writer. The queer themes are definitely present but the collection should not be viewed solely on that criteria, as there is a lot here to appreciate. Well worth the effort to find and explore something beyond the genius novels.
June 13, 2022
A collection of short stories that would have been too scandalous to publish during Forster’s lifetime because of their overtly homosexual themes. These stories were wonderful and many of them had Forster’s unique brand of satire.
April 22, 2009
Excellent collection of EM Forster short stories.
January 3, 2014
This story is interesting in regards to race, sexuality, equality and conflict; there are some deeper hidden meanings that reveal a greater truth surrounding human nature.
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