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The Obelisk
'The Obelisk' is a collection of eight powerful stories by Forster that were never published during his lifetime, due to their homosexual content.
169 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1972
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About the author
E.M. Forster
697 books4,272 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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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
September 13, 2024
Stories Forster couldn't publish in his lifetime because they were too dang gay. I didn't love all of these, but the best ones were really fun, atmospheric, impish, and subversive.
June 4, 2020
I knew this short story collection was E.M. Forster’s previously unpublished gay work but I was NOT prepared for HOW GAY this would be!🌈❤️🌈😭🌈❤️🌈
My favourite story was ‘The Obelisk’ (although I also really really loved ‘The Other Boat’ and ‘The Classical Annex’ is the most absurd/fabulous six pages I’ve ever read...)
The only story I didn’t really like was ‘The Torque’ - it was too weird/uncomfortable to read for me.
My favourite story was ‘The Obelisk’ (although I also really really loved ‘The Other Boat’ and ‘The Classical Annex’ is the most absurd/fabulous six pages I’ve ever read...)
The only story I didn’t really like was ‘The Torque’ - it was too weird/uncomfortable to read for me.
June 21, 2014
From BBC Radio 4 Extra:
The Story of the Siren is the first in our series of short fiction by EM Forster. It is an unsettling story about a sea nymph and an ill fated young Sicilian. The novelist best known for twentieth century classics including A Passage to India, A Room with a View and Maurice was also a prolific writer of short stories. In them he explored many of the themes central to his novels, including the morals of the middle classes in the early twentieth century, and his fascination with culture and mores of the beguiling South. The reader is Dan Stevens.
Abridged by Richard Hamilton. Produced by Elizabeth Allard.
The Story of the Siren is the first in our series of short fiction by EM Forster. It is an unsettling story about a sea nymph and an ill fated young Sicilian. The novelist best known for twentieth century classics including A Passage to India, A Room with a View and Maurice was also a prolific writer of short stories. In them he explored many of the themes central to his novels, including the morals of the middle classes in the early twentieth century, and his fascination with culture and mores of the beguiling South. The reader is Dan Stevens.
Abridged by Richard Hamilton. Produced by Elizabeth Allard.
October 10, 2015
A nice little collection, although I didn't exactly get something new from each story. The moral of the stories is that society has done a number on its strapping young gay men. I was impressed by the unceremonious handling of sex as an actual narrative event - that said, it is THE pivotal event, along with subsequent betrayals and disappointments, in literally every story in this collection. In Forster's defense, he didn't exactly have a choice to tailor the collection in his usual elegant way: it wasn't published until he died, same as Maurice.
To be clear: this is no Maurice. But it's a good set of stories, worth adding to a Forster collection and full of all the things that you probably already like about the author if you're picking this one up. Wry wit, low-key satire of his own native country, and he makes writing with style sound easy.
To be clear: this is no Maurice. But it's a good set of stories, worth adding to a Forster collection and full of all the things that you probably already like about the author if you're picking this one up. Wry wit, low-key satire of his own native country, and he makes writing with style sound easy.
February 16, 2015
Not Forster at his best. Somewhat obsessed with casual homosexual sex, with the exception of the first story, The Obelisk of the title, which is about casual heterosexual sex. In its time a bold, if not foolhardy choice of subject matter but has rather lost its power to shock as social mores have changed so markedly.
February 11, 2018
Despite his fame, I'd have to admit to having never read anything by EM Forster before. This selection of eight short stories seemed an easily achievable way of changing that.
As at least one other reviewer has noted, the stories are of variable quality and I would recommend the first and the last- the Obelisk and the Other Boat. The rest are rather a hotchpotch of attempts at historical tales along with elements of fantasy and the mythical. India and the pains and pleasures of the interactions between West and East also appear more than once.
There is an underlying theme of hyprocisy while the overwhelming subject matter is that of illicit homosexual love. This wasn't particularly sign-posted on the cover so after the third story or so, I was left with the feeling that he was simply re-writing the same story in multiple different settings and contexts. Perhaps he was. Nonetheless, deficiencies aside, this writer has a great ability to capture the essence and contradictions of the English.
As at least one other reviewer has noted, the stories are of variable quality and I would recommend the first and the last- the Obelisk and the Other Boat. The rest are rather a hotchpotch of attempts at historical tales along with elements of fantasy and the mythical. India and the pains and pleasures of the interactions between West and East also appear more than once.
There is an underlying theme of hyprocisy while the overwhelming subject matter is that of illicit homosexual love. This wasn't particularly sign-posted on the cover so after the third story or so, I was left with the feeling that he was simply re-writing the same story in multiple different settings and contexts. Perhaps he was. Nonetheless, deficiencies aside, this writer has a great ability to capture the essence and contradictions of the English.
July 17, 2023
it is once again the summer of e.m. forster. definitely not perfect as a short story collection but it's not like he got to edit it before it was published. works better if you view it as a "la ronde" situation where all the themes overlap and the character types are given different opportunities to try to find happiness. seems both old fashioned for modern sensibility and crazily modern for when some of the stories were written but if this were published today by a paris review-type author as a meditation on gay men throughout history it would be praised. massive pale fire vibes in the moral tale and the title story was a crazy good way to introduce what these stories were about. i think forster is incredible at writing the female perspective and while that was limited in these, it's always clear that one of the worst sins a man can commit is underestimating or dismissing the intelligence of women.
December 1, 2021
The description given on goodreads or amazon says it all - these are unpublished stories with a 'homosexual' theme - very weak stories - almost embarrassingly so - a few can raise a smile - but over all they are neither literary nor sexy. Everything an author writes is of importance in understanding him (or her) but if you have little time I would recommend giving these a miss. I can't imagine anyone really enjoying them.
June 16, 2020
I’ve longer for more of Forster’s gay tales since reading Maurice (and everything else he’s written) years ago. These stories are a perfectly satisfying addition as they wander from the harsh and cruel to the effulgent and delightsome.
April 17, 2020
Wonderful assortment of short stories that made me want MORE ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
May 25, 2010
Review from Badelynge
This sturdy and well presented edition by Hesperus Press presents eight stories by E.M.Forster with foreword by Amit Chaudhuri. It's a shame these stories were never printed during Forster's lifetime because, in a way, they were written to challenge a different age. That isn't to say that the stories are worthless, Forster remains one of the shining lights of the last century and his powers of irony, symbolism and good storytelling are all showcased here again. The societal landscape of moralists and mores may have shifted but hypocrisy and class differences are targets that Forster can still hit even from beyond the grave.
This sturdy and well presented edition by Hesperus Press presents eight stories by E.M.Forster with foreword by Amit Chaudhuri. It's a shame these stories were never printed during Forster's lifetime because, in a way, they were written to challenge a different age. That isn't to say that the stories are worthless, Forster remains one of the shining lights of the last century and his powers of irony, symbolism and good storytelling are all showcased here again. The societal landscape of moralists and mores may have shifted but hypocrisy and class differences are targets that Forster can still hit even from beyond the grave.
October 16, 2015
I would recommend two short stories from this collection; The Obelisk, and The Other Boat. These were simply fantastic, the rest left little impression on me I'm afraid.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews